The motion was narrowly defeated 31-28, with several government ministers voting in favour, including its top official for indigenous affairs.
It emerged Tuesday that Attorney General Christian Porter had issued instructions to senators from the governing Liberal party to back Hanson’s motion.
Following the vote, Porter tweeted, “The Government Senators’ actions in the Senate this afternoon confirm that the Government deplores racism of any kind.”
The vote in favour of what many see as a white supremacist slogan sparked a furious backlash and demands for the resignations of ministers who backed the motion.
On Tuesday, Porter issued a statement saying he had not been aware of an email sent by his office advising senators to back the motion, which he said had been “interpreted in my office as a motion opposing racism”.
Finance Minister Mathias Cormann, who is the head of government business in the Senate, also tried to walk back the move.
“Yesterday, as a result of an administrative process failure, the government senators in the chamber ended up, on advice, voting in support of the motion,” he said.