Pauline shines in the political gutter, enjoying spoils from wealthy donors

Deputy editor Belinda Jones writes that Australians want a leader with the intelligence to read, understand and convey important information without misunderstanding, spreading lies and causing unnecessary anger among Australians.

PAULINE HANSON has just returned from it.finding facts“trip to the UK and Europe, ostensibly to join Opening Far Right CPAC England. His trip also included interviews with far-right figures in the UK tommy robinson, Holly Valance And Rupert Lowe and a luxury holiday with Gina Rinehart in Sicily.

Hanson used this trip to throw shade at Australia at every opportunity. This from the woman who claims to love her country.

Lately UK CPAC address Hanson once again spoke to an almost empty room about the “18,000 people” on ASIO’s terrorism watchlist. refuted In Senate Estimates ASIO manager Mike Burgess.

But Hanson proudly claims to disagree He lies about Senate Estimates (even though that’s part of the job taxpayers pay him for) and about how much he attends Senate sitting days, so he continues to strut his stuff on the world stage by spreading lies about Australia and refusing to apologize for it. This is not honesty, this is ignorance and it’s annoying.

Maybe if Hanson actually came to work more often he might have a better understanding of the issues Australia is dealing with.

Hanson said he first learned that “18,000 people” were on the terrorism watch list in early 2026; This lie in March 2026 Categorically rejected in predictionsBut Hanson continues to spread this disinformation.

There is currently less than 100 Australians He is on ASIO’s terrorism watch list, according to his director.

Hanson’s confusion about this vital statistic can probably be explained in one of two ways.

The first possible explanation is that ASIO confuses the total number of people investigated by ASIO for many different reasons over many years with the current watchlist.

Or, secondly, and most likely, he confused Australian statistics with US statistics. Around the same time Hanson started quoting these fake statistics, there was a similar story quoting a figure from the United States. 18 thousand people are on the terrorism watch list.

It is very worrying that Hanson either does not understand the critical information made public by Australia’s security agencies or does not have wise enough advisors to explain it to him.

This is a huge problem for any politician aiming to become Prime Minister. Prime Ministers must be able to understand the information given to them by Australian security agencies regarding national security; In Hanson’s case, he demonstrated this basic inability to understand critical and highly sensitive information.

In March 2019, Hanson gave an 18-minute diatribe to the media just before its release and took no questions. Al Jazeera’S. How to Sell a Massacre program. The program exposed One Nation James Ashby And Steve Dickson I’m trying to get foreign donations from the US National Rifle Association (NRA) For One Nation.

Hanson said the program was an operation and that he was invited but refused to participate because:

“I felt there was no point in talking to Americans while my constituents were in Australia.”

Hanson apparently sees the political value in visiting the US or UK.

As well as his recent two-week trip to the UK and Europe, Hanson has previously visited the US with mining magnate Gina Rinehart. Skipping Parliament sitting days to attend CPAC At Trump’s Mar-a-Lago. This trip meant he had to miss two weeks of Parliament sitting. He used the opportunity to trash Australia and praise Donald Trump.

To date, Hanson has not provided any updates to his pecuniary interests register to reflect who paid for his recent trip to the UK and Europe, but has claimed taxpayers did not pay for his luxury resort in Sicily, implying taxpayers will pay for the UK leg.

Hanson was Has been negligent in updating interests in the pastoften sending information beyond the official time limit or not sending it at all.

While Hanson was away, another One Nation Senator Malcolm RobertsThe Far Right was attracting media attention with its conspiracy theories and Barnaby Joyce (usually the person at the center of the scandal) attempted to clear up the media fallout of Hanson’s trip.

Joyce’s frustration was clearly visible on his ABC 7.30 report with sarah ferguson when he strangely bellowed at a dog in the middle of an interview.

Ferguson also questioned him about something. $40,000 check from Gina Rinehart He received it in 2017. Joyce said he returned the money “immediately” following the political backlash. Joyce couldn’t explain why it was unacceptable for her to accept Gina’s check, but it was okay for Hanson to receive millions of dollars in luxury vacations and gifts — including a private plane with an estimated value of $1.50 and $2.1 million from Gina Rinehart.

Essentially, One Nation’s problems revolve around the fact that it has very poor advisors who have allowed Hanson to flaunt nonsense and lies on the world stage. The common denominator here is Hanson’s Chief of Staff. James Ashby.

Ashby has been an advisor to Hanson for many years and has demonstrated through events such as the NRA scandal or more recently: Kick the ABC team out of the press conferenceThat he had incredible power over Hanson.

The pattern here seems to be that Hanson acts on Ashby’s advice, things inevitably go wrong, and then Hanson must “clarify” his words, his position, or the reasons for the latest show or media fiasco.

Hanson’s trip to the UK and Europe also proves that he lacks the political sense to change his position even though his circumstances have changed.

While One Nation has surged in the polls, the party has not upped its game either; Hanson has doubled down and “refuses to apologize” for anything she said or did, including hanging out with convicted felon and racist Tommy Robinson.

Australians are asking themselves whether Hanson is truly fit to lead. Latest polls It shows that the answers are definitely negative.

Australians can see that Hanson’s money trail leads directly to Gina Rinehart, and they want to know what that trail is. unrequited Hanson won’t reveal this.

Australians want a leader who is not constantly given bad advice or easily dragged into embarrassing or controversial situations with questionable characters.

Hanson has not built a solid team of restrained advisors around himself and relies mostly on Ashby; Ashby’s advice seems to consistently provide the reason why he’s constantly engaging in damage control.

Australians want a leader whose focus is on Australians, not one who goes on the world stage and attends eye-wateringly expensive think tank conferences just to denigrate Australia.

Australians want a leader who is not beholden to billionaire backers, who is honest about expensive gifts and what billionaires want in return for those gifts.

Instead of partying and taking luxury holidays with Gina Rinehart and Donald Trump, Australians want their elected senate representatives to come to work and do their bloody job. They don’t want their potential leaders to hang out with five-time convicted felons and accused racists. visa rejection twice because they failed Australia’s character test.

Australians want a leader with the intelligence to read, understand and reference important information such as statistics and national security briefings without misunderstanding, spreading lies and causing unnecessary anxiety among Australians.

Australians have given Hanson a window of opportunity to surge ahead in the polls and show voters what he has to offer. Unfortunately, Hanson proves that the culture war cannot escape its political impasse. He can’t take any steps.

This is a shortened version of the editorial originally published in the Independent Australia weekly newsletter, which can be read online in the IA members-only area.

Belinda Jones is IA deputy editor, a former teacher and federal political candidate. You can follow Belinda Jones on Twitter @belindajones68.

Support independent journalism Subscribe to IA.