Pauline Hanson says she's 'never said anything racist' as she blasts state premier in fiery interview

has denied ever being a racist in a heated interview where she also offered her premier a dire warning.
The One Nation Senator said Queensland Premier David Crisafulli had taken her party for granted after she helped him secure a win at the last state election.
Senator Hanson, 71, provided the Liberal National Party with 11 seats, due to her party's preferences, to secure Crisafulli's win over Labor in October.
Without those seats he would never have won and she said the premier should thank her.
'He didn't even call,' she told the Courier Mail on Saturday.
She added that her allegiance was not a certainty, especially if she feels taken advantage of or sidelined.
Senator Hanson also rebuked any claims that she had ever been racist in the past like many others label her.
While her comments are sometimes seen as radical, the senator believes most of them have since become mainstream and so therefore they were not racist.
The Senator slammed her premier David Crisafulli for never thanking her after she helped secure his win at the last election
Senator Hanson said she had 'copped a lot of abuse' over her explosive language but it had all been worth it in the end.
'If you look back at what I've said over the years there is nothing I've said that is racist,' she said.
'To be racist is to believe that one race is superior to another, which I have never done.'
Instead she said her comments were intended to spark debate on the topics of immigration and multiculturalism.
When leaders around the world, including former Prime Minister John Howard, started critiquing the same subjects Senator Hanson said she felt vindicated.
Regardless of the negative comments surrounding her she said none of it mattered after One Nation picked up another two Senate seats at the last election.
One person who Senator Hanson said was offensive was Pauline Pantsdown, a drag queen performer who parodies her.
Senator Hanson said the performer was 'a horrible person' who has made and is still making derogatory comments about her.
Senator Hanson said she intends to quit politics when the time is right unlike Bob Katter who is still serving at the age of 79
Meanwhile, Warwick Stacey in New South Wales and Tyron Whitten, in Western Australia, were also both able to secure seats in the 2025 Australian Federal Election.
They joined Senator Hanson, who won re-election in 2022, and Senator Malcolm Roberts in parliament.
Together they have vowed to fight against net zero policies, immigration volumes and free speech.
Despite her party's successes Senator Hanson has said she had no desire to remain in politics forever.
Unlike Bob Katter, 79, who has held his seat in Queensland's north for decades, Senator Hanson said she would quit when the time is right.

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

Daily Mail​

40 minutes ago

• Daily Mail​

High-profile Aussie lawyer slams US with extraordinary comparison after 'very successful attack' on three Iranian nuclear sites

A prominent Sydney lawyer has accused Israel and the United States of being the 'Nazis' of the modern era following America's bombing of Iran. Adam Houda shared a damning tweet on Sunday morning, just minutes after US President Donald Trump announced the 'very successful attack' on three Iranian nuclear sites. 'Here we go. The USA has just entered the war. The Israel-USA alliance are the Nazis of our times. Believe it,' Mr Houda wrote. Trump revealed the US had struck the three nuclear sites - Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan - through social media, explicitly aligning himself with Israel. 'Congratulations to our great American warriors,' Trump wrote. 'There is not another military in the world that could have done this. Now is the time for peace.' Prior to Trump's announcement, Australian officials across the political spectrum had voiced concern about the rapidly intensifying situation. 'We are worried about the prospect for escalation here and this entering into some wider kind of conflict,' Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles told Sky News. 'We've been urging dialogue and diplomacy and we continue to do that now.' At least 430 people have been killed and another 3,500 injured in Iran, according to Iranian media outlet Nour New, since Israel's bombing began at 3.30am on the morning of Friday 13th, local time. Local Israeli authorities have reported 24 civilian deaths and almost 1,300 injuries. Though he hoped Iran would negotiate and surrender its nuclear program, opposition spokesman for home affairs Andrew Hastie predicted a strike would occur, mere minutes before the US president made his announcement. 'I suspect diplomacy is probably going to fail here and we're going to see a strike of some sort,' he told ABC's Insiders. 'The next two weeks is going to be tough for innocent people in Israel and Iran who are caught in the middle of this war.' The federal government has repeatedly insisted Australia is not a central player in the conflict, which was triggered in mid June when the Israeli military launched attacks on Iran in what it claimed was a bid to wipe out Iran's nuclear program. Australia has deployed defence assets to the region to assist in evacuation efforts, with Foreign Minister Penny Wong repeatedly maintaining they are not there to engage in combat. Hastie, a former Special Air Service Regiment troop commander during the war in Afghanistan, said he would be reluctant to send in troops and called for Australia to more clearly define its alliance with the US. 'I think we need to talk about operationalising the alliance - building guardrails for combat operations and of course, defining our sovereignty,' he said. 'We're not just a vassal state, we're an ally and a partner.' Marles maintained Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile program was 'most definitely a threat' to the peace and stability of the world, while also expressing concern about the conflict's escalation. 'We recognise Israel's right to defend itself and we very much acknowledge the risk that the Iranian nuclear and ballistic missile program represents,' he said. But now that it appears the dominoes have begun to fall, the world could soon have to reckon with the consequences, Hastie warned. 'I think it's very dangerous and risky,' he said. 'We could see regime change, we could see a collapse of the Iranian regime, we'd see large-scale migration and refugees across the world, but particularly Europe.' About 2,600 Australians in Iran are seeking assisted departures from the region, alongside about 1,200 in Israel, as the government urges travellers not to venture to either nation. Staff from the Department of Foreign Affairs have evacuated the Tehran embassy and are helping Australians leave through the border in Azerbaijan. Some Australians have already left through land crossings, but the government is also poised to help citizens leave once the airspace over both nations reopens.

