Australia’s controversial One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has announced she will now travel via a privately donated Cirrus G7 aircraft, valued at up to $2 million, after a coalition of high-profile donors pooled contributions to gift the plane to the party ahead of the 2028 federal election. In an exuberant social media post shared Wednesday, Hanson confirmed the full donation of the single-engine aircraft, highlighting that the new asset will let her expand outreach to regional communities across Australia. “Yes it was donated. Yes I’m super happy. Yes it’s fast. Yes it’s amazing. Yes it means I can visit more regional towns across the country more often,” Hanson wrote in the post, describing the sleek Cirrus G7 aircraft as “sexy” in subsequent remarks. The $2 million plane was funded through three blocks of major contributions: a $1 million “investment” from Melbourne-based stockbrokers Angus and Sarah Aitken, who Hanson called “patriotic Australians”, followed by $500,000 donations each from former Northern Territory chief minister Adam Giles and prominent geologist and climate sceptic Ian Plimer. Both Giles and Plimer are currently employed by billionaire mining magnate Gina Rinehart, a long-time backer of conservative and climate-skeptic political causes in Australia. Hanson made clear the donated plane is a critical boost to One Nation’s campaign preparations ahead of the 2028 federal poll. “Their faith and investment in One Nation is an enormous help towards our next federal campaign and I can’t thank them enough,” she said, adding that the party still needs to raise additional funds before the December donation cutoff to challenge what she labelled the ruling “uni-party” establishment. The announcement comes after Hanson faced widespread public criticism and journalistic scrutiny over her previous use of Rinehart’s private jet. British-Australian newspaper The Guardian previously reported that Hanson failed to declare five private flights on Rinehart’s jet over a six-month period, a violation of federal political disclosure rules. In her Wednesday announcement, Hanson leaned into the tension with the publication, joking, “Yes it’s going to annoy the Guardian”. She also added a characteristically provocative line about the new aircraft, saying she would not be conducting a Welcome to Country ceremony every time the plane lands at a regional airport. The donation renews debates over large-scale private funding of Australian political parties, particularly from high-net-worth donors with strong ideological positions on climate and resource development policy.
‘I’ve got a plane’: Pauline Hanson gifted private plane amid Rineheart criticism
