Tasmanian Labor senator Helen Polley has gone to ground after reposting a meme assumed as racist by the Black Lives Matter movement.
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Senator Polley did not respond to media inquiries about the post which was widely condemned.
Senator Helen Polley on Sunday posted on her personal Facebook page the meme with the message: "Instead of black lives matter, how about every life matters, no matter what the colour of your skin is"
She was forced to remove the post after condemnation on social media, including from former state premier David Bartlett.
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He said the post was unacceptable for a member of the Australian Labor Party and an embarrassment to other members.
"It is Hanson lite," he wrote in a tweet.
"It is tin-eared and a classic dog whistle. Remove it"
Senator Polley later responded by saying:
"I apologise for carelessly reposting a post which was insensitive to #Blacklivesmatter.
"I have always stood against racism."
Reconciliation Tasmania chief executive Mark Redmond said the all lives matter message was a result of unconscious bias about calls for change from the African-American and Australian Aboriginal communities.
"Black people want equality; we are not there yet," he said.
"The label Black Lives Matter is about black lives and the need for us all to unlearn and relearn about the true history of dispossession in Australia."
Mr Redmond said the movement in Australia signaled there was again an opportunity for reconciliation with the Aboriginal community. "Reconciliation is about equality but also equity," he said.
"There is a difference here - equity requires acceptance that things are not equal, and acknowledging our violent past and the treatment of First Nations Peoples needs to be reconciled."
Labor sources said Senator Polley, who leads Labor's right faction, may not have realised that she was posting an insensitive meme.
It is not known if Senator Polley, 63, will seek pre-selection for the next election due in 2022.
Labor insiders said it was unlikely she would be demoted because of the post.
"She is seen as the queen of the right and unlikely to be knocked off," one source said.
"While some in the right might not like her fundamentalist Christian views she does control the group."
Senator Polley has previously opposed marriage equality and abortion.
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