Pauline Hanson will have a party of one, says Fraser Anning

Former One Nation senator Fraser Anning has joined Bob Katter’s Australian Party.

One Nation senator Peter Georgiou with party leader Pauline Hanson. Picture: Aaron Francis.

Former One Nation senator Fraser Anning has joined Bob Katter’s Australian Party and flagged that West Australian senator Peter Georgiou will not last as a member of Pauline Hanson’s party.

Senator Anning, who quit One Nation in November to become an independent shortly after ­replacing Malcolm Roberts, last night ­revealed he had a conversation last year with former colleagues Senator Georgiou and senator Brian Burston warning that all three would be out of Senator Hanson’s party within 12 months.

“I predicted it to Brian about an hour after I got dumped, Brian and Peter and I — I said within the next six to 12 months we’ll all be sitting here talking about how we got dropped,” he told the ABC’s 7.30. “In my case, a friendship of 22 years, it was a one-way street (with Senator Hanson) and the same with Brian.”

Senator Georgiou — whom The Australian revealed yesterday was central to a split inside One Nation over the government’s ­attempt to introduce greater oversight over union mergers — was subject to an aggressive campaign by the Electrical Trades Union ­encouraging workers to pressure him to block the proposed laws.

Senator Georgiou, an electrician by trade, was targeted over the government’s “ensuring integrity bill”.

The Australian revealed yesterday that his decision to withhold support meant Workplace Minister Craig Laundy was one vote short of securing its passage.

Amendments proposed by Mr Laundy would have introduced a public interest test that could have blocked the merger between the construction and maritime ­unions, approved by the industrial umpire on March 6.

Senator Georgiou told The Australian he was “briefed by certain unions and certain ­employer groups” but made up his own mind to oppose the legislation.

He said the public interest test was unfair because it was ­designed to target the already ­approved merger between the Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union and the Maritime Union of Australia. He also said the legislation would have imposed fines on unions in excess of those paid by corporations.

One Nation’s NSW Senator Burston, who fell out with Senator Hanson for refusing to support her backflip on the government’s corporate tax cuts, has accused Senator Georgiou of breaking ranks to oppose the public interest test and killing off greater scrutiny of the MUA/CFMEU merger.

Senator Georgiou has rejected this version of events, arguing that he won the support of Senator Hanson and Senator Burston to oppose the bill, which he likened to “1939 Nazi ­Gestapo tactics”.

Former prime minister Tony Abbott — who launched Senator Hanson’s new book in March — yesterday turned on One Nation over its opposition to the public ­interest test and its withdrawal of support for the government’s $35.6 billion corporate tax cuts.

“This is a very good argument to not vote for minor parties because in the end minor parties are much, much better at articulating a grievance and making a complaint than they are at delivering solutions,” he told 2GB radio.

Labor frontbencher Anthony Albanese also took aim at One ­Nation yesterday, saying the party had “fallen apart again”.