Surging One Nation leader Pauline Hanson lays down ‘monocultural’ vision for Australia on big stage

Surging One Nation leader Pauline Hanson lays down ‘monocultural’ vision for Australia on big stage

One Nation leader Pauline Hanson been ambushed on stage amid the biggest speech of her political career as she axed a welcome to country, railed against radical Islam and urged Australia “must be monocultural”.

“Don’t expect a divisive welcome to country from me,” she told the National Press Club in Canberra on opening. “This beautiful country belongs to all Australians born here, and those who have come to join us.

“I would like to acknowledge the men and women that have sacrificed their lives for our democracy, our freedom, for our country, and also to those migrants, those people that have worked extremely hard and those Australians born here with their blood, sweat, and tears to build this nation into the beautiful country that it is today.”

Ms Hanson – taking to the stage amid pressure to unveil her vision for Australia and in a bid to bolster her credentials as a potential Prime Minister – faced protestors calling her “racist” on arrival.

And then as she was delivering her address, a protest banner was unfurled behind her on stage reading: “I opposed a pay rise for workers when I took a $100,000 payrise for myself.”

Ms Hanson didn’t skip a beat mid-speech as a kerfuffle unfolded with the sign.

National Press Club CEO Maurice Reilly quickly had it ripped down, saying: “We are not doing stunts, we are at the Press Club.”

She turned, said “thank you very much” and carried on seemingly unfazed

Later, she defended her voting record on workers rights while vowing to “completely overhaul” Australia’s industrial relations system in favour of businesses.

When asked about her voting record – in which she has previously criticised increasing the minimum wage and voted against casual workers’ rights legislation and protections for gig economy workers – Senator Hanson said the status quo was not working for small businesses which could not afford to pay their workers.

She said there needed to be a balance between businesses and workers.

“Industrial relations, I can assure you, needs a complete overhaul, because it’s not working. Businesses also tell me it’s not working,” she said.

“Businesses also tell me you can’t sack people these days. They’re on their phones, they don’t work, they don’t turn up, they actually are lazy, and businesses are tied to it. They’ve had enough.”

HANSON AMBUSH CULPRIT: ‘IT WAS US’

Left-wing protest group GetUp later took responsibility for the protest stunt, with a statement by GetUp CEO Paul Ferris saying “it was us… and this is why”.

“Pauline Hanson has built her entire brand on being for the battlers. But her record tells a different story,” he said. “One Nation has consistently opposed wage rises, affordable childcare, increases to the aged pension, and housing affordability measures.

“We thought the occasion deserved some honesty. So we provided it.”

The Australian Federal Police is now investigating the ambush.

Ms Hanson’s address comes after an historic surge at the polls for the minor party, placing One Nation ahead of Labor and Ms Hanson ahead of Anthony Albanese as preferred Prime Minister.

HANSON’S VISION: ‘AUSTRALIA MUST BE MONOCULTURAL’

Ms Hanson has used her speech to say Australia “cannot be a multicultural society” and “must be monocultural”.

Railing against immigration, she said the country’s current migration policies were creating a major crisis where “Western civilisation and its values are under siege”.

“Undeniably, immigration or immigration policy has our country in the state of crisis,” she said.

“At the centre of this crisis is the utterly flawed policy of multiculturalism. We cannot be a multicultural society.

“We are a multiracial society, but we must be monocultural. Australians must live under the one cultural umbrella.”

Ms Hanson pointed to the vast number of languages spoken in Australia in arguing multiculturalism had failed.

“How can you generate social cohesion if people can’t speak the language in that same Census,” she said

“872,000 people self-reported as speaking English not well, or not at all, under the failed policy of multiculturalism. All cultures are allowed equivalence to ours.

“We oppose entirely people coming into this country and bringing with them the troubles they have left behind coming to this country and ignoring our values, our language, our traditions, our dress and the fact that we are predominantly a Judeo-Christian society.

“I will not walk away from my commitment to get rid of this social cancer,” she told the crowd.

HIGH IMMIGRATION KILLS HOUSING DREAM

On Australia housing shortages, she said: “The (Housing Industry Association) HIA says the underlying problem we have is trying to fit 11 million households into 10 million homes.

