Category Archives: Pauline Hanson

A Trump impersonator and opera singers: CPAC was a spectacle, but the right still can’t agree how to take down Labor

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Preferences proved the sticking point at the conference as conservatives face the prospect of a third successive election defeat

Many mainstream Australians would feel as if they’d been dropped in a foreign country at the Conservative Political Action Conference, lost amid oblique references to transgender swimmers, blue hair, women’s bathrooms, jokes about falling off stages and Matt Canavan in hi-vis and speed dealer sunnies.

It’s an interesting spectacle. At this year’s conference in Brisbane, rightwing campaigner Monica Smit was deep in conversation with a Donald Trump impersonator, opera singers belted out the national anthem (the first verse, twice, for unknown reasons), senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price and her folk singer husband sang the anthem again, and Karl Stefanovic jokingly thanking CPAC for “rudely interrupting my unemployment”.

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Hanson seems more and more like the de facto opposition leader. At CPAC, Angus Taylor warmed the seat for her

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Cooperation between One Nation and the Liberals ‘up to Angus Taylor’, Pauline Hanson says at conservative conference. How would that work?

The annual Conservative Political Action Conference billed itself as a chance for the leaders of the three main conservative parties – Liberals, Nationals and One Nation – to make their pitch and compete for rightwing voters.

The reception they received in Brisbane on Saturday suggests Pauline Hanson is effectively the preferred opposition leader, with Angus Taylor relegated to leading a minor party.

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One Nation’s AI video is vile and tired – but the ensloppification of Australian politics doesn’t stop there

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The inflammatory clip shows the wild west of online politicking created by unrestricted access to AI – and why watchdogs need more powers to do something about it

One Nation’s new AI-generated campaign video is a new low – even for them.

The video – reportedly played at the party’s Victorian campaign launch over the weekend – is an AI-generated collection of racist tropes, depicting a man who appears to be African brandishing a machete, an apparently Middle Eastern man with an explosive vest, a south Asian man in a turban talking about “mass migration” and an Indigenous elder talking about people receiving “money … on the basis of need, not identity”.

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One Nation to establish headquarters in multimillion dollar Brisbane office bought by Gina Rinehart

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Barnaby Joyce defends move, saying party will lease space off mining billionaire’s company at commercial rates

Barnaby Joyce says there’s no conflict of interest between One Nation and mining billionaire, Gina Rinehart, after it was revealed Australia’s richest woman had bought a new multimillion dollar Brisbane city office for the minor-party to lease.

The One Nation MP said the party’s national head office would pay the market rate to Rinehart’s company to rent the space, claiming there would be no mate’s rates.

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Australia news live: Chalmers says ‘monetised misogyny’ online fuelling DV; Greens say triple-zero run for ‘profits of corporations’

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Follow the day’s news live

Jim Chalmers was also asked earlier if the government would support a national royal commission into violence against women and children. He said the government had chosen to increase resourcing for child and family violence and domestic violence, adding to the ABC:

We’re trying to deal with the sources of all of this violence, whether it be more security in the housing system, whether it be the monetised misogyny that we see online – there are a whole range of factors feeding in here.

We do acknowledge that all of this violence is obviously entirely unacceptable. It’s horrific in every way. That’s why we’ve increased the resources and that’s why we all need to do better to do everything we can to make a difference here.

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Pauline Hanson says she’s sorry ‘if I offended people’ with Indigenous Australians remarks

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One Nation leader had been condemned by figures from across the political spectrum over the resurfaced podcast comments

Pauline Hanson has made a qualified apology after describing Indigenous Australians as the “most primitive race on Earth”, saying she did not intend to upset people and said she was sorry “if I offended people”.

The One Nation leader has been under fire from figures across the political spectrum after the comments from a podcast released in September 2025 resurfaced.

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Pauline Hanson’s comments about Indigenous Australians condemned as ‘nasty’ and ‘derogatory’

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Indigenous senators have criticised One Nation leader saying the comments showed ‘wilful ignorance’

Federal parliamentarians from across the political spectrum have joined in condemning resurfaced comments by Pauline Hanson as “nasty” and “derogatory”, after she labelled Indigenous Australians the “most primitive race on Earth”.

The Indigenous affairs minister, Malarndirri McCarthy, a Yanyuwa and Garrwa woman, described the One Nation senator’s comments as “totally outrageous” while her opposition counterpart, Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, said Hanson’s comments showed “wilful ignorance” and had “dragged the conversation into appalling territory”.

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Do not call her a racist: anti-Pauline Hanson strategists tell campaigners character attacks won’t work in Victoria

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Exclusive: strategic rethink urges progressive activists to respectfully steer one-on-one conversations with One Nation supporters towards economic concerns

The message from strategists was blunt: do not, however tempting, personally attack Pauline Hanson or call her a racist.

The request has been made to progressive campaigners and unionists who have been asked to start one-on-one conversations with One Nation supporters before the Victorian election in November.

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‘I don’t want to be here’: Andrew Hastie was a reluctant but ‘straightforward’ witness in the Ben Roberts-Smith defamation case

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The Liberal MP and former SAS soldier is under attack from One Nation after complying with a subpoena to give evidence in the failed 2022 civil case

“I don’t dislike Mr Roberts-Smith at all. I pity Mr Roberts-Smith. I pity this whole process. I don’t want to be here.”

Andrew Hastie was a reluctant witness in the Ben Roberts-Smith defamation case. Hastie appeared only under force of subpoena in 2022: compelled to attend court, obliged to swear an oath, and to tell “the whole truth and nothing but the truth”.

