Pauline Hanson enters state election, urging voters to put Labor, Greens last

Firebrand conservative Senator Pauline Hanson has entered Queensland’s election campaign, demanding voters throw Labor out.

Pauline Hanson is urging voters to put Labor and the Greens last. Picture: NewsWire/Martin Ollman

Firebrand conservative Senator Pauline Hanson has entered Queensland’s election campaign, demanding voters throw Labor out.

Ms Hanson and One Nation’s Keppel candidate James Ashby are joining forces in Brisbane to promote the party’s pledge to preference Labor and the Greens last.

“Queensland can’t afford another Labor government, or worse, a minority Labor government that needs the Greens to hold power,” Senator Hanson said.

“We’ve seen what a disaster that’s been in Canberra the past two and half years, with Labor relying on the Greens in the Senate and some of the terrible outcomes that’s produced – and we’ve all seen what a disaster Labor has been in Queensland.”

She said it was time for Opposition Leader David Crisafulli to be clear on the party’s preferences.

“I’d actually like to hear a strong statement from David Crisafulli that he is actually going to put Labor and the Greens, especially the Greens, last on how to vote cards,” Ms Hanson said.

“He should understand the damage that the Labor Party have done to the state. He should understand what damage the Greens will do to the state if they actually get the balance of power in the state.”

She said voters should ultimately make up their own minds.

“But considering what I’ve seen and worked with on the floor of Parliament, with the Greens and Labor working together, this country is in one hell of a mess,” she said.

“We cannot afford that to happen in Queensland.

“Labor’s done so much damage to Queensland since 2015.”

When asked if she should tell supporters to vote for the LNP second she said she’d tell people to look at what they believe will represent them.

“I’m encouraging people give One Nation the opportunity to vote number one … If this comes down to a hung parliament, you want people there that are going to represent your needs, your interests.

“We don’t want yes people. We want people with the ability to represent their communities. And that’s One Nation.”

Ms Hanson said it was important her party picked up seats in Queensland.

“That depends on the people of Queensland. I’ve encouraged them to vote for One Nation. Give us their first preference, and we will represent them to the best of our ability,” she said.

“The important issues, escalating youth crime, have not been addressed.”

Ms Hanson said the Labor government had only put a Band-Aid on its cost of living pressures.

“You can only give so much taxpayers dollars away to Band-Aid, same as the 50 cent fares for public transport,” she said. “It’s only Band-aiding. They’re not dealing with real issues. Rip off the Band-aids. Go back to why we have these issues in Queensland, to see people living in their tents, families living in cars.

“That’s not Queensland. That’s not good enough for what we need in Queensland. So they haven’t got the answers, but we need to go to the real problems that we have, and that comes back to, as I’ve said time and time again, net zero.”

One Nation’s candidate for Keppel, James Ashby said that party was getting feedback that people had had a “gutful” of Labor.

“And it’s a very easy choice here to say enough is enough. We must put Labor and the Greens last at this election

“We have seen homeless rates grow at a rapid rate.

“We continue to see that the cost of living is so difficult for people to achieve on a weekly basis, whether that be the cost of housing or the cost of just running a house because of increased electricity prices.”

When asked if he was confident he would win the seat of Keppel he said residents were sick and tired of the inaction over the past nine years.

“In regional parts like Keppel, we’ve seen our health system fail. We’ve seen cost of living increase,” he said.

“We’ve seen juvenile crime rise and a lack of trunk infrastructure that has just gone lacking over the last nine years, and we’ve seen our tourism icon become a decaying Island rot.

“It’s just disgusting to see what has happened to our region because of a lazy Labor government.”

He said if he was elected he would make sure coal royalties remained in the region.

Premier Steven Miles said he was unsurprised the LNP, One Nation and Katter’s Australian Party had “ganged up” against Labor.

“David Crisafulli says there’ll be no deals, but then we learn there’s a deal with One Nation, and then we learn there’s a deal with the Katter’s Australian Party,” he said.

“We will just continue to outline our plans to address the cost of living and to build our state forward, to take our state forward, and we’ll be campaigning to win this in our own right, not with the support of parties like One Nation.”

Originally published as Pauline Hanson enters state election, urging voters to put Labor, Greens last