Jacqui Lambie slams Pauline Hanson over preference war with the Liberals

Jacqui Lambie has launched a scathing attack on Pauline Hanson, accusing the One Nation leader of spitting the dummy.

Jacqui Lambie has launched a scathing attack Pauline Hanson, accusing her of “spitting the dummy” over the Liberal decision to preference her party over One Nation in the Tasmanian senate.

The One Nation leader on Thursday revealed which marginal seats she would recommend voters preference Labor above Liberal, in political retaliation for what she sees as a dirty deal with the Jacqui Lambie Network.

Those include the marginal seat of Bass in Tasmania, held by Liberal MP Bridget Archer on a razor-thin margin of 0.4 per cent.

Senator Jacqui Lambie said Senator Hanson had her facts wrong.

The others are Tim Wilson in Goldstein, Trent Zimmerman in North Sydney and James Stevens in the South Australian electorate of Sturt.

But Senator Lambie has hit out at the move, saying “Pauline’s got her facts wrong”.

“Questions about Liberal Party preferences are for the Liberal Party to answer,” she said.

“If Pauline wants to tell Australians that she’d rather have a Labor government than a Liberal government that’s completely up to her.

“It just shows her party stands for nothing except getting more money from the taxpayer.

“Anyone can see that’s insincere.”

Senator Lambie said that Tasmanians could “smell a fake”.

“For all her talk about sticking up for freedom, Pauline’s spat the dummy because she wants to control what the Liberal Party puts on its how-to-vote cards,” she said.

But Senator Hanson said the Liberals needed a “wake up call”.

She denied her move was revenge, saying she had spoken about her plans to target marginal left-leaning seats weeks ago.

“I’m shocked and disgusted with the Liberal Party, that in Tasmania without even debating or negotiating with Jacqui Lambie, have put her on the senate ticket not One Nation,” she told Sky News.

“We need to clean out a small number of left-leaning Liberals who masquerade as conservatives.

Pauline Hanson has revealed which left-leaning Liberal seats she will target in her preference war.

“Instead of talking to me about preferences, the media should be asking Scott Morrison why he is prepared to hand Jacqui Lambie the balance of power, someone who hates the Liberals and votes consistently against them.”

But Senator Hanson said that One Nation would work with the Nationals to offset losses and avoid a Greens-Labor government.

When asked what Nationals seats she meant she named the Hunter, but couldn’t say any others because she was “exhausted and tired”.

“The Nationals and their supporters won’t be happy about the Liberals’ lurch to the left on these issues either, which is why I’m prepared to work with them in some seats to offset the loss of Coalition seats held by left-leaning Liberals,” she said.

Earlier, Barnaby Joyce refused to criticise One Nation’s decision to preference Labor over the Liberals, instead launching into a tirade about how the only thing worse than a Labor-Greens government would be 151 independents.

“Well, you know, One Nation decisions are One Nation’s but I would say this,” Mr Joyce said.

“The worst outcome for Australia is a Labor-Greens government.

“No, sorry, incorrect.

“I’ll correct myself there.

“What is the worst? It’s 151 independents running around like mad chooks in a position where you go out each day and have a ballot for who the Prime Minister is, a ballot for who the Treasurer is, a new defence policy every day.

“That would be the worst outcome.

“So when people say the independent noble just and righteous, is if it’s noble just and righteous for you, then why doesn’t everybody do it?

“We’ll have 151 independents, complete and utter chaos, and the people who wish to do us harm will be laughing all the way to the battleships.”

A number of conservative seats are under threat from Climate 200 backed independent candidates, including those held by Mr Wilson and Mr Zimmerman.

Mr Joyce was asked to address whether it was OK that Senator Hanson preferenced Labor.

Barnaby Joyce said the worst outcome for Australia would be to have 151 independents.

He didn’t – instead saying that the Coalition government was the best one for Australia’s future.

Earlier on Thursday, Mr Morrison was asked about the feud with One Nation.

“Well, I think there’s further information to come on that, particularly in relation to Queensland,” he said.

“There’s different arrangements in different states and territories, and I know that there’s a view about what’s occurring in Tasmania.

“But you know what? That’s just all politics.”

Jacqui Lambie shot down accusations from Senator Hanson of a “dirty deal” with the Liberals.

“The JLN has done no deals unless they have done it in the last five hours since I went to bed just after midnight last night, which I doubt it,” she told Sky News.