![\"Pauline](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/2e916772b99b283e9fe5d0945099e8b8.jpeg\")
<\/p>\nOne Nation leader Pauline Hanson has refused to say who paid for her trip to Italy, after returning to London to speak at a pricey political dinner.<\/p>\n
Senator Hanson has been in the United Kingdom and Europe for almost two weeks.<\/p>\n
She has described the trip as “a fact-finding mission” and met with multiple right-wing figures.<\/p>\n
But the 72-year-old has also been spotted in the Sicilian tourist town of Taormina, where she attended a Dolce & Gabbana fashion show and appeared on the pool deck at a swanky hotel alongside her billionaire friend and political benefactor Gina Rinehart.<\/p>\n
On Friday afternoon, local time, the pair emerged at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), held at the InterContinental Hotel in London’s south-east.<\/p>\n
When asked by the ABC if she had paid for her time in Sicily, Senator Hanson raised her hand and said: “I need to go inside.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Pauline Hanson (right) speaks to a woman at the Dolce & Gabbana fashion show. (Instagram: @beatyesterday_art)<\/p>\n
The Mediterranean sojourn has drawn jibes from Senator Hanson’s opponents in Canberra, including Opposition Leader Angus Taylor, who has accused her of “being over in Italy, living it up”, while others have questioned who has footed the bill.<\/p>\n
A spokesperson for the One Nation leader has said all tax-payer-funded travel will be disclosed publicly, in accordance with parliamentary rules.<\/p>\n
Senator Hanson was scheduled to deliver a speech as part of a black-tie dinner at CPAC on Friday night, local time. Media were not permitted to attend.<\/p>\n
The cheapest tickets to that event were 600 pounds ($1,156), and included access to the conference. The most expensive were 10,000 pounds ($19,268).<\/p>\n
Ms Rinehart and Senator Hanson were in the CPAC auditorium earlier in the day to hear British right-wing political leader Nigel Farage deliver a speech, in which he warned the UK “was less than a decade away from becoming a third-world country”.<\/p>\n
Mr Farage, like Senator Hanson, has seen his party Reform UK soar in opinion polls in the past 12 months.<\/p>\n
“Pauline, it’s amazing what you’ve done to get to the top of the opinion polls. Phenomenal,” he told the crowd, while smiling at the One Nation leader, who was sitting in the front row.<\/p>\n
Ms Hanson is also due to speak at the conference on Saturday morning, local time.<\/p>\n
![\"Gina](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/a9d5db6857319e17858ec464da55d99d.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
Australia’s richest person, Gina Rinehart, donned a pink cowboy hat at the conference. (ABC News: Daniel Pannet)<\/p>\n
CPAC originated in the United States and typically comprises several days of speeches from a global who’s who of the right wing.<\/p>\n
While multiple foreign countries, including Australia, have hosted their own CPAC events in the past, this is the first time Britain has staged one.<\/p>\n
This iteration was convened by former UK prime minister Liz Truss, whose time in office lasted 49 days.<\/p>\n
The program included sessions titled Drill Baby Drill, Mine Baby Mine and The Blob: Draining the Swamp of the Permanent Bureaucracy.<\/p>\n
Prior to appearing at CPAC, Senator Hanson taped a podcast with right-wing activist Tommy Robinson<\/a>, something regarded by her political foes, and even some within her own party, as a misstep.<\/p>\n