{"id":48956,"date":"2026-07-12T09:51:33","date_gmt":"2026-07-12T09:51:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/48956\/"},"modified":"2026-07-12T09:51:33","modified_gmt":"2026-07-12T09:51:33","slug":"high-polling-pauline-hanson-calls-for-new-limits-on-new-zealand-migration-to-australia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/48956\/","title":{"rendered":"High-polling Pauline Hanson calls for new limits on New Zealand migration to Australia"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hanson 2.0 is capitalising<\/a> on public frustration with soaring living costs, immigration angst, and a housing crisis \u2013 all issues New Zealand politics is grappling with too.<\/p>\n

She talked to the Herald at a time when populist movements in New Zealand might be looking to her playbook ahead of our election campaign, and gave personal insights into the views that have made her the most instantly recognisable politician in Australia and beyond.<\/p>\n

She would like Australia to be a monoculture, which she explains as \u201cwelcoming\u201d and \u201cnot exclusive\u201d, as long as everyone signs up to the same ideal.<\/p>\n

The Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed in its 2025 survey that 75% of Australians believe it\u2019s good for society to be made up of a variety of different cultures \u2013 down from 85% in 2020.<\/p>\n

In her speech to Parliament on June 24, Hanson said the Australian men\u2019s national football team, the Socceroos, reflected her vision of this \u201cmonocultural\u201d Australia \u2013 one where people from different backgrounds and cultures wear green and gold, representing one nation under a single flag and shared set of rules. <\/p>\n

Socceroos winger Awer Mabil was among many who hit back, telling Australian media it was \u201cbullshit\u201d for Hanson to suggest Australia was not a successful multicultural society.<\/p>\n

\"OneOne Nation Leader Pauline Hanson says she has no issue with Kiwis who have made Australia their home.<\/p>\n

In her Press Club speech, Hanson name-checked Australian acting legend and star of Crocodile Dundee Paul Hogan, calling him an \u201cessential feature of Australian monoculture\u201d.<\/p>\n

The comments sparked a public backlash and Hogan weighed in from California, calling her \u201cso racist\u201d in Australian media, comparing her to Trump and accusing her of \u201cliving in the past\u201d.<\/p>\n

The flame-haired leader is quick to tell the Herald she has no issue with Kiwis who have made Australia their home. In fact, she says she has a soft spot for them \u2013 she\u2019s cruised through the South Island with her family and enjoyed the Warbirds Over W\u0101naka air show<\/a>.<\/p>\n

She says Kiwis worried about her racial rhetoric can relax \u2013 she will not target New Zealand M\u0101ori living in Australia.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy would I do that? If they are law-abiding, why get rid of them? A lot of people like to employ Kiwis \u2013 they work hard. Why remove those who want to work and don\u2019t want to bludge on the system and abuse it?\u201d<\/p>\n

However, she is disgruntled by what she sees as other misuses of the immigration system, claiming some people have \u201cticked a box\u201d to claim indigenous Australian identity to access jobs and benefits. \u201cThat\u2019s wrong,\u201d she says, \u201cit\u2019s abusing the taxpayer.\u201d<\/p>\n

The One Nation leader says she remains supportive of free and open movement between New Zealand and Australia, but she does want one big change.<\/p>\n

\"PaulinePauline Hanson objects to some migrants using New Zealand as a back door into Australia.<\/p>\n

She believes some international migrants use New Zealand<\/a> as a back door into Australia \u2013 and she objects to it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want that. New Zealand can\u2019t afford to lose those migrants. I\u2019d say you shouldn\u2019t be able to migrate to Australia until you\u2019ve been a New Zealand citizen for at least eight-10 years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hanson also opposes Asian immigrants \u2013 famously and incorrectly claiming in her 1996 maiden speech that they \u201cform ghettos and do not assimilate\u201d \u2013 and she singles out Islam and Muslims. Hanson says she favours migrants who hold Western values.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had more terrorist attacks in Australia through radicalisation, and I want to get rid of that. Do I want to bring in people who believe in Sharia law? No. Do I want people to wear burqas? No. I\u2019m saying beware of who you allow into this country. And if they don\u2019t have views that align with the Australian way of life, then I\u2019m sorry, you are not welcome,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

The worst terrorist attack in New Zealand\u2019s history was carried out by an Australian \u2013 gunman Brenton Tarrant, who killed 51 people in the Christchurch mosque shootings of 2019.<\/p>\n

When asked about that, Hanson said, \u201cAny attack of terrorism and a loss of life is disgraceful \u2013 it should never have happened.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"PaulinePauline Hanson says the 2019 attack by an Australian man on two Christchurch mosques was disgraceful and should never have happened. <\/p>\n

Last year, Hanson wore a burqa into the Senate chamber to protest the lack of a full-face covering ban in Australia \u2013 a repeat of a stunt she first pulled in 2017.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like to express my opinion, unlike others who just bury their heads in the sand. You only solve problems if you debate them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then there are the things Hanson has no time for.<\/p>\n

Religious and language diversity are among them.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are an English-speaking country. When you have 872,000 who said they could speak little or no English at all, that concerns me. How can they assimilate into our country and understand our laws? How do they know who to vote for?\u201d<\/p>\n

\"OneOne Nation leader Senator Pauline Hanson wore a burqa into the Senate Chamber last year and in 2017. Photo \/ AAP<\/p>\n

This was one of several claims made by Hanson in her Press Club speech later revealed to be misleading \u2013 for example, a proportion of that number were babies and toddlers, and the Australian Bureau of Statistics had warned the figure was indicative and not definitive.<\/p>\n

Another is climate change. Hanson dismisses the science, along with the net-zero target, with the same certainty she brings to most things she doesn\u2019t like.<\/p>\n

