Updated
One Nation leader Pauline Hanson is sticking by her
senior staffers and blaming the media for the Port Arthur, guns and
foreign lobbying scandals engulfing her party.
Key points:
- Pauline Hanson defends senior One Nation staffers caught in a gun lobbying sting
- She claims her comments about the Port Arthur massacre were heavily edited
- Senator Hanson calls Scott Morrison a "fool" for preferencing Labor ahead of One Nation
Senator Hanson said both James Ashby and Steve Dickson would retain their positions despite secret recordings that revealed both men wanted millions of dollars in donations from America's National Rifle Association and discussed softening One Nation's policies on gun ownership as they tried to secure the funding.
The same Al Jazeera investigation obtained footage of Senator Hanson appearing to suggest the Port Arthur massacre was part of a conspiracy.
The revelations prompted Prime Minister Scott Morrison to announce today that the Liberals would preference Labor ahead of One Nation at the federal election.
Today Senator Hanson dubbed the Prime Minister "a fool" and said the media had been blinded by its hate and bias for One Nation and had fallen victim to political interference from the "Islamist" Qatari government.
"With Scott Morrison's comments today where he has done a preference with Labor, you, Prime Minster, have just handed the keys to the lodge to Bill Shorten, Di Natale and the CFMEU. You're a fool," she said.
The ABC will broadcast the second part of the Al Jazeera documentary tonight.
In the episode, footage shows Senator Hanson discussing Port Arthur with her chief of staff, Mr Ashby, and undercover journalist Rodger Muller at a dinner in the central Queensland town of Yeppoon.
Senator Hanson claimed her comments about the Port Arthur massacre in the undercover Al Jazeera investigation were heavily edited.
"There is no question in my mind, that Martin Bryant was the only person responsible for the murders of 35 innocent lives.
"My belief stands today that he should have faced the death penalty."
The One Nation leader also took aim at the ABC for broadcasting the Al Jazeera documentary.
She appealed to the public broadcaster's newly appointed chair, Ita Buttrose, to intervene and prevent tonight's broadcast.
"The questions must be asked, how much involvement did the ABC have in this illegal, covert operation? How much money has the ABC paid using taxpayers' dollars to organisations affiliated with the Qatari Islamist government?" Senator Hanson said.
"Qatar is a government that enforces Sharia law, public floggings, genital mutilation, suppression of women and stoning.
"This is a political attack by Al Jazeera in cooperation with the ABC. If the ABC had any ethical bone in their body, they would refuse to put this unfair and unbalanced story to air tonight."
The documentary is entirely an Al Jazeera investigation.
The ABC has said Al Jazeera approached it about the documentary and the public broadcaster acquired it in accordance with its usual proceedings.
Watch the second part of the Al Jazeera investigation at 8:00pm on ABC TV, or watch the full documentary on iview.
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