“Unsustainable demand has been driven by several factors, but the biggest is high immigration.”

She repeatedly targeted the Albanese Government’s migration intake.

“Net overseas migration in the first three years under this Albanese Labor government has totalled 1.27 million people.

“Let me repeat that – 1.27 million people under this current government.”

‘NOT SO SMART’ LABOR BUDGET — ‘PULL THEIR HEADS IN’

She ripped into the recent Chalmers Budget, saying proposed changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax would drive up rental prices by driving investment away from the housing market.

Ms Hanson accused the “not so smart thinkers in the Albanese government” of looking to alter the tax regime instead of targeting immigration levels to crack the housing crisis.

“We haven’t been able to house everyone already here, yet Labor has been bringing more than 1375 people per day for the past three years,” she said.

Ms Hanson later added she did not believe it was appropriate for government to be able to have greater influence over the Reserve Bank’s interest rate decisions.

She affirmed her support for the central bank’s independence, arguing RBA governor Michelle Bullock had been forced into interest rate hikes by high government spending.

“The RBA is totally different to the executive of the government…so you shouldn’t be influencing and telling them what to do,” she said.

“What the government has to do is pull their heads in with their spending. I’d get rid of the climate change department, the Aboriginal department and those stupid education and health department duplications, that are duplicated with the states.”

ATTACK ON HATE PREACHERS

Ms Hanson has used her speech to sharpen her attack in Islamic hate preachers, saying her party would prevent migration from areas with radical Islam.

She said those who “hate this country” should be removed from Australia.

“If they have arrived here, they will be deported. If they were born here, they will face the full force of the law … I will not walk away from my commitment to get rid of this social cancer.”

Ms Hanson’s comments come after the federal government strengthened hate speech laws following the Bondi terror attack. Home Affairs Tony Burke introduced laws earlier this year expanding his powers to cancel visas and deport non-citizens who spout hate speech. One Nation opposed this legislation at the time.

BRITAIN, FRANCE ARE ‘ABSOLUTE S—THOLES’

Ms Hanson has said she does not want Australia to be overwhelmed by Muslim migration, describing other nations that she feels have been as “absolute s–tholes”.

When asked whether she thought Australia was in danger of being swamped by Muslim migration, she replied: “Not if I got any say in it”.

She said she did not want Australia to become like “Britain, Canada, France and Germany”.

“They’re all just absolute s***holes and I don’t want Australia to become like that.

“It’s radical Islam that is my grave concern.”

CLIMATE CHANGE ‘HOAX’

Ms Hanson used her speech to label climate change as “a hoax”, going against the views of the rest of the political establishment.

She said consumers are being smashed with higher energy prices as a direct result of the “hoax of global warming”, vowing to end government subsidies for renewable energy and transmission projects.

Ms Hanson said she believed Australians were struggling under financial stress due to the government’s climate policy.

“Put bluntly, these figures derive because of one policy, above all others, the hoax of global warming which is now climate change,” she said.

“It has produced an increase in energy costs which has taken Australia into energy poverty. Because individuals and businesses are suffering from this net zero nonsense, the government shovels out millions of dollars of taxpayers’ money just to justify their failing energy policy.

“Let me make no apology. One Nation will end this renewable energy bribery – grants, tax incentives, concessional finance, even the government underwriting anything that sponsors the whole net zero hoax.”

COMMITTING TO NUCLEAR, COAL, GAS

Any future government One Nation is part of would embrace nuclear energy, Senator Hanson said, committing to introduce a nuclear policy despite public rejection of nuclear at the last election.

She also committed to an expansion of coal and gas power to bring down power prices.

“Moving forward, One Nation will introduce nuclear energy. Our energy crisis is a product of failed energy policy; and this policy was supported years ago by major political parties and the big media giants,” she said.

“The source of much of our wealth is under our feet and should not be only for export. Of course, basic environmental standards must be met, but they can’t be allowed to throttle our economy. We will never be able to do without coal and gas.”

Senator Hanson said any government she was part of would encourage investment in fossil fuels in Australia.

