Pauline Hanson stands by her right-hand men, slams PM’s preference deal

Pauline Hanson has said she does not support any Port Arthur conspiracy theory and is ‘not interested in the NRA’ | WATCH

Queensland Senator and One Nation leader Pauline Hanson, centre, flanked by party officials James Ashby and Steve Dickson. Picture: AAP

Pauline Hanson says she does not support any conspiracy theory surrounding the Port Arthur massacre and she was not involved with any attempts to gain donations from the American National Rifle Association.

“One Nation will never allow for weakening of gun laws in Australia, I’m not interested in the NRA… this is my stance and as long as I am leader of this party it will never, ever change,” Ms Hanson said on The Bolt Report tonight.

WATCH: One Nation’s @PaulineHansonOz says she does not support ‘any conspiracy theory’ about the Port Arthur massacre. #theboltreport @SkyNewsAust

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— The Bolt Report (@theboltreport) March 28, 2019

“I will not sell my soul and I will not sell my vote,” Ms Hanson said following the revelations from Al Jazeera her One Nation colleagues James Ashby and Steve Dickson sought $20 million from the NRA in exchange for softening gun laws.

Senator Hanson was caught on camera saying “an MP said it would actually take a massacre in Tasmania to change the gun laws in Australia,” to Rodger Muller, Al Jazeera journalist.

“(Muller) was drinking about two to one, he was throwing beers down, and he kept asking questions and you’d say ‘no’ and he’d keep going back, not maybe straight away, but kept going back until he got the answer that he wanted out of me,” Senator Hanson said of the footage.

She claims the footage has been badly cut and taken out of context, and she was too tired to recall what she said on the night.

Senator Hanson accused Muller of putting a voiceover to the video and making it seem as if he was asking a question, which he was not asking in the video. She claimed “you could hear a voice but you couldn’t see his lips moving”.

“Andrew to tell you the honest truth it was late, it was late, it was the end of the night I cant tell you honest what I said that I didn’t agree with, even watching it today I thought I don’t even remember that conversation or what I said,” Senator Hanson told Andrew Bolt.

“But I know how I feel about this and I know what I believe.”

Hanson to stand by Ashby, Dickson

Earlier, Pauline Hanson said she would stand by her right-hand men after they sought $20m from the US gun lobby and labelled Scott Morrison a “fool” for refusing to preference her above Labor.

The One Nation leader pleaded with ABC chairwoman Ita Buttrose in a spectacular press conference not to air the second episode of an Al-Jazeera investigation which shows her chief of staff James Ashby and her Queensland leader Steve Dickson seeking donations from the NRA.

She also said today she does not believe in conspiracy theories surrounding the 1996 Port Arthur massacre, despite being caught on camera spouting such theories.

Senator Hanson accused the Prime Minister of handing power to Bill Shorten, the Greens, and the CFMEU by attacking her over the Al-Jazeera footage.

“With Scott Morrison’s comments today, where we has done a preference deal with Labor, you, Prime Minister have just handed the keys to The Lodge to Bill Shorten, Di Natale and the CFMEU. You’re a fool,” she said in Brisbane today.

“Australia, we are only weeks away from a federal election and One Nation is the biggest threat to the major parties … I am answerable to the Australian people only and they will have their say at the ballot box.”

Senator Hanson described the pair as “very good men who want nothing but the best for this country and the people of Australia”.

“James Ashby will remain as my chief of staff. Steve Dickson will remain on the Senate ticket in Queensland,” she said.

“There has been a deliberate and intense effort for years to destroy James Ashby’s credibility since he came to work for me. He has made some stupid remarks, as we all have, but I’ve worked so closely with this man for years, to know his integrity is unquestionable, he will not be given a trial by media.

“Steve has admitted and understands what he said wasn’t the right thing but he was taken out of context and a victim of entrapment. Sometimes we learn the hard way. We all deserve a second chance.

“There are comments that have been aired in relation to Port Arthur, that are obviously heavily edited and do not reflect how I feel about those tragedies that occurred in 1996. There is no question in my mind that Martin Bryant was the only person responsible for the murders of 35 innocent lives.”

Senator Hanson particularly hit out at the media who she claimed was trying to destroy her and accused the ABC of working with a foreign agent in Al-Jazeera.

“The Australian media has been sold a pup … it was heavily edited,” she said in Brisbane today.

“This is Australia’s first piece of severe political interference from a foreign government.

“The questions must be asked, how much involvement did the ABC have in this illegal,

covert operation? How much money has the ABC paid using taxpayers dollars to organisations affiliated with Qatari Islamist government?

“Ita Buttrose, you need to ask the question of your organisation as the chairwoman, is this the unethical behaviour you support or do you truly believe it should be aired before a full investigation by the Federal Police, in light of the true extent of deception?”

With Sascha O’Sullivan