One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has had a busy winter parliamentary break. She’s jetted off to Europe and has been spotted enjoying some poolside time with her favourite billionaire, Gina Rinehart in Sicily, Italy.
Images of the pair spending time around a pool at a luxury resort have spread quickly across social media, with the Betoota Advocate managing three satirical headlines so far.
Hanson’s also flown into the UK, where she says she’s on a “fact-finding mission”, apparently mostly sourced from far-right figures.
Scheduled a meeting with Nigel Farage. Then he cancelled.
Hanson initially scheduled a meeting with Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, before he cancelled on her to deal with his self-imposed byelection battle in Clacton with novelty candidate, Count Binface.
Polls show that Count Binface (writer and comedian Jon Harvey) could actually win. Farage has a busy month of campaigning ahead, with the byelection set for August 13.
Sat down with a far-right activist
Hanson has also sat down with UK far-right activist Tommy Robinson, for a near hour-long podcast interview where she blamed the end of the White Australia policy for migration issues and said Muslims were rorting the NDIS. You may remember Robinson from his recent controversial chat with Karl Stefanovic.
“But it is quite known in the Muslim streets you’ve got quite a lot on that street who are on the NDIS scheme, so we know that it’s actually happening,” Hanson said in the interview.
“But a lot of people will do it, and they’re ripping off the system.”
‘She’s the future’
In the same interview, Hanson dished out a dose of nepotism, telling Robinson her daughter, Lee Hanson, could be next in line for the One Nation leadership.
Don’t tell Barnaby.
“But I don’t believe in nepotism, and she has to prove herself, not only to me, but to the other members and to the public and everything like that, that’s something she has to earn,” she said.
A rogue One Nation senator
Meanwhile, Hanson has had her hands full dealing with a rogue One Nation senator, Malcolm Roberts, whose comments praising conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, a man who spent years claiming the Sandy Hook massacre was staged, resurfaced this week.
Roberts has also come under fire for sharing an image of a notorious antisemetic mural on his social media.
It is yet to be seen whether Roberts will face any consequences.