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One Nation’s immigration policy is clear as mud – but that ambiguity could be a secret weapon for Pauline Hanson

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The party’s key figures are either unable or unwilling to neatly articulate their migration targets, contradicting one another – and themselves

One Nation has experienced a swell in popular support in the past year, and has primarily done so off the back of tough talk on immigration – a policy area almost synonymous with its leader, Pauline Hanson.

But a series of blunders this week show a party unable, or unwilling, to clearly articulate what it would actually do about immigration levels.

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One Nation’s Malcolm Roberts ‘in two minds’ about whether gay people should be equal

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Footage shows senator on stage at the Church and State conference responding to question about party’s director James Ashby

One Nation’s Malcolm Roberts told a conference earlier this year that he was in “two minds” about whether gay people should have equal rights.

In footage from June’s Church and State conference, released on Sunday, the senator can be seen responding to a question about James Ashby, the party’s director, who is gay.

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Hanson forced to intervene after One Nation MP says party’s migration target ‘not too different’ from Labor’s

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David Farley says party wants 100,000 migrant rural workers in addition to the 130,000 migration target it considers the ‘true’ number

The One Nation MP David Farley says the minor party’s net migration target is “not too different” to Labor’s, forcing his leader to issue an urgent clarification amid rising confusion over the policy.

It is the second time Pauline Hanson has had to issue a correction after the member for Farrer seemed to contradict One Nation’s restrictive approach to immigration.

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One Nation senator says parents who support their trans children are engaging in ‘child abuse’

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‘There’s male, there’s female, and then there’s mental illness,’ Tyron Whitten says on YouTube show

One Nation senator Tyron Whitten has claimed parents supporting their children who identify as transgender are engaging in “child abuse”, telling a fringe YouTube show: “there’s male, there’s female, and then there’s mental illness”.

Guardian Australia has unearthed several incendiary comments from Whitten and fellow One Nation senators Pauline Hanson and her longtime lieutenant Malcolm Roberts, about transgender Australians.

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One Nation staffer accused of posing as leftwing content creator in ‘undercover’ videos

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Exclusive: The videos, filmed at anti-One Nation rallies, were posted to party’s social pages and appear to be endorsed by Pauline Hanson

The owners of a progressive social media page have accused One Nation of impersonating them at anti-Pauline Hanson rallies while shooting a series of “undercover” videos.

Hanson’s party has recently published a string of videos with a young male host attending leftwing protests. In the clips – published on pages owned by One Nation and Hanson on Instagram, TikTok and X – a party staffer seeks to embarrass protesters in filmed interviews.

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Students shun calls to stay in school as anti-Hanson protesters gather across Australia

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High schoolers join university walkouts in major cities and several smaller locations amid urge to ‘stand up against the far right’

Calls for striking students to stay in school are unlikely to deter thousands across the country preparing to take part in a major walkout in protest against Pauline Hanson.

High schoolers have begun joining the coordinated university union protests taking place in every major city and several smaller locations across the country on Thursday afternoon.

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One Nation unveils eight Victorian election candidates including former Liberal and anti-woke film animator

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Local councillor who says he used to work on Daniel Andrews’ security team also part of upper house lineup for November’s state poll

A former Liberal party candidate, the animator behind Pauline Hanson’s anti-woke film and a local councillor who says he worked on former premier Daniel Andrews’ personal protection team have been unveiled as One Nation candidates for the Victorian election.

Pauline Hanson held a press conference on Monday to announce the eight candidates who will lead One Nation’s upper house tickets at the November state election.

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‘Get rid of them’: One Nation senator claims party will ‘remigrate’ illegal visa holders in resurfaced interview

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Exclusive: Malcolm Roberts uses white supremacist concept to describe the party’s plans for deporting 200,000 people from Australia

Senator Malcolm Roberts claims One Nation wants to deport at least 200,000 people and has repeatedly referred to the far-right concept of “remigration” in podcast interviews and speeches to niche platforms.

In two recent podcasts, Roberts said One Nation wanted to deport 100,000 temporary residents as well as 100,000 international students – a total much higher than the party’s published policy. The senator said after those people were removed, he wanted to “start working on the higher numbers of people we need to get rid of”.

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Pauline Hanson’s domestic violence comments were no stumble

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The One Nation leader has allied herself with men’s rights activists for years, consistently suggesting women routinely make false allegations of violence

For a decade, Pauline Hanson has been beating the same drum.

Her comments this week – suggesting domestic violence was a “two-way street” and questioning why women did not simply leave abusive relationships – have caused significant concern and been labelled “dangerous” by experts and other commentators.

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Australia news live: Jim Chalmers says he has ‘other priorities’ than a gas tax; Anthony Albanese calls to congratulate Andy Burnham

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Treasurer points to other reforms after Labor members call for ‘fairer return’ from natural resources. Follow today’s news live

Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories before your regular blogger takes the reins.

Jim Chalmers has claimed rightwing political parties will “prey on” voter insecurities about a worsening economy while championing “anti-worker” policies. It comes as markets are now expecting another rate hike by the end of the year. He also continues to push back at rank and file Labor members’ calls for a new tax on gas exports, saying the government had “other priorities” for reform. More coming up.

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Pauline Hanson blames ‘fake news’ media for her bad press. But serious leaders have to own their actions

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In a fortnight of rolling blunders, the One Nation leader digs deep into the Trump playbook of blame-shifting

There’s apparently only one thing to blame for Pauline Hanson’s string of bad headlines in recent weeks, from her decision to pal around with the far-right convicted criminal Tommy Robinson to her description of domestic violence on Wednesday as a “two-way street”.

According to the One Nation leader, it’s of course not Hanson herself who is to blame.

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