‘Please explain’: Coalition attacks Pauline Hanson’s use of expenses for racism case

One Nation leader Pauline Hanson billed taxpayers thousands for flights, private cars and hotels to attend a private court matter in Sydney where she was found to have racially discriminated Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi.

The Coalition, which has cratered in the polls as Hanson has surged since the election, seized on the Queenslander’s use of expenses, arguing it was not acceptable to use public funds for a personal dispute.

Hanson was on Tuesday censured by the Senate for Monday’s burqa stunt and suspended for a week’s worth of sitting days, a rare rebuke that united the major parties.

The One Nation leader hosted Nationals renegade Barnaby Joyce for a steak dinner on Monday night, hours after the provocative stunt. On Tuesday, Joyce defended Hanson and hinted that his formal switch to One Nation, first flagged by this masthead last month, could occur as early as Friday, defying warnings from his closest Nationals allies about the peril of linking up with Hanson.

Conservatives have been uneasy about brawling with Hanson since the election as public anxiety about immigration has increased. However, repeated attempts to ban Muslim head coverings and her use of expenses have opened up new terrain for Opposition Leader Sussan Ley and the Nationals to start contesting Hanson’s rise.

“When any Australian has to travel interstate for personal reasons, they don’t get to slug the taxpayer for it,” Liberal senator Maria Kovacic told this masthead. “Why does Pauline Hanson get to? Pauline Hanson has serious questions to answer here.

“This doesn’t pass the pub test. Please explain.”

The expenses in question relate to a two-day trip to Sydney where Hanson provided evidence in a Federal Court matter brought by Faruqi, who Hanson told to “piss off back to Pakistan” after Faruqi, an anti-colonialist, controversially said she could not mourn Queen Elizabeth’s death. Hanson was found to have breached 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act, a clause that has been criticised by some conservatives and free speech advocates.

Hanson claimed a total of $902 in travel allowance from April 28 to 30 last year, as well as two flights from Brisbane to Sydney costing $369 each, and two government vehicle trips worth $473, clocking a total of more than $2100.

A spokesman for the One Nation leader said that not all the money claimed was solely related to the Faruqi hearing because Hanson was also “in Sydney a day before the hearing for an event”.

But he also defended the Queenslander’s claiming of travel allowance for “electorate duties” for an event in Sydney. The parliamentary expenses watchdog states that electorate duties involve “supporting or serving their constituents”.

“Senator Hanson’s appeal to the Federal Court is built on the implied right to freedom of political communication in the Australian Constitution. This matter is directly related to fundamental democratic principles that many Australians in the electorate are concerned about,” Hanson’s spokesman said.

Hanson is appealing the court ruling and has previously claimed she had been “inundated” with financial support for the case, despite charging taxpayers for her expenses.

The senator on Tuesday joined a handful of MPs who have been censured in recent years: then-senator David Leyonhjelm was censured for sexist remarks in 2018; former prime minister Scott Morrison was censured in the House of Representatives over his secret ministries in 2022; and senator Lidia Thorpe was formally rebuked for gatecrashing King Charles’ visit to Parliament House last year.

At a press conference after the heated Senate debate on Tuesday, Hanson said Joyce would be a good fit for One Nation. Joyce is expected to run as the party’s NSW Senate candidate at the next election and one day take the reins as leader.

“I think his experience on a wide range of issues … is so important,” Hanson said. “There’s a lot of things we agree on.”

Joyce defended Hanson’s burqa stunt, arguing that critics were engaging in fake outrage.

“They’re supporting the right for someone to wear a burqa, but kicking someone out for wearing a burqa,” Joyce said on 2GB.

Nationals senator Matt Canavan, a former staffer for Joyce, said he had been trying to convince the New England MP not to join One Nation, which he castigated on social media and in interviews as a flawed outfit as he tries to battle for votes on the right flank of politics.

“One Nation is [not] the answer and I think yesterday demonstrated that. This stunt was disrespectful to Muslims,” he said on Sky News.

“It’s only now that [Joyce] is trying to jump ship. He doesn’t see a future in the National Party.

“That seems to me to raise the question: is this move from Barnaby about the Australian people, or is it about himself?”

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