Internal tensions rise in One Nation following controversial meeting with Tommy Robinson
One Nation leader Pauline Hanson’s European holiday exposed the cracks in her relationship with star member Barnaby Joyce; His chief adviser has claimed he was pushed by the Seven Network to meet a far-right activist in the UK.
After a week of sliding poll numbers and this imprint reporting the One Nation senator’s anti-Semitic and conspiratorial views, the populist party has begun to distance itself from its decision to meet anti-Islam activist and criminal Tommy Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon.
Meeting with the Briton while Hanson was spending time at a luxury hotel in Sicily with billionaire Gina Rinehart during a break between two conservative forums in London raised questions about Hanson’s decision.
While Hanson was posting on social media about the cost pressures facing Australian farmers and highlighting his time in some of Britain’s more struggling cities, the One Nation leader was photographed spending time poolside with his benefactor at the resort by one of the other guests.
Opposition Leader Angus Taylor suggested on Thursday that Hanson was “living” in Europe rather than dealing with comments about Senator Malcolm Roberts’ support for Vladimir Putin and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.
“The question here for Pauline Hanson is: What is she going to do about it? She’s in Italy right now,” Taylor said.
Hanson’s move to sit down with the fringe provocateur, whose appearance alongside Karl Stefanovic led to the broadcaster’s split from Nine, has exposed tensions within One Nation’s ranks after months of alignment as the party surged in the polls.
According to sources in touch with the former National, Joyce, who has allegedly reached some sort of agreement to one day lead the party, told colleagues that Hanson’s decision to appear on stage with Robinson was a misjudgment and showed a misunderstanding about voters’ attitudes.
One Nation and Joyce said the allegation was false and the pair had a trusting relationship.
Other figures associated with One Nation have also expressed dismay that Robinson’s presence alongside Hanson would damage One Nation’s reputation as the party tries to appeal to undecided voters, the sources said.
A source familiar with One Nation’s internal dynamics said: “It’s falling apart fast. Barnaby and Pauline are constantly at odds. Nobody likes Malcolm.” [Roberts] and everyone stares [James] Ashby. Throw Lee [Hanson, Pauline’s daughter] Ascension to the throne comes into the mix, and it’s not a happy place.”
Hanson was in Britain on what he described as a “truth-finding mission” that included an unreleased podcast with Robinson. He is joined by a crew from Seven’s Sunday night show. Agendahas been working with Hanson for months.
James Ashby, a senior staffer at One Nation, broke the party’s silence by telling this masthead from London that Hanson had not initially planned to meet Robinson. The Queenslander had planned to meet Nigel Farage but the Reform UK leader resigned, sparking a by-election a day before the scheduled meeting with Hanson.
“After Nigel withdrew due to the by-election he caused, Seven went looking for a fill-in,” Ashby said.
“They paid for Tommy’s hotel room to film his podcast with PH. They paid for transports to visit Luton. They paid for four British SAS security guards to accompany them and the boss. They played a huge part in making this meeting happen.”
Senior sources at Seven, who did not want to speak on the record, dismissed Ashby’s account of the incident. They claimed that Agenda the crew was invited by One Nation to see Robinson interview the party boss. Once the deal was in place, Seven said it and its own camera crew booked a hotel room to suit the podcast set-up.
Communication between Seven and One Nation ceased just days before the episode aired. A source from Seven claimed Ashby “panicked because he couldn’t control the story”. The Seven source said security was necessary to protect Seven staff walking alongside a controversial figure like Robinson.
Ashby believes this Agenda The crew allegedly acted disingenuously by pushing for the Robinson meeting and then forcing Hanson to defend him.
“I’m not going to apologize for meeting Tommy Robinson,” Hanson said in the promo.
A spokesman for Seven admitted that the network “paid for some standard production costs, including a hotel room used as a set to record interviews and security to protect Seven staff while recording on the streets of the UK”.
“The team was granted rare access to Senator Hanson abroad, resulting in a Spotlight episode that features both exciting moments and tough questions. [reporter] Liam Bartlett. “This will give Australians the chance to hear Hanson’s views shaped by his visit to the UK and understand how his new perspective can shape Australia’s future.”
Seven may face questions over its decision to facilitate a meeting with Hanson, a UK extremist convicted of a string of offenses including assaulting an off-duty police officer. It has close connections with Russia.
Hanson hugged Robinson in a video released by Hanson a week ago from the hotel room where the podcast was filmed. “There’s the famous man,” the pair said, before explaining how they supported each other through the low points of their careers. Hanson’s introduction of the meeting indicates that One Nation was pleased to face Robinson and also supported Robinson after the Stefanovic incident.
Hanson and Robinson also traveled through the streets of Luton, a town north of London. Agenda The crew needs to expose what Hanson and Robinson say is the scourge of political Islam. According to the 2021 Census, around a third of Luton’s population is Muslim.
Ashby acknowledged that “Tommy was not a perfect person” and that he “made a lot of mistakes”.
“But one thing I have witnessed with my own eyes is that I would never want Australia to end up like Luton or Tower Hamlets. [a suburb in London]Ashby said: “There is serious concern that Britain will never come back. We also learn from Tommy that the prison system has been overrun by Muslim gangs who are converting prisoners within the prison system.
“He warned that Australia should watch this scenario carefully at home. The man is not perfect, but he had enough intelligence for me to ignore it.”
In promos for the Sunday night show, Bartlett grills Hanson about his meeting with Robinson and at one point confronts Robinson, who threatens to “beat” him.
“I don’t really support what Tommy Robinson did, but I think it’s incredibly important that we understand the social dynamic and how that came about,” Joyce said Thursday.
In this imprint’s Resolve poll last month, One Nation’s primary vote fell from 29 percent to 26 percent; this mirrored similar moves in the Redbridge and YouGov polls. Hanson took a 10-point drop in his personal numbers after a difficult month following his performance at the National Press Club but remains ahead of the Coalition in most polls.
Robinson first came to prominence in the 2000s as a member of the British National Party, described by political scientists as a fascist group. He co-founded the English Defense League and organized anti-Islamic street protests in the United Kingdom. It has recently started to gain more mainstream attention as public concern about immigration and the arrival of small boats grows in the UK.
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Paul Sakkal is the Chief Political Correspondent. He has previously covered Victorian politics and won the Walkley award as well as the 2025 Press Gallery Journalist of the Year award. Contact him securely on Signal @paulsakkal.14.Connect with: X or email.
Calum Jaspan is a media writer for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, based in Melbourne. Reach him securely on Signal @calumjaspan.10Connect with: X or email.
