Pauline Hanson shares Seven pitch for Spotlight special that says program would highlight ‘uncontrolled immigration’ | Pauline Hanson

He urged A Seven producer Pauline Hanson to travel to Britain to meet Nigel Farage and film a Spotlight special highlighting so-called “uncontrolled immigration”, according to a statement shared by the One Nation leader on social media.

The conversation also suggested that Seven could cover some of the travel costs of the One Nation leader and his team, and that the show had asked the Reform UK leader to “invite Ms Hanson to Britain”.

The current affairs program strongly supported the anti-immigration stance and said they had the facts to prove what was “the backbone of our story”. The phrase “uncontrolled migration” was used seven times in the email.

Senior producer Luke Mortimer said the program would “show the pressure that uncontrolled migration is putting on our infrastructure” and what Australia will allegedly face “if we don’t take back control of who comes into our country”.

“Voters in Britain are seeing boatloads of migrants, mostly young men from the Middle East and Africa, crossing the Channel and seaside towns being turned into camps for people claiming refugee status,” Mortimer said in a speech. shared on Facebook page On Monday.

This is the latest flashpoint between Hanson and Spotlight after the special aired on Sunday, and another example of One Nation trying to clarify or explain away parts of its recent European trip.

Hanson’s Facebook post follows a Sky News interview on Monday in which One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce claimed Seven had pressured Hanson to appear on Tommy Robinson’s podcast, repeating a claim made by Hanson’s chief of staff James Ashby last week. “I inferred that this was a suggestion from Spotlight rather than a suggestion from Pauline,” Joyce said.

A spokesman for Seven told Guardian Australia last week that Hanson had been granted rare access abroad and paid for some production costs, but would not confirm the organization of the meeting.

Despite the producer’s sympathetic approach, Hanson was quizzed by reporter Liam Bartlett about why he had met Robinson, a man with violent criminal convictions and seen as too extreme for Nigel Farage’s right-wing UK Reform Party.

In the post, Hanson asks her followers “does last night’s show reflect their presentation?” he asks.

Bartlett told the audience that Hanson was supposed to meet Farage but the meeting was canceled because he resigned from the UK parliament and called a by-election in the face of financial scrutiny.

Seven confirmed it was a Spotlight conversation but distanced itself from the leaked email, saying it was one of hundreds of communications between Seven and Hanson’s team ahead of the show.

In the email, Mortimer appears to imply that the program will fund Hanson’s trip to the UK. “We can discuss travel arrangements,” Mortimer said.

Seven refused to pay Hanson’s travel expenses.

“Many if not hundreds of emails, phone calls and texts were sent over six months to edit this Spotlight special, with many developments in the news cycle leading to what aired last night,” a spokesperson for Seven said in a statement on Monday.

“Spotlight is proud to have produced a balanced piece of journalism that left Senator Hanson highly questioning but also allowed his views to be explored and heard in a highly rated special, and we thank Senator Hanson for his candid outreach.”

The email from Mortimer repeats the talking points of One Nation and anti-immigration activists and claims that many Australians are unhappy with immigration levels.

“Many Australians would be shocked to know our figures are already further down that line, with 38.1% of Greater Sydney born overseas,” he said. “Council areas like Strathfield have almost 60% of their foreign-born population.”

The program suggested Farage and Hanson be flown to the English seaside town of Bournemouth; where it was claimed that “more than 50% of foreign-born residents have increased, and thousands of them are being housed in hotels at taxpayer expense.”

Instead, the program filmed Hanson and Robinson walking through Luton, 50km north of London, which has a significant Muslim population.

“I hate seeing burqas,” Hanson said on camera.

“These women are covering up, I can’t stand it… I don’t want this to happen in Australia.”

Bartlett also asked Hanson for his opinion on the “concept of mass deportation.”

“Oh, I love this,” he said, but explained that it was targeting “those who are in the country illegally.”

When asked Monday night about his stance on Hanson’s comments about Muslims, Joyce initially acknowledged that Robinson had done “some things” that were “fundamentally unlawful” but said Hanson “did not condone every action by Tommy Robinson. I don’t think that was ever said.”

Hanson and his colleagues spent days explaining or going back over headline-making parts of his European trip, including the Robinson interview, his comments about the White Australia policy, his appearance at the Dolce & Gabbana fashion show and the time he spent by a hotel pool in Italy with mining billionaire Gina Rinehart.