Pauline Hanson reveals celebrities interested in running for One Nation
Updated . First published at
Pauline Hanson said she does not want Coalition MPs joining One Nation as she vets thousands of candidates – some with “celebrity status” – ahead of the federal election.
The right-wing leader’s meteoric rise in popularity has snowballed into more than $4.2 million in donations and one poll that showed she has overtaken Anthony Albanese as the preferred prime minister.
Pauline Hanson speaking to 2GB Radio this morning. 2GB
Speaking to 2GB this morning, she admitted Barnaby Joyce’s defection from the Nationals to One Nation had given her party credibility.
She said less than five Coalition MPs have discussed a possible switch to One Nation - but she did not want them.
“I’m not chasing them. I don’t want them,” she said.
Hanson is currently vetting about 1500 candidates ahead of the next election and said some of them have been “quite prominent people”.
“You’ll be surprised who actually wants to, but they’re not going to get it just because there’s celebrity status of who they are,” she said.
Hanson has left the door open to working with Opposition Leader Angus Taylor to oust Labor at the next federal election.
Under her proposal, One Nation and the Coalition would add their numbers together to form a government.
She told 2GB that One Nation and the Coalition would form a government together in the most decisive remarks about their potential team-up since her recent rise.
“We formulate and put our numbers together to be able to go to the Governor General and say we can form a government,” she said, adding whoever had the most numbers would be prime minister.
According to the latest polls that show One Nation ahead of the Coalition, Hanson would be prime minister over Taylor under that scenario.
Opposition Leader Angus Taylor during question time at Parliament House in Canberra Alex Ellinghausen
Hanson, however, has not discussed this plan with Taylor and said the pair have not spoken since he was the environmental minister in 2019.
Joyce this morning said it was a possibility that Hanson could move from the Senate to the House of Representatives at the next election.
“I’m sure if the polling is right, that’s an absolute possibility. I’ll leave that up to Pauline and whether she decides to do that,” he told Today.
“Obviously, lower house campaigns are different to Senate campaigns.
“We’ll see how that goes. I’ll leave that up to her. I just don’t want to get too far ahead.”
Hanson shuts down celebrity chef’s claim
Celebrity chef Neil Perry, who is behind restaurants like Spice Temple, Rockpool and Margaret, said he would leave Australia if Hanson is elected prime minister.
“If she is, I won’t be living in Australia,” he told Empact News.
Perry said he was not shocked to learn Hanson has raised millions and pointed to populism in the US.
“Look what’s going on in America. How could you be shocked by anything that goes on in the world today?” he said.
Celebrity chef Neil Perry during a street interview. Empact News
“I think what happened in the budget and what happened to business owners and people have made investments, and you know, a lot of that’s just been thrown out the window, but you know it doesn’t mean we have to turn into what the rest of the world’s turned into.”
Hanson told 2GB the comments are not a concern for her.
“So what? That doesn’t worry me. I couldn’t care less,” she said.
“What’s his problem?”
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