Pauline Hanson has faced scrutiny after failing to declare five free flights gifted by Australia's richest person, Gina Rinehart, in under six months. The One Nation leader, who has previously touted her 'resilience, integrity and honesty', now faces questions over her compliance with Senate disclosure rules.
When asked last month about a flight to a Geelong event in October, Hanson said she could not remember and later updated her register of interests. The flight was a chartered jet from Melbourne to Sydney, for which she also claimed $9,000 from taxpayers. A week later, Hanson and her chief of staff, James Ashby, travelled to Florida on Rinehart's private jet, staying at her Palm Beach mansion and attending the Conservative Political Action Conference.
Ashby blamed an 'administrative error' for the failure to declare the Florida trip within the required 35 days. However, further questioning by the Guardian revealed three more undeclared flights from Rinehart's beef company, S Kidman and Co, last year. Hanson's office subsequently updated the register, including flights for the South Australian election campaign, where new laws ban political donations.
Senate rules state that knowingly failing to comply with disclosure requirements is a 'serious contempt' punishable by the Senate. Only one senator, Ross Lightfoot, has been referred to the privileges committee for such a breach since 1994. Despite the repeated failures, Ashby denied suggestions that Rinehart was bankrolling the party, saying he had not seen any money from her.
