Pauline Hanson has revealed her shock first acts as PM if elected, including giving every self-funded retiree in Australia a healthcare card offering cut-price medicine and \u201cfree\u201d GP visits.<\/p>\n
Appearing on News 24\u2019s Please Explain special, the One Nation leader railed against government spending before unveiling a big idea that could cost taxpayers billions.<\/p>\n
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\u201cSo, self-funded retirees, you worked hard, you get nothing back,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven getting a healthcare card, I think that if you\u2019ve reached the age of retirement, you should be given the same benefits of having that healthcare card at least.\u201d<\/p>\n
The coveted cards offer seniors huge discounts. Currently an income test applies of $100,000 for singles and $160,000 for self-funded retirees.<\/p>\n
Defamation fight<\/p>\n
Hanson also vowed to take her defamation fight all the way to the High Court after being hit with a massive legal bill for telling a Greens Senator to \u201cpiss off back to Pakistan\u201d.<\/p>\n
In a 2024 Federal Court decision Justice Angus Stewart ruled her remarks aimed at Greens Senator Mehreen Faruqi were \u201cseriously offensive\u201d and a \u201cstrong form of racism\u201d.<\/p>\n
This week, the full bench of the Federal Court upheld the finding that Senator Hanson had breached the Racial Discrimination Act, and her appeal was thrown out.<\/p>\n
Asked about the \u201cpretty sizeable amount of money that\u2019s on the table here\u201d Senator Hanson said she wanted to take the matter to the High Court.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a lot riding on this,\u2019\u2019 she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe government under Tony Abbott and Scott Morrison had the opportunity to get rid of 18C. 18C is where anyone can take you if they feel offended, harassed, intimidated, or insulted.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just a ridiculous piece of legislation. So if I win this case, that will be thrown out.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a right to have an opinion. They\u2019re shutting us down an opinion because you might offend someone. You know, it\u2019s just ridiculous.\u201d<\/p>\n
She has reportedly consulted Bret Walker, SC, a top constitutional law expert, and Perry Herzfeld, SC, ahead of a likely High Court battle.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am talking to my lawyers now at the moment of putting an appeal to the High Court. I\u2019m not going to drop it,\u2019\u2019 she said.<\/p>\n
Immigration target<\/p>\n
The One Nation leader also revealed her first act if she was able to form government.<\/p>\n
Senator Hanson said she had been \u201cvery consistent for the past 30 years\u201d on immigration.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have too many people coming to the country,\u2019\u2019 she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m selecting a figure around about 130,000 people. You\u2019ve still got to allow those into the country because a lot of businesses and doctors and nurses that we need, you fill those positions by all means.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut cutting back immigration will address the housing issue that we have.\u201d<\/p>\n
Net zero and cost of living<\/p>\n
Senator Hanson said that cost of living was a huge issue and that net zero targets will go if she could form government.<\/p>\n
\u201cGovernment overspend. It\u2019s not about the war in the Middle East. And what has happened is government has been wasting and spending too much money, which created inflation, which has driven cost of living,\u2019\u2019 she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt needs to be cut right back. The wasteful spending. I\u2019d have a good look at that.\u201d<\/p>\n
One Nation would also end Australia\u2019s commitment to net zero.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe other one is get rid of the climate change department,\u2019\u2019 she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cGet rid of all that net zero rubbish. Get out of the Paris Agreement. Once you do that, you\u2019re going to reduce the cost of living, and the cost of electricity prices as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Childcare questions<\/p>\n
One parent asked what support One Nation would offer regarding childcare costs.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d like a full investigation into childcare,\u2019\u2019 she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cActually, to tell you the truth, it\u2019s costing the taxpayers $16 billion a year, and something\u2019s out of control there. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s a lot of money spent in childcare, so that\u2019s where I\u2019d like an investigation into it.\u201d<\/p>\n
NDIS scams<\/p>\n
Senator Hanson said the National Disability Insurance Scheme also needed a massive overhaul.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s costing about $52 billion at the moment. If it kept going, by 2032, it would be $100 billion. It is now equal to what we spend on defence,\u2019\u2019 she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cGo after the ones that are scamming it. A lot of people are ripping the system off, and so NDIS is one.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Aboriginal industry that I\u2019ve been on about this for a long, long time. The waste of money that goes in that, and I\u2019d like to see every Australian individual needs based not based on race.\u201d<\/p>\n
Welcome to Country<\/p>\n
One voter asked Pauline Hanson if she would end Welcome to Country and Acknowledgement of Country practices in daycares, kindergartens, primary schools, and junior sporting events.<\/p>\n
