One Nation leader Pauline Hanson says any decision about her being prime minister is still too early, saying her priority is building a government that does “what is right” for Australians.
Hanson revealed she would back whoever was best placed within her party to take the top job.
“I haven’t got an ego that big. My aim is to get what’s right for the country, and if it’s not me, then I'll ensure that we do have the right person to fill that position,” Hanson told Sky News Australia on Feb. 4.
Hanson, currently a senator, was asked whether she'd follow in the footsteps of John Gorton, the only Australian prime minister elected from the Senate, who later contested a by-election to enter the House of Representatives.
“There’s nothing in our Constitution that says the prime minister must come from the lower house,” Hanson said.
One Nation Does Not Have Serious Economic Policies: Sussan Ley
Meanwhile, Opposition Leader Sussan Ley dismissed One Nation as a “protest party,” insisting the Liberals were the only party offering a credible governing agenda.“I’m very proud to lead by the next election,” Ley said.
“One Nation is a protest party—I haven’t heard from them a serious economic policy to address the circumstances that every single Australian faces,” she told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
“It is indeed only the Liberal Party that has proposed the answers to the problems that every sensible economist, individual who runs their own household budget, [and] commentator, has outlined.”
Hanson Says Her Party Vetting Recruits Carefully
Hanson, in turn, said the Coalition was “destroying” itself.“People have been screaming out to reduce mass migration. Where is the Liberal Party’s policy?” she said.
“Even with climate change ... they say they'll get out of net zero, but they’re not getting out of the Paris Agreement. It’s all the double speak.”
When asked if she is actively recruiting disaffected Liberals or Nationals politicians, Hanson said her party would vet recruits carefully.
“I’m going to look at their performance, what they’ve stood for, [and] what they represent,” she said.
One Nation to Focus on States and Councils
One Nation’s first electoral test since the polling boon will be in South Australia.“The states are in desperate need of help and assistance. When you look at the government in these states, you look at the opposition, there is nothing,” she said.
“It’s not just on the federal arena. I’m targeting states, and I will be targeting council elections also.”
Former Liberal Senator Cory Bernardi, who quit the Liberal Party to form his own conservative movement, is now one of the key faces of One Nation’s South Australian push.