She also sought to distance her support for nuclear energy from what the Coalition took to the 2025 election, calling them too ambitious.

Instead she said Australia would only have one nuclear reactor supported by coal and gas energy generation.

“The big mistake that the Coaltion made at the last election to say that they were going to put in seven reactors,” she said.

She said a government she led would support new coal-fired power stations in South Australia and Queensland, while also ceasing renewable energy projects being built on agricultural land.

“From there we move forward and put in a reactor to start with one. It all comes down to if you can afford it.”

CHILDCARE SECTOR ‘OUT OF CONTROL’

She also indicated hesitation about putting more money into childcare.

When asked about Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s announcement today of a 15 per cent pay rise for childcare workers, Senator Hanson said she believed “childcare was completely out of control” and an investigation was needed into the government’s $16 billion annual childcare spend.

She indicated she would not only be open to cutting funding into childcare but also reducing the qualification requirements of those who work in it.

“It just sounds astounding to me that $16 billion is put into childcare,” she said.

“I didn’t have a university degree to look after my children, why do we expect these childcare centres to have students or people with some sort of degree to look after a child. It has just gone out of proportion.

When asked if she thought the payrises were necessary, Senator Hanson said: “Didn’t they just get a payrise not so long ago…pay rises, who pays for it – the taxpayer.”

IT’S A ‘TRANSGENDER INSURGENCY’

Ms Hanson declared war on what she called a “transgender insurgency”, accusing government agencies and major political parties of promoting transgender ideology and vowing to dismantle its influence if One Nation gains power.

“I refer, firstly, to the transgender insurgency. The transgender ideology has penetrated almost every regulatory authority.

“The Sex Discrimination Commissioner, who, in government, I would sack. So, too, the head of the Human Rights Commission.”

Ms Hanson said she was not opposed to transgender people but argued transgender women should not compete in women’s sport or access female change rooms.

“I am not opposed to transgender people. A transgender woman should not be allowed into women’s sport or into a woman’s changing room.”

She accused government bodies of refusing to acknowledge “biological truth” and said the issue was spreading throughout society.

“This nonsense must end. The transgender movement is a militant force right throughout society and must be confronted.

“This movement, like militant Islam is everywhere, and seeks to redefine humanity and biology, and in this way change the nation. It won’t happen if I have any say in it.

“Australia deserves a voice in all this. Only One Nation will provide the strenuous opposition that is needed.”

HANSON ON RISE OF AI

Senator Hanson said artificial intelligence should not be left in the hands of big corporations and she promised to protect jobs from being replaced.

“It has the potential to dramatically affect the lives of human beings the consequences of which may be still unknown. Therefore, AI should not be left entirely to self regulation. Public trust is essential for widespread adoption,” she said.

“The Albanese Government’s response to the coming of AI is largely to leave it in the hands of corporations with little regulation to ensure that the industry operates in the public interest.

“I don’t claim to have the answers now, but we will find them. In general terms, AI requires regulatory measures.”

DEFENDS DAUGHTER, CALLS JOURNALIST ‘TRASHY’

Senator Hanson lashed out at Guardian Australia reporter Sarah Martin, in a firey exchange when Ms Hanson was asked if she had played a role in the employment of her daughter, Lee Hanson, in the office of the party’s NSW senator Sean Bell.

Senator Hanson responded angrily, telling the Guardian Australia reporter she would no longer grant her interview requests.

“Honestly, you never give up,” the senator said.

“I’ve never seen a person that’s such a trashy journalist, you know, and what you put out all the time, you’ve got this obsession with constantly trying to pull down myself, my party, or Mrs Rinehart.

“Whatever you do, you will be banned from my – I’ll answer you this question today, but I’m telling you now, don’t come near me for an interview in the future, because of 25 of your articles, it’s always, in the 28 articles, constantly bashing One Nation.”

Senator Hanson dismissed Ms Martin’s previous in-depth reporting on One Nation as “lies” and defended her daughter’s appointment, arguing she was qualified for the position on merit. She did not answer whether or not she had helped her daughter get the job.

“Her abilities, her skills in HR, her abilities in working for the Tas University eight years and was head of a department down there.

