Pauline Hanson, Gina Rinehart spotted at Sicily’s Grand Hotel San Pietro

Updated July 16, 2026 — 10:50,

One Nation leader Pauline Hanson took a break from her UK speaking tour to spend time with billionaire philanthropist Gina Rinehart at a luxury resort in Sicily.

Photos published on Instagram and appearing for the first time Australian Financial Review It shows Hanson spending time poolside at the Grand Hotel San Pietro in the resort town of Taormina, while Rinehart swims.

One Nation leader Pauline Hanson was spotted with mining magnate Gina Rinehart in Italy.

Mining magnate Gina Rinehart poolside in Italy.

Rinehart was in Taormina for the fashion show organized by the Italian brand Dolce & Gabbana on Monday. Rinehart is known to wear high-end brands and once made headlines by appearing at an event. CEO Magazine Sydney’s 2022 Executive of the Year in $1600 jeweled Dolce & Gabbana thongs.

Hanson did not flag the trip on social media, although he posted on X and Instagram the same day about supermarkets squeezing local farmers for profits and threats of foreign ownership.

The One Nation leader has been abroad since parliament went into winter recess almost two weeks ago and has met with Britain’s far-right leaders.

He was filmed interviewing anti-Islamic extremist and convicted criminal Tommy Robinson. The podcast has not yet been released, but Robinson praised Hanson as “one of the bravest women on the planet” and Australia’s future leader.

Mining magnate Gina Rinehart takes a dip in the hotel pool.

Hanson’s trip proved controversial, as many polls showed a decline in his popularity, which had soared following his historic speech to the National Press Club.

Resolve Political Monitor’s exclusive poll shows that support for One Nation fell by three points to 26 per cent in July, while support for the Coalition rose by the same amount to 23 per cent. Labor support remained steady at 28 per cent, while the Greens were unchanged at 12 per cent.

Hanson, who was nominated as the preferred prime minister in June when Resolve included him alongside Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Opposition Leader Angus Taylor, saw his support drop by 8 points to 25 percent in July.

Other polls recording One Nation’s decline this month include SkyPulse, Redbridge and Newspoll.

Hanson did not respond to questions about her colleague, Senator Malcolm Roberts, who was under pressure about his praise of a notorious anti-Semitic image he shared on his social media accounts or podcasts in which he praised Russian President Vladimir Putin for invading Ukraine, endorsing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and insisting the US is controlled by a “globalist” sect of bankers.

Roberts’ frequent use of anti-Semitic imagery and conspiracies was condemned by the Executive Council of Australian Jews and the Anti-Defamation Commission.

Asked about his leader’s trip to Europe on Thursday, One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce defended Hanson’s meetings with people such as British anti-Islam activist Tommy Robinson.

“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 of the convicted felon.

“Tommy Robinson exists only because of the fractious nature of where England have become, and to deny that is to deny the facts. What we need to do in Australia is to make sure we don’t repeat the social disharmony that led to this.”

Grand Hotel San Pietro in Taormina, Sicily, Italy.

Asked whether Hanson had also met with Islamic leaders while in the UK, Joyce told Channel Seven the One Nation leader had “definitely spoken to people in the Islamic community”. Agenda The program demonstrating this will be released soon.

Regarding One Nation senator Malcolm Roberts sharing an image of a notorious anti-Semitic mural and describing it as the “most powerful” image he has ever seen, as this byline reveals, Joyce said: “I’m not here to start laying the carpet on Malcolm. I’m not going to do that.”