One Nation leader Pauline Hanson denies a rift is growing between herself and MP Barnaby Joyce, insisting they \u201cget on so well together\u201d despite Mr Joyce spending much of the week defending her controversial meetings and statements while on a \u201cfact-finding\u201d mission in Europe.<\/p>\n
Senator Hanson has become embroiled in a roll of headline-grabbing scandals since landing in the UK earlier this month, from her controversial comments on the end of the White Australia policy on a podcast with far-right British activist Tommy Robinson to being spotted at an Italian resort with Australia\u2019s richest person Gina Rinehart.<\/p>\n
Senator Malcolm Roberts, One Nation\u2019s second-longest serving parliamentarian, has also drawn fire for an unearthed interview with American conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and his past support for conspiracy theories with anti-Semitic roots.<\/p>\n
But after a week of repeatedly distancing himself from Senator Roberts\u2019 remarks while justifying his boss meeting a campaigner with ties to Russian government propagandists, Senator Hanson insisted Mr Joyce was \u201chaving the time of his life\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe feels now he\u2019s doing something for his country,\u201d Senator Hanson said in a social media video posted at the weekend.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was shut down beforehand.\u201d<\/p>\n
She went on to say Mr Joyce \u201cpaid me the greatest compliment the other day\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen he rang me a couple of days ago he said: \u2018You are the best leader I have ever worked with in any political party,\u2019\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe understand each other. We don\u2019t have an ego problem.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Joyce took a similar line when quizzed on Friday.<\/p>\n
\u201cPauline\u2019s doing a great job as the leader,\u201d he told Nine\u2019s Today.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re good mates, we talk all the time and I find it a very easy, constructive relationship to be in as far as politics goes, to be quite frank.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Joyce earlier in the week sought to justify Senator Hanson\u2019s meeting with Tommy Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, by likening it to speaking with World War II-era Italian dictator Benito Mussolini.<\/p>\n
Mr Yaxley-Lennon has a string of convictions ranging from assault to stalking.<\/p>\n
British authorities have also investigated him for his ties to Russian state media and travels to Moscow.<\/p>\n
Mr Joyce said he did not \u201csupport so much of what Tommy Robinson does\u201d but that \u201cit\u2019s incredibly important that we understand the social dynamic and how that came about\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cTommy Robinson only exists because of the fracturous nature of where England has arrived at, and to deny that is to deny the facts,\u201d he told ABC\u2019s Radio National.<\/p>\n
One of those issues was \u201ca change in many areas towards the Islamisation of the communities\u201d, he said, adding that it \u201chas brought real friction\u201d and fuelled \u201cthe rise of \u2026 Tommy Robinson\u201d.<\/p>\n
Mr Yaxley-Lennon first became involved in politics in the mid-2000s as a member of the British National Party \u2013 a fascist party with no elected representatives at any level of government.<\/p>\n
He rose to prominence early last decade after co-founding the English Defence League and staging anti-Islam street protests across the UK.<\/p>\n
He has in recent years rebranded himself as an independent media figure and is associated with several alt-right outlets and activist groups.<\/p>\n
Mr Joyce said it was important to acknowledge that Mr Yaxley-Lennon has a \u201cmassive following\u201d and \u201cmake sure we don\u2019t replicate the social disharmony that has brought that about\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to clearly understand the social dynamics of how that came about,\u201d he said, likening Mr Yaxley-Lennon to Mussolini.<\/p>\n
\u201cI find \u2026 everything about Mussolini repugnant, but if I had the opportunity to talk to him, I would to find out exactly what was going on in (his) head.\u201d<\/p>\n
Immigrants \u2018destroying\u2019 Australia<\/p>\n
Mr Joyce\u2019s characterisation of Senator Hanson\u2019s engagement with Mr Yaxley-Lennon seemed at odds with their interview published on Friday.<\/p>\n
During the conversation Mr Yaxley-Lennon again praised Senator Hanson as a figure he had \u201clooked up to for years\u201d.<\/p>\n
As they talked through migration, the anti-Islam campaigner asked how Australia had \u201cPakistanis, Somalis, all of these African problems with violent Africans?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve seen some crazy videos coming out of Australia,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow has that happened when you have such a strong immigration policy?\u201d<\/p>\n
Senator Hanson said it \u201cstarted\u201d when former prime minister Gough Whitlam \u201copened up and got rid of the White Australia policy\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen they started bringing in different migrants,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The White Australia policy, embedded in the Immigration Restriction Act of 1901, was a series of race-based laws restricting non-European immigration to preserve a white and largely British society.<\/p>\n
