Pauline Hanson, ex-Labor Fatima Payman unite in bizarre new alliance
Pauline Hanson has joined forces with an independent senator in a bizarre new alliance to call for change on “one issue”.
The One Nation leader stood side-by-side with Western Australia senator Fatima Payman and independent Fowler MP Dai Le to demand Anthony Albanese allocate additional staffing for the minor parties.
It comes only months after Senator Hanson relitigated unfounded scepticism of Senator Payman’s eligibility to serve in Parliament, owing to her being born in Afghanistan.
The two have also clashed over Senator Hanson’s criticism of Islam and Muslim Australians, including when the One Nation leader was suspended from the Senate after donning a burqa in a widely-panned stunt.
In 2024, in a fiery exchange in the Senate, Senator Payman said Senator Hanson was nasty and that she brought “disgrace to the human race”.
Addressing the media, Senator Hanson said to “stand united on this one issue about staffing; is very important to me”.
Quizzed on Senator Payman’s previous criticism, Senator Hanson said it was “wrong” to ask her.
“This is not about any comments that have been made in the past by any one of us. Deal with the issues that’s here today,” she said.
Senator Payman, who defected from Labor after joining the Parliament, defended teaming up with Senator Hanson.
“Australians want to see politicians act in a mature way, to put their differences aside when it comes to common causes,” she said.
“We don’t have to agree with each other, but we can come together, join forces, and say we demand better from this government who claim to be standing for workers rights.”
“At least we’re coming up, in front of everyone, in front of all the cameras, and saying we are united on this,” she said.
“When Labor don’t do that, it's called being pragmatic … but when we do it, we are under fire as ‘oh, you’ve made comments about each other in the past’.”
“There should be an independent process that guides resourcing when it comes to Parliament, not the whim of a petty man.”
5News aggregated this summary from the outlet’s public feed. The full article, with all the context, is on www.perthnow.com.au — the content belongs to PerthNow.
