Pauline Hanson has lashed out at major news outlets for reporting on One Nation, angrily denying that she used donations from supporters to fund a lavish London hotel on her recent holiday – but confirming her party did foot the bill.
One Nation has also defended its decision to bar journalists including from the Guardian and ABC from events, denying that the principle of “free speech” applied to journalists asking questions at a press conference.
As scrutiny grows on One Nation’s antagonistic relationship with the media, Hanson copied US president Donald Trump’s catchcry of “fake news” to describe coverage of her trip to England and Italy.
Hanson stated that One Nation had covered “all travel costs” for the trip to the UK and Europe – aside from those paid by mining billionaire Gina Rinehart – and claimed donations from the party’s recent “Fire The Liar” fundraising campaign had not been used to fund a five-star London hotel.
On Friday morning, the Liberal shadow minister Tim Wilson again criticised Hanson’s decision to take the trip, which included attending a fashion show and spending time poolside with Rinehart at a luxury Sicilian resort.
“We have people who donate to her party from their limited savings, they’re struggling to get ahead, and now we find it’s going towards luxury hotel rooms in London, Dolce & Gabbana fashion shows,” Wilson told Channel Nine.
“I’m starting to see images of global elite, and this seems like a pretty clear betrayal of the people she claims to represent.”
The Nine newspapers, citing anonymous One Nation sources, reported on Friday that Hanson’s stay at the plush Conrad London St James hotel had been paid for with party funds.
News.com.au later reported receipts from One Nation, purportedly for Hanson’s stay, showing the bill at A$900 per night.
Hanson had previously declared on her parliamentary register of interests that while Rinehart had paid for flights between London, Rome and Sicily, Hanson’s “accommodation, meals, and daily expenses were paid for personally”.
Earlier on Friday, the One Nation senator Sean Bell told News24 he had “no knowledge” about the funding of Hanson’s trip. Hanson’s later statement said that One Nation had paid her travel costs.
Nine also reported that Hanson had left her London hotel room vacant while she travelled to Italy – a claim the senator angrily denied in a Facebook post.
“I can confirm that while I was in Italy, accommodation in London was cancelled,” she said online.
“I can also confirm that Fire the Liar funds have been quarantined to fight Labor at the next election.”
Hanson also called the Nine report “false”, “fake news” and a “lie”.
Adding further fuel to her complaints against Channel Seven – which filmed a documentary about her European trip to attend the CPAC conference and meet the far-right activist and convicted criminal Tommy Robinson – Hanson claimed “original travel plans for the Spotlight episode were to be paid by Channel Seven”.
“They pulled out forcing One Nation to cover all travel costs,” she wrote, claiming the current affairs program had been “shady from day one”.
Guardian Australia contacted Seven for comment. The network has previously stated it did not pay Hanson’s travel costs.
Hanson has repeatedly criticised Seven, a network she has had a long and often friendly relationship with, since the special aired; last month Hanson shared what she claimed was Spotlight’s pitch to One Nation for the documentary, while the senator’s chief of staff, James Ashby, later called the program a “stitch-up”.
Additionally, in a separate statement on One Nation’s website on Friday, the party also attacked the ABC, the Age and the Guardian after Hanson said all three outlets were not welcome at a press conference this week to announce Victorian state election candidates.
In a statement titled “Leftist media cries after being left out in the cold”, the party rubbished “complaints about freedom of speech and democracy”, claiming the named media organisations “have no idea what the concept really means”.
“Free speech only protects you from penalty or sanction by the government. It doesn’t protect you from other consequences – nor should it – and it doesn’t entitle you to crash a press conference to which you haven’t been invited,” One Nation said.
A Guardian spokesperson said after Hanson’s event that it was “disappointing that One Nation continues to prevent the Guardian and other news outlets from reporting on its press conferences”.
“Holding public figures to account is the role of a free press and an essential part of the democratic process,” they said.
“Journalists should be able to ask questions in the public interest and not be deterred from doing their job.”
