There has been widespread condemnation for One Nation as politicians demand answers from Pauline Hanson amid revelations her party sought foreign funding to change Australia’s gun laws.
Secret recordings of senior One Nation figures revealed the party wanted millions of dollars in political donations from America’s National Rifle Association (NRA) and discussed softening its policies on gun ownership as it tried to secure the funding.
Liberal Cabinet minister Simon Birmingham said Senator Hanson must explain why One Nation wanted donations from the powerful American gun lobby.
“Pauline Hanson should clearly front the camera today. She should explain whether or not she was truly seeking an amazing $20 million in foreign donations to One Nation, to her political party,” he said.
“Whether or not she was again seeking to personally profit from an election campaign.
“Whether or not she believes we should be weakening Australia’s gun laws.”
The secret recording of Senator Hanson’s chief of staff James Ashby and the party’s Queensland leader Steve Dickson was broadcast as part of an undercover Al Jazeera investigation.
That investigation, which will air tonight on the ABC, involved setting up a fake gun lobby group called Gun Rights Australia headed by a fake gun rights advocate, Rodger Muller.
“We have reports that One Nation officials basically sought to sell Australia’s gun laws to the highest bidders, to a foreign buyer, and I find that abhorrent,” Prime Minister Scott Morrison said.
“When John Howard put those laws in under a Coalition government, they were put in to protect Australians.
But Mr Morrison again was unable to confirm if the Coalition would preference One Nation last at the federal election.
He said it would be decided after all candidates had nominated.
Deputy Nationals leader Bridget McKenzie, an avid sport shooting enthusiast, demanded Senator Hanson reveal whether she knew her staff were trying to secure foreign political donations.
“Were they acting on her instructions? Did she know they were there?” Senator McKenzie asked on Sky News.
The efforts to solicit money from the NRA and other US gun advocates took place just weeks before Australia’s Federal Parliament changed electoral laws to ban foreign donations to political parties.
Senator Hanson supported that change when she voted in the Parliament.
There is no evidence One Nation was successful in any of its efforts to extract funding from the NRA, Koch Industries or any of the other American groups the two men met on their trip.
“This is exactly why our Government introduced foreign donation legislation, to ban this type of foreign influence in our political system,” Senator McKenzie told the ABC.
But she said it would be a matter for National Party state divisions to determine where they preferenced One Nation candidates at the next election.
Earlier in the day Mr Morrison tweeted that the revelations were “deeply concerning” and Attorney-General Christian Porter said “there is a real question that needs to be answered here”.
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said he was horrified by the revelations and would consider moving a censure motion against One Nation when Parliament resumes.
“One Nation is a dangerous circus … they are extremists, they’ve been caught out being extremists,” he said.
“I think it was a betrayal of the Australian political system, what are these right-wing extremists thinking?”
In a statement, One Nation claimed Al Jazeera was meddling in the upcoming federal election and said it had referred the media company to ASIO.
Mr Ashby accused the broadcaster of being “a state-owned propaganda arm of the Qatari Government that supports Islamic extremist groups and are not a legitimate media organisation”.
“It is understood One Nation was targeted because of its strong approach to reducing immigration numbers and a travel ban on countries with terrorism links,” the statement said.
“One Nation strongly supports the rights of lawful gun ownership within Australia and have clearly outlined our policy on our website. One Nation members have always complied with the law.”
The ABC has sought further comment from Senator Hanson.
“What a hypocrite One Nation and Pauline Hanson are. What this shows is just how phony their policies are,” Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young said.
She demanded Mr Morrison pledge to put One Nation last on his party’s how-to-vote cards at the election, a call Mr Shorten has also made.
Agriculture Minister David Littleproud, a Queensland Nationals MP, echoed Senator Hanson-Young’s critique of One Nation.
“When you see the hypocrisy, when you see on December 20, 2017 a One Nation post saying they are against foreign donations to political parties, then you have got to ask some questions — please explain?” he said.abcnews