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AUSPOLLIEWATCH EVERY CLAIM LINKS TO ITS SOURCE · NOT A SCORECARD

Portrait of Pauline Hanson

Pauline Hanson

Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party · Senate · QLD · incumbent

Pauline Hanson was born Pauline Lee Seccombe on 27 May 1954 in Woolloongabba, a suburb of Brisbane, the fifth of seven children of Jack and Norah Seccombe, who owned a fish and chip shop in Ipswich where the children worked from a young age. She attended Buranda Girls' School and then Coorparoo State High School, leaving school at age 15 shortly before her first marriage and pregnancy. She later worked at Woolworths and in bookkeeping and secretarial roles at Taylors Elliotts Ltd, a subsidiary of Drug Houses of Australia. [source]

Ran the administrative side of a roof-plumbing business, then owned a fish and chip shop at Silkstone, Ipswich, sold on her election in 1996. Ipswich City Council councillor 1994-1995; member for Oxley 1996-1998; leader of One Nation 1997-2002 and again since 29 November 2014. Senator for Queensland since 2 July 2016. [source]

Sourced positions

A verified position is the member's own stated view or vote, supported by the listed sources. This page records public statements and conduct only — see methodology.

Immigration verified

Hanson advocates drastically reduced immigration, having called for capping immigration (75,000 in 2018; 130,000 in 2025). In a June 2026 speech she declared Australia "cannot be a multicultural society" and must become monocultural. She has called for a ban on Muslim immigration and has stated Australia is "in danger of being swamped" by groups she says do not assimilate. Per reporting on a September 2025 Senate immigration inquiry she backed, her broader advocacy includes deeper migration cuts, an eight-year wait for citizenship and welfare, and withdrawal from the UN Refugee Convention.

Economic nationalism verified

In a May 2026 interview, Hanson said 'I don't believe foreigners should own any housing in Australia or our farming land', and proposed giving foreign owners two years to sell or have property repossessed by the government (later clarifying this would apply to temporary visa holders and foreigners living overseas, not permanent residents). In a December 2020 media release she also opposed 'predatory foreign investment' and foreign takeovers of Australian businesses across sectors including manufacturing and mining.

Foreign policy & aid verified

Hanson has said foreign aid should be judged by whether "it's spent well" and that Australia should "clean up our own backyard first"; One Nation's platform calls for a large cut to the aid budget. She has raised concern about aid-recipient nations also accepting Chinese aid. On the Middle East she has called for Palestinians on temporary visas to be repatriated now the Gaza conflict has ended, saying "charity begins at home".

Freedom of speech verified

Voted for the second reading of the Human Rights Legislation Amendment Bill 2017, which proposed replacing 'offend, insult, humiliate' with 'harass' in section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act (Senate, 30 March 2017; Ayes 32, Noes 29). Voted for Schedule 1 of that bill to stand as printed, the provision making the substitution; the Schedule was negatived and the change did not proceed (Senate, in committee, 30-31 March 2017; Ayes 28, Noes 31).

reported · pending AEC disclosure

Not part of the verified AEC record. Recorded from media reporting, pending the relevant AEC annual return (2025–26 receipts are expected around February 2027). Figures and details below are not yet verified.

  • Media reporting states that senior figures connected to Gina Rinehart's Hancock group made large donations to Pauline Hanson's One Nation during 2025-26, reported as approximately $500,000 each. Reporting attributes the donations to Hancock-linked executives (named in the reporting as Adam Giles, chief executive of Hancock Agriculture and a former Northern Territory Chief Minister, and Hancock director Ian Plimer) rather than to Gina Rinehart personally or to Hancock Prospecting as a company. The individual donor identities and amounts have not been confirmed against an AEC return.

    AEC 2025-26 detailed receipts have not yet been published (expected around February 2027), so the donors, amounts and financial year are not yet verifiable against the primary AEC record. The final disclosed figures are yet to be verified. Donor names and amounts here are drawn from media reporting that could not be retrieved directly for confirmation.

  • Media reporting states that Senator Pauline Hanson and her chief of staff James Ashby travelled to the United States in late October 2025 aboard Gina Rinehart's private jet to attend the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), with the flight reported as departing around 27 October 2025. The reporting raised questions about whether the sponsored travel was declared on the Senate register of interests as required by parliamentary rules. Whether and how the travel was disclosed has not been confirmed against the register.

    This is reported in-kind travel, not a monetary donation, and would appear (if at all) on the Senate register of members' interests rather than in an AEC detailed-receipts return. The report could not be retrieved directly for confirmation, and the register entry has not been checked. The final position is yet to be verified.

  • Media and Rinehart-aligned outlets report public expressions of support from Gina Rinehart for Pauline Hanson and One Nation during 2025-26, including reported praise of Hanson and a reported symbolic gift (a toy bulldozer). These are expressions of political support and are noted for context; they are not disclosable donations and do not carry a monetary value in the AEC record.

    Public endorsement noted for context only; not a disclosable donation. The primary source could not be retrieved directly for confirmation, so the wording and date are yet to be verified.

Record last updated 2026-08-13.