And \u2013 no surprises here – like New Zealand First leader Winston Peters, Hanson doesn\u2019t support gender diversity policies.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are only two sexes \u2013 male and female,\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019ve just tried to introduce another bill to go back to biological sex. I think we\u2019re heading into a world of pain with the younger generations coming through, who can say at the drop of a hat, \u2018You can choose whatever sex you want to be,\u2019 or change their birth certificates. This is not common sense, right? It\u2019s appealing to people\u2019s whims, and it\u2019s not natural; it\u2019s wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"PaulinePauline Hanson says she is concerned about China in the Pacific, as is Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters (inset, Xi Jinping). Photo \/ Mark Mitchell \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

And, like Peters, she is concerned about relations with China<\/a> in the Pacific.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve threatened to invade Taiwan, and if they do that, they won\u2019t be on my best friends list. This is an ever-changing world.<\/p>\n

\u201cChina is Australia\u2019s biggest export market for products like wine and seafood, and they could pull the pin on us at any time. We should do business where it benefits Australia, but we should never allow another country to control us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hanson rates Peters a political juggernaut \u2013 and one she\u2019d like to get to know better.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s the only one I know of. He has common sense; we\u2019ve both been at the political game a long time. I don\u2019t know his policies, but what I\u2019ve read is he is a very proud New Zealander trying to do the best for his country. I respect that. I\u2019ve only spoken to him once, so I\u2019d better get over to New Zealand and introduce myself to him and meet the great man.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"OneOne Nation leader Pauline Hanson grew up behind the counter of the family’s Brisbane fish and chip shop. Photo \/ Richard Robinson<\/p>\n

Born Pauline Lee Seccombe, Hanson was the fifth of seven children who grew up behind the counter of the family\u2019s Brisbane fish and chip shop, where everyone was expected to pitch in.<\/p>\n

Hanson\u2019s first husband was Walter Zagorski, a Polish refugee whom she married at the age of 16. They had two sons, Tony and Steven, before later divorcing.<\/p>\n

Her second husband, Mark Hanson, was a tradesman on Queensland\u2019s Gold Coast. They had two children, Adam and Lee.<\/p>\n

After their divorce in 1987, Hanson returned to Ipswich, where she worked behind the bar at a bowling club before buying a fish-and-chip shop \u2013 a humble prelude to the public life that would follow.<\/p>\n

\"OneOne Nation leader Pauline Hanson meeting US President Donald Trump’s son Eric. <\/p>\n

Hanson entered federal politics in 1996, winning the Queensland seat of Oxley. She was initially selected as the Liberal Party candidate, but the party disendorsed her over comments about Aboriginal Australians that were widely condemned as racist.<\/p>\n

She remained on the ballot as an independent and won. A year later, she founded One Nation.<\/p>\n

Hanson has described herself as a struggling single mother who entered politics determined to be \u201ca voice for the people\u201d. Instead, she says, she found herself an outlier.<\/p>\n

\"PaulinePauline Hanson says it was a “man’s world” when she became a politician. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a man\u2019s world when I got here. I got into politics thinking I would be a voice for the people. I was told to keep quiet and do what the major parties wanted.\u201d<\/p>\n

The lowest point in Hanson\u2019s life, she says, came in 2003 when she was convicted of three charges including electoral fraud and sentenced to three years\u2019 imprisonment \u2013 convictions later overturned.<\/p>\n

\u201cResilient,\u201d Hanson says, is the word her four children use to describe her \u2013 a quality she says they have inherited.<\/p>\n

\"PaulinePauline Hanson says her four children describe her as “resilient.”<\/p>\n

The apple may not have fallen far from the tree. Hanson is quietly proud of her daughter, Lee, who is standing as a One Nation Senate candidate in Tasmania. If she\u2019s elected, they will become the first mother and daughter to serve in federal Parliament at the same time.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not a given. My daughter has the potential, but she must prove herself. It must be based on merit and the ability to do the job,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Does Hanson see a future for a One New Zealand party?<\/p>\n

\u201cCan I get Australia in order first before I even consider New Zealand?\u201d<\/p>\n

Carolyne Meng-Yee<\/a> is an Auckland-based investigative journalist who won Best Documentary at the Voyager Media Awards. She worked for the Herald on Sunday from 2007-2011 and rejoined the Herald in 2016 after working as an award-winning current affairs producer at TVNZ\u2019s 60 Minutes, 20\/20 and Sunday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hanson 2.0 is capitalising on public frustration with soaring living costs, immigration angst, and a housing crisis \u2013…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":48957,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[27202,29221,35620,22,23,21,35626,35614,35633,35637,35622,1014,11674,35613,35630,35629,26625,22775,35621,35615,35638,35634,2177,35625,1012,152,3113,35616,11672,35628,149,20688,35635,35632,3429,35627,35631,12077,35624,3108,35619,35636,35623,35617,31772,35618,13462],"class_list":["post-48956","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-about","tag-across","tag-aside","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-austrlia","tag-become","tag-calls","tag-carolyne","tag-could","tag-fishandchip","tag-for","tag-hanson","tag-highpolling","tag-ignore","tag-impossible","tag-journalist","tag-leader","tag-like","tag-limits","tag-mean","tag-mengyee","tag-migration","tag-nation","tag-new","tag-news","tag-on","tag-once","tag-pauline","tag-phenomenon","tag-politics","tag-polling","tag-populist","tag-senior","tag-style","tag-surprise","tag-talks","tag-tasman","tag-thirty","tag-to","tag-tossed","tag-what","tag-wrapper","tag-written","tag-years","tag-yesterdays","tag-zealand"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48956","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48956"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48956\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48957"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48956"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48956"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48956"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}