Hanson absent at vote, as election truck set alight in Tasmania

The One Nation leader has tweeted footage of her campaign truck on fire in Tasmania as she was noticeably absent during election voting.

Pauline Hanson’s One Nation truck in Tasmania has been set alight in the federal election aftermath.

“It is amazing how the left call for tolerance, but act like they’re above the law when you don’t agree with their ideologies,” Hanson said.

The truck was parked outside a shop while the One nation candidate was buying groceries. “Someone was seen torching it before fleeing,” Ms Hanson claimed. However Tasmanian police could not confirm any claim of an eye witness account.

“We are treating the fire as suspicious but have nothing more to say at this point,” a police spokesperson told news.com.au.

Our One Nation truck in Tasmania was parked outside a shop while our candidate was buying groceries. Someone was seen torching it before fleeing.

It is amazing how the left call for tolerance but act like they’re above the law when you don’t agree with their ideologies. -PH pic.twitter.com/8WHAyasgcc

— Pauline Hanson 🇦🇺 (@PaulineHansonOz) May 19, 2019

Statement from @TasmaniaPolice #politas #ausvotes pic.twitter.com/PqNI7PCwF4

— Alex Johnston (@swegen31) May 19, 2019

The truck, being driven by One Nation Senate candidate Adam Lambert was set on fire while Mr Lambert was inside the shopping centre buying groceries, The Mercury reported.

Posted by Adam Lambert for TAS Senate - Pauline Hanson's One Nation on Sunday, 19 May 2019

Cardboard cut-outs of the One Nation leader stood in her place at polling stations around Queensland yesterday.

After months of campaigning, Pauline Hanson went to ground. She was nowhere to be seen until she raised her head for a message to supporters that said thank you and very little else.

On Facebook, she sounded positive about a result that will deliver a Coalition Government, but cautious about what it means for her own party.

RELATED: How Pauline Hanson caught us all off guard

One Nation and Clive Palmer’s United Australia Party gathered enough votes to help the Coalition retain power through their preferences, but Ms Hanson’s party got just three per cent of the primary vote, and Mr Palmer seems likely to miss out on winning any seats.

“Thank you to everyone who showed their support yesterday to our One Nation team,” she wrote.

“While the results in the lower house have determined a Liberal/National Government, they haven’t yet finalised the Senate vote.

“We won’t have those results for another week or two, but it’s looking very likely that Malcolm Roberts will return to the Senate in Queensland.

“It’s hard to know precisely where we sit in all other states across the country, but I’m also hopeful Peter Georgiou is returned in Western Australia.

“Patience is the key to Senate counting process, but time will tell.”

She told supporters she will spend the rest of the weekend “in the garden” rather than actively watching the count.

A candidate she didn’t mention was Stuart Bonds who, according to The Guardian, had secured a massive 20 per cent swing in the New South Wales seat of Hunter.

Mr Bonds, who was described in the article as “tattooed, often shirtless”, had secured 21.8 per cent of the primary vote with 50 per cent counted last night.

Incumbent Labor MP Joel Fitzgibbon is still expected to hold on to the seat.

Ms Hanson is right, too, about Mr Roberts returning to the Senate. After being ousted in a dual citizenship saga last year — only to be replaced by Fraser Anning who defected an hour after being sworn in.

One Nation leader Pauline Hanson is doing some gardening while she waits for the rest of the votes to be counted. Picture: Joel Carrett/AAP

But that’s about the extent of what we know so far.

The campaign for Ms Hanson’s party was marred by scandals. An Al Jazeera investigation that relied on covert video recordings of One Nation’s Queensland leader Steve Dickson and chief of staff James Ashby appeared to show the pair attempting to solicit money to water down Australia’s gun laws.

Ms Hanson strenuously denies the footage shows the pair targeting the powerful National Rifle Association.

“They were not talking to the NRA,” she told reporters last month. “That was an Al Jazeera journalist. Sorry. You’re wrong,” she said.

But she could not deny the rest of the footage, which included 56-year-old Dickson groping exotic dancers and making racist remarks.

In the footage aired by A Current Affair last night, the married 56-year-old says at one point, “I’ve done more Asian than I know what to do with”.

Speaking to reporters from her home, Ms Hanson said she was “both shocked and disappointed at the vision I was forced to watch”.

“I am both a mother of three boys and the only female leader of a political party in this country. I wouldn’t tolerate my own children behaving this way towards women,” Ms Hanson said.

Ms Hanson was confrontational when interviewed by the Today show last week about her party’s primary vote collapsing.

Host Deb Knight told her that voters should not be blamed for turning away from her.

““In light of all the things you’ve faced, all the scandals, all the things that have been going on, can you really blame people for having their doubts about One Nation and considering Clive (Palmer) over you?” Knight asked.

Ms Hanson fired back, telling the newly-instated host that she should consider her own popularity.

“I’ve actually gone up since the last election, unlike your show, Deb, since you’ve actually taken over. You’ve actually gone down in your viewership,” Ms Hanson said.

“So, should you hand over your job or should we bring Karl back? Should we bring Karl back? You have a go at me about this all the time.”