Pauline Hanson saddened but determined to beat rising star Amanda Stoker

One Nation leader Pauline Hanson says she is confident of beating rising conservative star Amanda Stoker in the looming contest for a Queensland Senate seat.

Queensland senator Pauline Hanson. Picture: Gary Ramage

One Nation leader Pauline Hanson says she would prefer to fight Labor or the Greens but is confident of beating rising conservative star Amanda Stoker in the looming contest for a Queensland Senate seat at the next election

Based on previous election results, Senator Hanson and Senator Stoker, the new Assistant Minister for Women, are likely to face-off against each other for the fifth and sixth Senate seats, along with a Greens candidate.

Senator Stoker was put in that position after being relegated to third spot on the Liberal National Party Senate ticket for the next election following a ballot of members at the weekend.

The vote of the LNP State Council in Brisbane on Saturday put Liberal senator James McGrath at No 1 on the ticket, followed by the Nationals’ Matt Canavan and then Senator Stoker.

Senator Hanson said that while the Morrison government and Coalition politicians “talk about introducing female quotas’’ with candidates, they put a female minister below two male senators. “Talk about female quotas, what a joke,’’ she said.

Senator Hanson said she “liked Amanda” but believed voters would support her and One Nation because of her track record.

“I’d rather beat Labor or a Green for a seat, before I stop Amanda being elected, but I have a record,’’ she said.

“I’m independent and free thinking and I stand up for ordinary Australians and get things like the sugar industry code introduced and the banking and family law inquiry started.

“Amanda has been given the carrot of being made an assistant minister and now has to toe the party line.’’

Senator Stoker could not be reached for comment, but her ­office reissued a statement, first released on Sunday, saying she was “honoured to have been preselected” on the Senate ticket.

“I will continue to be a tireless advocate for our values and will continue to deliver for them and for all Queenslanders as a member of the Morrison government,’’ she said in the statement.

“I am confident that with the team that has been preselected by the LNP membership we will not only see the Morrison government returned but continue to grow support for the LNP in Queensland.”

Former veteran Nationals senator Ron Boswell, who once defeated the One Nation leader in a run for the Senate, said he was hopeful Senator Stoker would be re-elected.

“She’s going to be in the political fight of her life,’’ he said. “She can’t just utter Coalition rhetoric … she’s going to have to give the electorate some red meat.

“She’s got to stand up for coal-fired power stations, jobs in regional Queensland and be a friend of the IGA and pharmacies. If she wins, she will be a heroine.’’

At the last election, the LNP ­secured three of Queensland’s Senate seats up for election, with Labor winning one seat alongside One Nation and the Greens.

Polls indicate that Labor will improve on its disastrous Queensland result in the 2019 election, when it secured just 22 per cent of the statewide Senate vote.

A vote of 14.3 per cent is needed to secure a Senate spot.