Hanson’s blindside proves she’s just part of the bubble

One Nation leader Pauline Hanson double-crossed the government by voting against the Ensuring Integrity Bill. Picture: AAP

Pauline Hanson’s blindsiding of the Morrison government by voting against the anti-thuggery laws in a game of insider politics betrays her core reason to be in the Senate and the support One Nation gets from battlers and workers.

It has also infuriated the Coalition and left her open to a political campaign that she has behaved duplicitously, broke her word and is now just part of the “Canberra bubble”.

Although furious and frustrated at the defeat in the Senate, the government is not stepping back and will resubmit the integrity bill to the House of Representatives next week and to the Senate early next year.

Hanson’s success has been built on being an “anti-politician” who didn’t play Canberra political games, pledging to keep the bastards honest while standing up for the outsiders and fringe dwellers left disenfranchised by big-party political deals.

But reneging on support for the anti-thuggery laws designed to halt the law-breaking and criminality of CFMEU has exposed her as just another insider, wheeling and dealing in the Senate, looking for political advantage and voting against laws that would restrict a union that has given her financial support.

Make no mistake, the ordinary union members, the law-abiding workers who want to do a day’s work for a day’s pay, stand to gain less than the rich, militant and rogue construction union that is claiming victory on the strength of One Nation’s vote.

The Coalition is furious with Hanson, not because she voted against the Ensuring Integrity Bill, but because the government supported the amendments she demanded and then she broke faith. A grinning and giggling Hanson preparing to break the understanding in the Senate detracted from the seriousness of the vote and her claims to be an honest broker.

The government has not adopted the same attitude to Jacquie Lambie, who also voted against the bill, because the Tasmanian independent never said she would in all the negotiations.