Pauline Hanson says she served the freshly-minted Farrer MP an earful after his vote on a fuel tax credit bill amendment sparked immediate industry backlash.
David Farley sided with Greens and teal MPs in a division to cap fuel tax credit rebates for large mining companies in the lower house before it was defeated by Labor and the Coalition.
The amendment angered the Minerals Council of Australia (MCA) before One Nation scrambled to clarify their position and Mr Farley blamed the saga on inexperience.
Ms Hanson on Wednesday night told Sky News Australia she told Mr Farley “you should not be making a mistake”.
“He has made some previous mistakes, and I’m not going to deny that, I will own it,” she said.
“I said to David, I said, ‘this is the problem’, I said, ‘I’ve worked 30 years to get here to stand up and fight for the Australian people’.
“And I said, ‘your performance in there is going to reflect on me and the One Nation, my members here that we’ve worked so hard to represent the Australian people, do you understand what I’m saying?’
“He said, ‘Pauline, I’m orange’, he said, ‘I agree with all your policies’, and he said it was a mistake, and so anyway, I can’t say any more than that.”
Mr Farley issued a statement through the party on Wednesday evening saying he had sought to correct his vote after the fact but could not, and pointed to One Nation’s “overworked” advisors.
Ms Hanson backed his position, saying Parliament was a “bloody robust” place.
“The fact is, he’s got no staff in his office. Barnaby [Joyce] is not around. We’ve tried to have our meetings of the morning to guide them through, because the upper and the lower house, you don’t have connection with them,” she said.
“We’re not perfect, when you don’t have the resources, I don’t have the resources in my office.
“I said, ‘David, next week I will actually give you one of the staff out of my office or out of the other Senators to try and help you get through next week.”
Mr Farley’s rogue vote came after he split with official One Nation policies on a few occasions since becoming a representative of the party.
Mr Farley also voted alongside Greens and teals on a failed motion, raised by Kooyong MP Monique Ryan, to pursue further gambling reforms.
His vote on the fuel tax cap drew immediate condemnation from the MCA’s chief executive, Tania Constable.
She said his position was “really disappointing”.
“David Farley is a regional member and it was his first big opportunity to show what he’s made of, and he voted against regional Australia,” she told Sky News Australia.
“He voted against the farmers, the fishers, the construction industry. He voted against the miners. He voted against regional Australia and we’re really deeply disappointed that he threw his lot in with the Greens and the teals.”
Mr Farley, teals and the Greens supported the fuel rebate amendment moved by independent MP Nicolette Boele before debate wrapped in the House of Representatives on Tuesday.
Labor and the Coalition opposed the measure, which would have capped rebates under the fuel tax credit scheme at $50 million a year for mining companies.
The funds would then be redirected to renewables infrastructure and an “orderly phase-out of fuels” eligible under the scheme.
The amendment was defeated, but Mr Farley’s vote has sparked speculation about where his allegiances really lie.
Shadow treasurer Tim Wilson told Sky News on Wednesday the vote showed One Nation was “all over the place”.
“Well, it’s a fascinating revelation … It shows they’re all over the place in terms of their agenda and what they’re doing, what they’re voting for,” Mr Wilson told Sky News.
“I don’t really know where it is they stand or who they’re fighting for, but that’s a matter for them.”