An emotional address at a Western Australian business community event has thrust One Nation leader Pauline Hanson back into the Australian political spotlight, as senior moderate Liberal Party figures publicly push for a formal electoral arrangement between the two conservative parties ahead of the next federal poll.
The 71-year-old One Nation founder became visibly tearful during her Thursday speech to the Swan Chamber of Commerce in Perth’s eastern suburbs, opening up about two of the most traumatic chapters of her personal and political life: her 2003 conviction for election fraud that landed her 11 weeks behind bars, and allegations of domestic abuse during her second marriage.
Hanson’s conviction was ultimately overturned on appeal, but in her address she doubled down on long-held claims that the legal case against her was a coordinated political witch hunt, organized by two of Australian politics’ most prominent conservative and Labor figures: former Liberal Prime Minister Tony Abbott and former Queensland Labor Premier Peter Beattie.
She detailed how Beattie’s Queensland government changed state electoral laws retroactively ahead of her trial, expanding the maximum penalty from a six-month prison sentence or fine to seven years, a change that allowed the judge to sentence her to three years behind bars per conviction. Against that backdrop, Hanson claimed Abbott arranged a secret slush fund to bankroll the legal challenge against her, convincing 10 high-profile Australian donors to contribute $10,000 each to the effort. Though she could not name all donors, she confirmed at least one was based in Western Australia.
The One Nation leader said the hardest part of her time in prison was the impact on her three children, who were left without parental support at the time—their fathers were absent, leaving Hanson as their only primary caregiver. “Through politics, they’ve had to wear so much,” Hanson told the crowd, wiping away tears. But she shared that her children have recently told her the ordeal taught them critical life skills: “it hasn’t been easy, but you’ve taught us resilience to be independent, to stand on our own two feet, and for that we thank you.” This is not the first time Hanson has opened up about the experience: earlier this year, she teared up during an interview with Nine Network host Karl Stefanovic, recalling that she never imagined she would end up in prison and called the experience devastating.
After discussing her prison ordeal, Hanson also spoke publicly for the first time about past domestic violence during her second marriage, which ended in divorce in 1987. “I won’t go into detail … We split up in 1987 and from that time I’ve actually have been a single woman,” she said, adding that she has had a small number of long-term relationships but never remarried. “it’s not something for me.”
Hanson also used the event to confirm that her daughter Lee, who ran unsuccessfully as a One Nation candidate in the 2025 federal election and currently works as a staffer for one of the party’s sitting senators, will run as the party’s Senate candidate at the next federal election. “I don’t believe in jobs for the boys, and either you can cut it or you can’t. Because what I’m trying to do, what I’m trying to achieve, you need the right people around you to drive it. And that’s why I think she’s going to be a great asset,” Hanson said, noting that she has no plans to bring her sons into her political operation.
Hanson’s emotional appearance comes as senior Liberal Party figures ramp up pressure on opposition leader Angus Taylor to strike a formal preference-sharing and seat division deal with One Nation, as the right-wing populist party continues to climb in national opinion polls. Liberal frontbencher Tony Pasin became the most senior Liberal MP to publicly call for a deal this week, urging the opposition to negotiate a seat arrangement that would see the two parties avoid splitting conservative votes in marginal electorates. Taylor has not rejected the proposal outright, leaving the door open to a deal in recent public comments. Tony Abbott, who now serves as Liberal Party national president and was named by Hanson as the architect of her 2003 legal challenge, has already publicly backed a potential preference swap between the two parties.