'I would give my grandchildren a smack,' says the always-rational Pauline Hanson

Look, it’s not like Pauline Hanson to shy away from the controversial comment.

So perhaps it’s no surprise that her most recent remarks — this time about punishing children — have already ruffled feathers.

The anti-immigration politician remarked  on Channel Seven show Sunrise  this morning that she disciplined her children with a “slap on the hand or smack on the backside”, provoking a heated debate with media personality Derryn Hinch.

“I’m sorry, I’m still from the old school. I’d give them a slap on the hand or a smack on the backside and that’s how I’d discipline my children,” she said. “And I’ve told my kids, that’s how I’ll be disciplining my grandchildren.”

Hinch stepped in to say: “That’s not your job, Pauline.”

But Hanson defended her controversial remarks, saying “No, hold on a minute. There’s a difference between bashing your children and there’s a difference to giving them a slap on the hand or a smack on the backside.

“You’re going totally overboard with political correctness and grand children,” she said. “If my children leave my grand children with me to look after them, they know the ground rules.

“Look, I love my grand children and I love children to death, and there’s no problem about that. There’s nothing wrong with the older generation and the way we were read and how we were disciplined.”

Hinch fired back: “No. Corporal punishment on grandchildren – you are wrong.”

“Oh, gosh. I’m not bringing out the bloody stick, Derrin,” a frustrated Hanson replied. “I can’t believe you.”

But Hanson’s comments were not the only ones raising eyebrows during the televised debate: in fact, the whole shouty discussion was sparked by a discussion around Jamie Oliver’s admission that he forces his kids to eat hot chillies as a form of discipline.

The celebrity chef told The Daily Mail: “I give them chillies for punishment.

“It is not very popular beating kids any more, it’s not very fashionable and you are not allowed to do it, and if you are a celebrity chef like me it does not look very good in the paper,” he said. “So you need a few options.”

Oliver’s admission has sparked outrage on social media.

” I hope Social Services go after him,” one Twitter user wrote.

One Facebook user posted on Sunrise’s Facebook page: “Chilli can be bad for kids strip layers off insides,” while another added: “Forcing something on anyone IS violence.”

“Abuse. Why not burn their hands on the stove since that’s not smacking either?,” another Facebook commented said.

Others defended Oliver’s unusual mode of punishment.  “Genius. We use Tabasco [sauce],” one user wrote.

“Put mustard on my daughters tongue once for swearing she was about five… She licked her lips and said ‘yummy’… Grr So hard not to laugh,” another wrote.

Where do you stand? Where is the line when it comes to punishing children or grandchildren?