The Guardian

3 hours ago

• The Guardian

Australia says Iran's nuclear program ‘a threat to international peace' after US launches attacks and threatens more

The federal government has called for 'de-escalation, dialogue and diplomacy' after the US bombed Iran, as almost 4,000 Australian citizens attempt to escape the conflict zone. Donald Trump said the US had 'totally obliterated' key Iranian nuclear enrichment facilities after directly intervening to aid Israel's mission to destroy Tehran's nuclear program. Trump said Iran, which he called 'the bully of the Middle East', 'must make peace'. 'If they do not, future attacks will be far greater and a lot easier. For 40 years, Iran has been saying death to America, death to Israel.' In a statement issued after Trump's White House address, a federal government spokesperson did not explicitly endorse the strikes, but reiterated Australia's position on the risk posed by Iran's nuclear program. 'We have been clear that Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile program has been a threat to international peace and security,' a government spokesperson said. 'We note the US president's statement that now is the time for peace. The security situation in the region is highly volatile. We continue to call for de-escalation, dialogue and diplomacy.' Speaking before news of the bombings broke, the defence minister, Richard Marles, refused to be drawn on whether a US attack would be justified. However, while repeating calls for a de-escalation in the conflict, Marles restated the government's position that Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile program was a threat to the region and 'stability of the world'. The government last week deployed Australian Defence Force (ADF) personnel to the Middle East to help evacuate citizens stuck in Israel and Iran amid the latest escalation in the conflict. The number of Australian citizens seeking government help to evacuate the Middle East had reached 3,800 as of Sunday morning, including 2,600 people in Iran and 1,200 in Israel. Marles confirmed chartered civilian aircraft were ready to depart as soon as airspace over Iran and Israel reopened. 'Australians in Israel and Iran and the region should continue to monitor public safety information provided by local authorities, including to shelter in place when required,' the government spokesperson said on Sunday. 'The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade will be communicating directly with registered Australians about preparations for assisted departures.' Also speaking before Trump's announcement on the US strikes, the acting shadow foreign minister, Andrew Hastie, said he agreed with the government that Iran should not have nuclear weapons; that Israel had a right to defend itself; and that the war should end. A former special forces soldier who served in Afghanistan, Hastie said he would be 'very hesitant' to put Australian troops on the ground in the Middle East. The international law expert Prof Donald Rothwell said it was 'virtually impossible' to mount a case that the US strikes were legal under international law. Under article 51 of the UN charter, states can use force to defend themselves from an armed attack. International law experts say the charter does not provide a broader right to pre-emptive attacks, such as the strikes Israel, and now the US, have launched on Iran. Rothwell, a professor at the Australian National University, said given there had been no direct threat from Iran towards the US then Trump's attack could not be justified. 'It's virtually impossible, I think, for the United States to mount any credible legal argument [for the strikes] on that basis,' he said. Rothwell said the US attacks could set a precedent for how other countries would use self-defence arguments as cover for pre-emptive attacks. 'The really concerning aspect of this is the precedent it sets. If the United States can do this, and this is a precedent that the United States is taking in terms of its interpretation of self-defence, or the way in which you can use force, then other states will take that into account in terms of how they consider their own future conduct.' The Australian Greens leader, Larissa Waters, said the federal government should condemn the US attacks which she described as a 'terrifying and catastrophic escalation'. 'From Iraq to Afghanistan, we have seen Australia follow the US into devastating and brutal wars that have done untold damage to the people of the Middle East,' she said. 'We know that you cannot bomb your way to peace.'

Daily Mail​

4 hours ago

• Daily Mail​

BREAKING NEWS Anthony Albanese's government responds to Trump's attack on Iran - and the one thing it DIDN'T say

The Albanese Government has issued its first statement regarding the American bombing of Iran. American President Donald Trump announced the 'very successful attack' on three Iranian nuclear sites Sunday morning, AEST, drawing a clear alliance with Israel. An Australian Government spokesperson told the Sydney Morning Herald just hours later that it has 'been clear that Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile program has been a threat to international peace and security'. 'We note the US president's statement that now is the time for peace. The security situation in the region is highly volatile,' they said. 'We continue to call for de-escalation, dialogue and diplomacy. 'Australians in Israel and Iran and the region should continue to monitor public safety information provided by local authorities, including to shelter in place when required. 'The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade will be communicating directly with registered Australians about preparations for assisted departures.' However, the government stopped short of expressing its support for the attack. More to come... The Albanese Government has commented on America's bombing of Iran