The policy was gradually dismantled until former prime minister Gough Whitlam fully abolished it with bipartisan support in 1973.<\/p>\n
Since her interview with Mr Yaxley-Lennon, Senator Hanson has rejected \u201cfalse allegations\u201d that she was advocating for the policy.<\/p>\n
She said she had been \u201cstrong on immigration\u201d and \u201cbringing the right people in the country in a measured way\u201d, and that her comments were targeting those who did not want to, or could not, assimilate.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo I want people from certain countries that want to wear the burqa? No,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat about those marrying their cousins? No. Sharia law? No. Child marriages? No.\u201d<\/p>\n
That video was posted on social media just moments before she told a black-tie conservative conference dinner in London that immigrants were \u201cdestroying\u201d Australia like they had the UK.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat I find is happening around the world is that leaders are not doing their best to protect our nations, and are being controlled by international interests, and we are not the countries that we once were,\u201d she told the room.<\/p>\n
\u201cI see in Australia the problems that you have in Britain. I see immigration is destroying our country as it has destroyed yours.\u201d<\/p>\n
That view was largely informed by a tour she took of Luton \u2013 a town just northwest of London on the front lines of multicultural friction in the UK.<\/p>\n
Mr Yaxley-Lennon was her guide.<\/p>\n
During her dinner speech, first reported by The Sydney Morning Herald, Senator Hanson also claimed that both white Australians and their British counterparts were being \u201ctold that we must be ashamed of our past \u2013 that we are white privileged\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have been told that we must forego a national identity, and embrace others into our nation,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have always welcomed people to Australia, a country built by the migrants that came there for a better way of life.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd as I said at citizenship ceremonies: \u2018I welcome you as long as you give our country your undivided loyalty.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2018But if you don\u2019t, I\u2019ll be the first one to take you to the airport, put you on plane, and wave you goodbye.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
\ufeff\u2018Un-Australian\u2019<\/p>\n
Both Labor and the opposition have condemned Senator Hanson\u2019s comments on the White Australia policy.<\/p>\n
On Sunday Cabinet Secretary Andrew Charlton, whose Western Sydney seat encompasses the multicultural melting pot of Parramatta, branded the comments \u201cincredibly divisive\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cAustralia is a multicultural country,\u201d he told Sky News.<\/p>\n
\u201cWaves of migrants have added a huge amount to our country and I just think it\u2019s incredibly divisive to be saying that some groups should be here and suggest that other groups shouldn\u2019t be here.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added that the thinking did not \u201ctake us anywhere as a nation\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt doesn\u2019t address any of the real challenges that we have in this country,\u201d Mr Charlton said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not building new homes. It\u2019s not helping people with the cost of living. It\u2019s not reforming our tax system.\u201d<\/p>\n
Deputy Liberal Leader Jane Hume echoed her political opponent, calling Senator Hanson\u2019s comments \u201cun-Australian\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that they were unnecessary, they were divisive, they were inflammatory, and they were totally un-Australian, \u201d she said, also speaking to Sky.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a proud history of multiculturalism. We\u2019re a great migrant nation.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, she added that the Coalition did \u201cagree that migration in the last four years has run out of control\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe numbers have been too high,\u201d Senator Hume said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we\u2019re going to have the prosperous and progressive society that we have always wanted, that we\u2019ve always enjoyed in Australia, we need to make sure that we have a migration program that\u2019s delivering for our country, that\u2019s driving productivity, not taking away from it.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut restoring a white Australia policy is not part of that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Read related topics:One Nation<\/a>Pauline Hanson<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"One Nation leader Pauline Hanson denies a rift is growing between herself and MP Barnaby Joyce, insisting 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