Senator Hanson said she and other colleagues \u201cturn our back on it\u201d in the Senate.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s how I feel about it,\u2019\u2019 she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo I\u2019m prepared to do it myself. I do not believe in having Welcome to Country.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can\u2019t stop people if businesses want to do it, all right. <\/p>\n
\u201cBut in government departments, I wouldn\u2019t have a Welcome to Country on the bottom of their literature or their sheets of paper they put out or government websites. I wouldn\u2019t be having it in educational systems schools. I\u2019d shut it all down.\u201d<\/p>\n
Permanent residents<\/p>\n
Senator Hanson was put on the spot regarding one man\u2019s parents who were permanent residents including his dad, who worked at the BHP Steelworks in Port Kembla.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe made sure that his sons became Australian citizens in this beautiful country,\u2019\u2019 the man said.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne question. My parents are 89 years of age, and they are not citizens of this beautiful country. Do they lose their benefits if they are not citizens at the age of 89 years of age?\u201d<\/p>\n
Senator Hanson said that was never a One Nation policy.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo way,\u201d she said. \u201cThey are permanent residents in Australia? Yeah, yeah. They\u2019ve been paying the taxes all these years. I don\u2019t believe in taking away their benefits at 89 years of age.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gina picks up bill for Euro flights<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, Ms Hanson revealed that mining magnate Gina Rinehart picked up the tab for her flights between London, Rome and Sicily and her ticket to a Dolce & Gabbana fashion parade.<\/p>\n
Senator Hanson, who previously declined to say who paid for the trip, lodged an update to her pecuniary interest register this week confirming she personally covered the cost of her accommodation, meals and expenses.<\/p>\n
However, the billionaire covered the connecting flights for Senator Hanson\u2019s European trip.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt didn\u2019t cost the taxpayer one cent for my trip overseas. Not one cent,\u201d Senator Hanson said.<\/p>\n
The One Nation leader holidayed with Gina Rinehart at the five-star Grand Hotel San Pietro, where the pair were photographed poolside.<\/p>\n
The images, first reported by The Australian Financial Review, were snapped by fellow Aussies at the luxury resort in Sicily.<\/p>\n
The venue rose to fame after featuring as the backdrop for HBO\u2019s smash hit drama, The White Lotus.<\/p>\n
In a social media video responding to criticism in Australia over the trip, the One Nation leader was unrepentant.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, I went to Sicily. Yes, I went to the Dolce & Gabbana fashion show,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat an experience. I was invited to go and thought, \u2018well, I\u2019ve never been to anything like that\u2019. And I thought, \u2018yes, I\u2019m going to go and see it\u2019. Is it my scene? No, no way in the wide world.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Ms Hanson has previously declared multiple gifts from Ms Rinehart and her company Hancock Prospecting, including return flights to Florida in October and a \u201cbloody big orange bulldozer\u201d.<\/p>\n
She has also confirmed being gifted a plane by Gina Rinehart to campaign in regional Australia.<\/p>\n
\u201cBREAKING NEWS \u2013 I\u2019ve got a new plane,\u201d the One Nation leader said in a social media post.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes it was donated. Yes I\u2019m super happy. Yes it\u2019s fast. Yes it\u2019s amazing.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes it means I can visit more regional towns across the country more often.\u201d<\/p>\n
Senator Hanson described the aircraft \u2013 a Cirrus G7 – as \u201csexy\u201d and revealed she would not be doing \u201cwelcome to country each (time) we land\u201d.<\/p>\n
Treasurer Jim Chalmers ripped into One Nation and the Liberal Party last week, suggesting that billionaire Ms Rinehart is calling the shots.<\/p>\n
Accusing critics of the budget changes to capital gains tax and negative gearing of being all about protecting their privilege, the Treasurer revved up ALP delegates in Adelaide.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur tax reforms begin with the simple truth that there\u2019s a generational crisis in housing,\u2019\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can choose to ignore it or choose to address it. Ignoring it would be easier politically, much easier, but the wrong choice. It would consign future generations to a broken status quo and leave this for some other government to fix.<\/p>\n
\u201cToo many young Australians are already locked out of housing, and we decided not to let that endure. We decided not just to acknowledge that truth but to actually do something about it, even if it meant the predictable daily barrage of scare campaigns full of lies.\u201d<\/p>\n
But the attack got personal when the Treasurer accused his opponents of trying to stop the path of progress for first-home buyers.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur opponents who say we\u2019re pulling up the ladder don\u2019t understand there\u2019s not much point in a ladder with the first few rungs missing,\u2019\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot everybody is born already at the top of the ladder like Angus Taylor was; not everybody fails upwards like he has.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd unlike One Nation, we vote the way workers need us to, not the way Gina Rinehart tells us to.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Chalmers said there would \u201calways be those who want everything to stay exactly the same.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re not among them,\u2019\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n