Election 2025: Pauline Hanson and daughter Lee gun for Jacqui Lambie as One Nation seeks renewal

Pauline Hanson and her daughter Lee are gunning for Jacqui Lambie. The outcome could have major implications for the future of One Nation.

Senator Pauline Hanson with One Nation’s lead Senate candidate, her daughter Lee Hanson, on the campaign trail in Tasmania. Picture: Facebook

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Pauline Hanson and her daughter Lee believe they can defeat Jacqui Lambie, poaching supporters disillusioned with the Tasmanian senator’s record of voting with the Greens and Labor and her anti-salmon stance.

Lee Hanson, Senator Hanson’s 41-year-old daughter, moved to Tasmania 13 years ago and is running for One Nation for the Senate.

With the two major parties likely to win two each of the six Tasmanian Senate seats being contested, and the Greens’ Nick McKim a fifth, the Hansons ­appear to be targeting Senator Lambie.

“A lot of people are not happy with Jacqui Lambie and have no intentions of voting for her again,” Senator Hanson said.

“Jacqui Lambie 80 per cent of the time votes with the Greens and Labor. She’s not in line with conservative values.”

Both Hansons said Senator Lambie’s attack on the state’s $1.46bn salmon industry earlier this month – in which she said “We don’t want that bloody salmon farming in Tasmania, they can piss off” – had alienated many.

“A lot of towns and businesses rely on that industry’s workers’ wages coming into their areas so you can’t just shut (it) down,” Senator Hanson said. “If there are ­issues, you … try and find solutions – you don’t just throw ­people on the trash-heap.”

She believed her daughter was her party’s best chance yet of winning a seat in Tasmania, after several near-wins in the past, particularly given the Liberals preferencing her second.

Ms Hanson, who has worked in human resources or change management at the University of Tasmania and state-owned businesses, backed her mother’s ­attacks on Senator Lambie.

“Predominantly she does vote with Labor and the Greens on the floor of parliament and if people are feeling that’s not the representation they want … then obviously I’m offering more of a conservative vote,” she said.

While Tasmanians are notorious for not following how-to-vote cards, receiving the Liberals’ second preference was potentially a game-changer. “We’ve come within 1000 votes or so of picking up a seat in Tasmania in the past so I hope and suspect that should make a big difference.”

Senator Jacqui Lambie is being targeted by One Nation over her voting record and stance on Tasmania’s salmon industry. Picture: ABC

She vowed to put Tasmania first – including by supporting the state’s focus on 100 per cent renewables, over nuclear or coal ­energy. “Tassie’s different, right – so how we reduce the consumer price (of power) in Tasmania is a slightly different offering,” Ms Hanson said.

She said she wanted more of the profits from exporting renewable power to the mainland to be returned to Tasmanians through cheaper power prices.

Ms Hanson joined opposition to the part-federally funded proposed Hobart AFL stadium.

“Can we afford it, given our current economic situation? The answer I’m hearing is ‘no’,” Ms Hanson said, saying the state’s two existing AFL stadiums should be used while long-term options were examined.

If elected, she and her mother would be federal parliament’s first mother-daughter combination, but Hanson Jr – a declared supporter of workplace inclusion and diversity policies – would bring a different style.

“I’m a little bit softer in my delivery – Mum’s very black and white, very blunt,” she said. “I’m hoping that appeals a little bit more to the younger generation.”

Lee Hanson is concerned Tasmania ‘can’t afford’ a new AFL stadium.

With Senator Hanson, 70, recently declaring her time in politics was “coming to an end”, her daughter may offer the renewal One Nation will need if it is to survive the leader’s retirement.

Ms Hanson defended her mother’s 1996 “swamped by Asians” anti-immigration speech, arguing it was a reflection of projections at the time and should be considered “in the context of the whole speech”.

Senator Lambie did not respond by deadline.