One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has been gifted a $2.1 million private plane by Australia's richest person, mining magnate Gina Rinehart. Hanson shared a video on Wednesday morning showing off the 'sexy' Cirrus SR22 G7 plane, worth US$1.5 million, from Brisbane and thanking several major donors.
Donation Details
Hancock Prospecting, owned by Rinehart, confirmed the plane was donated to One Nation by one of Rinehart's companies, rather than the billionaire personally. '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. Yes it's a Cirrus G7. Yes it's sexy. Yes I have a pilot,' Hanson wrote. 'No I won't be doing Welcome to Country each time we land. No it's not battery operated.'
Hanson then thanked stockbroker Angus Aitken and his wife, Sarah, for a $1 million cash donation. Head of Hancock Agriculture and former chief minister of the Northern Territory Adam Giles and Hancock Energy Executive Director Ian Plimer also each donated $500,000.
Political Reactions
In a video of the plane, Mr Plimer said the plane was 'providing the wings for a movement that refuses to let the heart of this country be silenced'. Giles added One Nation was the 'iron gate-keepers of Australia's values'. 'Laughed at by some, ridiculed by others, the Australian people are realising One Nation is the only party that is truly standing up for Australia,' he said. 'Pauline has been a lone voice in the wilderness that has now become a chorus of millions.'
Treasurer Jim Chalmers criticised the massive donation and the 'very close relationship between One Nation and Gina Rinehart', The Guardian reported. 'I think Pauline Hanson is a wholly owned subsidiary of Gina Rinehart, and we know this because whenever Pauline Hanson's asked to vote in the interests of Australian workers, she instead votes in the interests of Gina Rinehart,' he said. 'Whether it's in industrial relations, whether it's in cost-of-living relief, what we've seen again and again from One Nation is they typically vote the way that Gina Rinehart wants them to rather than how the workers and battlers of this country need them to.'
The Greens' Steph Hodgins-May claimed the showy donations was misaligned with the image Hanson projects. 'One Nation claims to stand for everyday Australians, but openly gloating about being handed a million-dollar private jet tells an entirely different story,' she said. 'A plane worth as much as the median Australian home doesn't come without strings attached. Those strings won't be pulled by voters, they will be pulled by the billionaire donors.'