“So my daughter is very capable of doing it.”

ABC ‘IN DENIAL’ – HANSON RAILS AGAINST PUBLIC BROADCASTER

Senator Hanson has threatened to completely demolish the SBS and turn the ABC into a subscription service outside regional areas.

“From its chairman down, the ABC has proven itself to be completely in denial about its profoundly transparent political bias and the activists in its ranks,” she said.

“Yet they think of themselves as a pillar of democracy. The arrogance is stunning in its scope. It is partly for this reason I have, at times refused ABC interviews.”

Ms Hanson said she would continue to refuse the ABC and the Guardian access to her press conferences due to constant criticism of her.

“I won’t be anyone’s football to kick around,” she said.

SCRUTINY ON CHINA, AID

Any future foreign aid packages could be tied to whether countries already receive aid money from China, Senator Hanson said of any future government she is part of.

Despite being highly critical of Australia’s foreign aid spending in the past, Senator Hanson said her party would support aid packages “if it’s spent well”.

Yet, she placed a caveat, saying Australia should look at which countries were receiving aid from China.

“The amount of money that we’ve helped with our Pacific partners – we’ve given them foreign aid, only to allow the Chinese to come in there with their belt and road projects,” she said.

“My concern is they are still accepting from China. If China is our biggest concern we need to look at the relationship they have with China and how it’s going to impact us.”

PROTESTERS CRYING ‘RACIST’ GREET HANSON

Earlier, protesters descended on the National Press Club to demonstrate, with more than 30 people carrying Canberra Socialist posters – stating “Canberra says No to Hanson” – and criticising her comments about Muslim Australians and the Sydney suburb of Lakemba.

The group accused the Queensland senator of “using ordinary people as cover for her vile racism”.

“When she first declared that Australia was in danger of being swamped by Asians, she was a racist,” one speaker said.

“She was a racist when she warned that Muslim women are national security threat.

“She is this country’s most prominent, most serious, most popular racist, and that is why we have to fight against Hanson.”

Later, another speaker said: “Pauline Hanson is the most dangerous politician in Australia as she drives a racist far right body into the mainstream.”

Meanwhile, pressure has been ramping up for Senator Hanson to explain how much her party’s policies, such as income splitting and an increased defence spend will cost.

Early in her speech had a shot at media after she last week told a Channel 9 journalist who quizzed her on her private jet use donated by Australia’s richest woman Gina Rinehart to get “some respect”.

“I am delighted that I can speak to the people of Australia, and they are the people to whom I am accountable.

“Just to get things out of the way, too, is Channel 9 here? I just want to clarify that the jet is not broken and I didn’t come cattle class. Or I did come cattle class, anyway.”

Many have seen her speech to the journalistic institution as yet another sign Senator Hanson is attempting to transition her party into a legitimate alternative government.

To that end, One Nation has this week begun to allocate policy portfolios to its MPs, with deputy leader Barnaby Joyce named the party’s Treasury spokesman.

Speaking to Sky News on Wednesday, Mr Joyce cited his experience as a business owner and accountant as credentials for the job. He also sat on the expenditure review committee as deputy prime minister while serving under the Morrison government.

He also accused Coalition treasury spokesman Tim Wilson of not properly taking Labor to task for its controversial federal budget.

“The Liberal party, whose strong sweep used to be economics, used to be treasury, it is now not,” Mr Joyce said.

“I’m not going to give a personal attribute to Mr Wilson, but I would say his training is more in the fine arts than it is in economics.”

Senator Hanson’s speech in Canberra is expected to be met with protests as left wing activists Canberra Socialists indicated they would rally outside the Barton venue.

It comes after a Labor call to supporters for $27 donations to halt One Nation’s momentum at the polling booth, sparked a tit-for-tate One Nation fundraiser, asking for $29 donations to “Fire the Liar” and get Mr Albanese and Labor out of power.

Ms Hanson’s retaliation call has so far netted a staggering $4.5m war chest which she has said she will on advertising to target Mr Albanese’s inner-Sydney west seat of Grayndler and also to “get rid of” Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke, Energy Minister Chris Bowen and Housing Minister Clare O’Neil.