Who is Lee Hanson? Meet Pauline Hanson’s daughter, One Nation candidate

The Hanson name has long been a headline-act in Australian politics – and it is likely to stay that way for some time yet.

The Hanson name has long been a headline-act in Australian politics – and it is likely to stay that way for some time yet.

It has been revealed Pauline Hanson’s daughter is running as a One Nation candidate in the Senate for Tasmania in the 2025 federal election.

Following in her mother’s footsteps, Lee Hanson on April 3 announced she would run for office, declaring it was something she had never previously considered.

“If you had asked me 10 years ago if I would be standing here right now, I would say absolutely not, no way,” she told Sunrise.

Ms Hanson said seeing the “turmoils, up ands downs” her mother had been through in the public eye had initially deterred her from entering politics.

“However, I’m a mum myself now,” she said.

Lee Hanson was announced as lead One Nation Tasmania candidate on 3 April 2025. Picture: Elise Kaine

“So I’m at a point where I feel I need to stand up. I care too much about my children’s future, so it’s time to make a change.”

Ms Lee said she was “very different” to her mother, who she agreed was “polarising”.

“She is very different to me and I have some of the same values and strengths, which I am grateful for that she’s taught me, but I’m my own woman.”

Asked if she had political arguments with her mum, Ms Lee said: “I test her thinking and provide a different context from a next generation”.

It has been a wild rise into politics given the long, storied history of Pauline.

This is the story of the ascent of Lee Hanson.

The Hanson clan

Born in 1984, Lee was the fourth child of Pauline Seccombe (later to become Zagorski and then Hanson), and second with then husband Mark Hanson, with the couple marrying on May 24, 1980 at the Ipswich Uniting Church.

The pair honeymooned in the major cities of South-East Asia – Bangkok, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Manila.

“It wasn’t my cup of tea,” said Hanson, recalling her first and last exposure to Asia.

“I didn’t enjoy it and I have no intention of going back there again. That’s it.”

Pauline Hanson gives her daughter Lee, 12, a hug in 1996.

Three years younger than her brother Adam, Lee also has two older half-brothers – Tony and Steven – who have reportedly endured a rocky relationship with their mother over the years.

In 1996 it was reported Pauline had not communicated with her eldest son since June 1991.

“That’s basically that until he realises that I’m his mother and he owes me respect,” she said at the time.

“I didn’t kick him out – it’s been his choice not to get in touch with me. He didn’t like the fact that I just told him what I thought of him … I will not be taken for granted.

And I won’t take it from my children. I’m tough.”

Life in the spotlight

For all her headline acts over the years, Pauline has stayed somewhat the mystery woman of Australian politics, often shielding her children from the spotlight … good and bad.

In 1996 fellow Ipswich councillors revealed an incident two years prior when Pauline was first making waves.

The newly elected members were huddled around a fireplace at a lodge outside Grandchester on a getting-to-know-you weekend in 1994 when it was suggested they each say a few words about themselves.

The process was handled numerically. In her turn, the representative of Division 5 rose to her feet. “My name is Pauline Hanson,” she began, “and if I want anyone to know anything about me, I’ll speak to them personally.”

Heightened by her outspoken mother’s stance on immigration, Lee in 1997 disclosed she had been subjected to death threats, with police security organised for her at school during Pauline’s frequent trips to Canberra.

Pauline Hanson's daughter, Lee Hanson, is running for One Nation as a senate candidate in Tasmania. Picture: Supplied

“I miss her a lot. I’ve always missed her. Like, even before Mum was a politician I didn’t see her that much,” Lee told Channel 7’s Today Tonight.

Ironically, Ms Hanson said she wanted to protect her children from media attention.

“I put my hand up for this job, not my children,” she said.

In 1999 Lee spoke out about her mother’s treatment in the media.

“She has always stood out from every other mother,” Lee said.

“She has shone like a bright light.

“There were times when I got a death threat and my brother was stalked.

“Mum has always tried to keep us out of the spotlight.”

THAT bikini shoot

In 2004 Pauline told how she stepped in to protect her daughter Lee’s modesty as she stripped down to her bikini for a sexy spread in a men’s magazine.

She said she vetoed several brief bikinis before Lee, then 20, donned a more conservative pair for the photos in Ralph magazine.

She admitted to having fears when her youngest child, who recently scored a spot as a reporter on Channel 9’s Extra program, approached her about the magazine offer.

“I was concerned about the bikinis and the briefness of them,’’ Pauline said at the time.

Lee Hanson in 2003.

“I said, ‘Yes, you can give it a go’. I had to inquire what this Ralph magazine was all about.

“But I had to have an input into what she put on. I couldn’t stand back and let everything happen - I’m very proud of her. I love my daughter.’’

Lee, then a Gold Coast real estate property manager, said the offer to get “half her kit off’’ for Ralph had taken her by surprise and she had mulled over the decision for months.

“I don’t even have the confidence to go to the beach in my swimwear, let alone strip down and have some photos taken -- so it was a bit nerve-racking but at the same time fun,’’ she said.

Pauline was pleased with the way Lee handled the day-long assignment on the rooftop of a Sydney tower.

“I`ve been in photo shoots myself. They will try to get you to sit a certain way. It can do so much harm,’’ she said.

Lee Hanson’s shoot was under the eye of Pauline.

Stepping into politics

Like her mother – the famous fish and chip shop-owning single mum – Lee “isn’t a career politician”.

“She’s a no-nonsense local, a mum, a straight talker—and she’s leading One Nation’s Tassie Senate team in 2025,” the One Nation website states.

So what does she stand for?

“Bring Bulk billing back. School system rebuilt. Power bills slashed. Fuel tax halved. Families saving thousands,” the website states.

“Lee’s running to fix what Canberra won’t—and she won’t back down.”

Her decision to run for the Senate in Tasmania in 2025 came almost three decades after Lee took the stage alongside her mother following Pauline’s doomed 1998 election campaign.

Pauline Hanson with her daughter Lee in 2001.

That night, as One Nation failed to secure even her own seat in Queensland, Pauline embraced her 15-year-old daughter, who had celebrated her birthday by working on a polling booth.

“What mother would do that to her daughter?” she said.

Pauline’s own Queensland Senate seat is safe until 2028 – Lee may soon get her chance.

“She doesn’t go along with everything that I say and I’m the older generation,” Pauline told Sunrise.

“She is telling me from the young perspective. She’s been in HR and in leadership roles with corporations and with the Tas University and everything like that. She’s got a lot to offer.”

Originally published as Who is Lee Hanson? Meet Pauline Hanson’s daughter, One Nation candidate