Pauline Hanson breaks down on TV over One Nation tensions

In extraordinary scenes, Pauline Hanson has broken down on live TV as tensions threaten to tear apart her party | WATCH

Pauline Hanson has broken down in a live television interview, ­declaring rogue senator Brian Burston stabbed her in the back by supporting the government’s $35.6 billion corporate tax package, branding him a One Nation traitor.

Senator Hanson accused her party colleague — who she has known for more than 20 years — of trying to defect to the NSW Shooters, Fishers and Farmers party, during an extraordinary appearance on Sky News. In a phone call just before the Sky interview, Senator Burston hung up on Senator Hanson.

Comment: Peter Van Onselen on the public implosion of One Nation

Senator Burston gave an interview a short time later, accusing Senator Hanson of walking out of a Canberra hotel last week to avoid him as he shared a beer with their mutual colleague Peter Georgiou.

The interviews followed today’s report in The Australian that Senator Burston had broken ranks with Senator Hanson and maintained his support for the government’s tax package, declaring that he could not “break his word” to Finance Minister Mathias Cormann that One Nation would back the legislation.

Senator Hanson said she was deeply hurt by Senator Burston’s decision to defy her authority. She began crying when pressed on whether the party was disintegrating.

The tensions with Senator Burston come after former Senator Rod Culleton defected, Malcolm Roberts was found to have been a dual citizen by the High Court, and his replacement Fraser Anning — also previously a friend of Senator Hanson for more than 20 years — left the party to sit as an independent.

Asked whether she was struggling to manage her team, Senator Hanson said she had “great people” around her, naming Mr Roberts and Queensland One Nation leader Steve Dickson who will contest the next election on that state’s Senate ticket, but failing to name Senator Georgiou.

“I’ve got Malcolm Roberts who can’t wait to get back on the floor of parliament, I’ve got Steve Dickson who wants to get on the floor of parliament, I’ve got Matthew Stevens who’s in the seat of Longman who’ll be a great candidate,” Senator Hanson said.

“This isn’t the first time Brian’s stabbed me in the back, and that goes back a long time ago, and you think I, this hurts me, it hurts me deeply because … it means so much to me what I’m trying to do,” Senator Hanson said as she broke down.

“For him to turn around and do this to me, it’s hard. But I’m going to keep going, and I’m going to get good people in that parliament beside me because it means so much to me to help the people that need help, that feel like no one’s listening to them.

“They’re sick of politicians because they don’t do anything. And I’ve been able to do so much in such a short period of time and I’m not finished.

“And you think I’m going to let Brian Burston or anyone else to finish me? They will not just sit on the seats and do absolutely nothing and think that they can have a cozy ride and collect the taxpayers’ funds and not work for it.

“I work myself to the bone because I believe in what I’m doing, and I know that Malcolm Roberts has the same feelings as I do and so does Steve Dickson and I know Matthew Stevens does and I know that the guys in Western Australia are exactly the same.

“So I’m sorry to the Australian people that this has happened again, but it’s the same with Rod Culleton, it was the same with Fraser Anning. They haven’t got the intestinal fortitude.

“It’s all about themselves. Self-serving. Well I don’t want people like that. Yes, there’s going to be mistakes and I have made mistakes, but I’ll tell you what at the end of the day, I will win and I’m going to ensure that I’m there with people beside me strongly united, working for the people of this country.”

Asked whether she had a message for Senator Burston, a tearful Senator Hanson said: “I think I’ve said enough.”

.@PaulineHansonOz has broken down on #theboltreport

‘For Brian Burston to turn around and do this to me, it is hard. I am not finished, and if you think Brian Burston or anyone else will finish me, they will not. At the end of the day I will win.’

MORE:https://t.co/TjnfdYInar pic.twitter.com/F9jBQouNZN

— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) May 31, 2018

Asked whether Senator Burston would leave One Nation or be punted, Senator Hanson refused to discuss internal party matters.

“No. I’m not going to tell you what’s going to happen here. The ball’s in his court. I want to know what he’s actually doing,” she said.

“If he hasn’t got the courtesy to pick up the phone and tell me what’s going on, as leader of this party, well that’s an issue that he has to come forward and start talking to both of us of where he stands on this.”

Challenged over Senator Burton’s claim to this newspaper that “I keep finding out One Nation policies when I read them in The Australian newspaper”, Senator Hanson again refused to get into “what’s happening within the party”.

“That will be discussed between Brian Burston, Peter Georgiou and myself as leader of this party,” she said.

Senator Hanson said she dumped Senator Burston as party whip last week “because he wasn’t doing the job”.

“I said to you and I’ve said to the people of this country, I have no intentions having people on the seats in parliament who sit back and do absolutely nothing.”

One Nation leader @PaulineHansonOz has claimed Senator Brian Burston tried to defect to the Shooters Party.

MORE: https://t.co/TjnfdYInar #theboltreport pic.twitter.com/UTkl2Hm9kO

— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) May 31, 2018

Asked why she did not kick him out of the party, Senator Hanson said Senator Burston has a position “on the floor of parliament”, and indicated their relationship had deteriorated because she had not endorsed him as One Nation’s top NSW Senate candidate at the next election.

“He’s done a dummy spit over this because he hasn’t got a guarantee of being top of the ticket,” she said.

“Now the whole fact is there is a process. He has not even put in his paperwork like everyone else has to, like all political parties, and if he thinks he’s going to take it for granted, he’s not.

“No one will win a seat on the floor of parliament in my name. I’ve fought for years to get back here, to be there in a position to help the people of this country, what’s right. It is not a seat to just sit back and do absolutely nothing.

“The people of New South Wales don’t even know who the hell Brian Burston is, so this is very important to me and I will keep fighting, and I’m going to keep doing my job, and it’s working for the people.”

Host Ben Fordham interjected: “They know who Brian Burston is now,” he said.

“Well I’ll tell you what, Brian Burston I have heard tonight has actually reached out to the sporting shooters’ party, to actually join their party, to have a meeting with them,” Senator Hanson said.

“Do you know what they’ve told him? We don’t want you because we don’t trust you, and you can go and get that directly from them.”

“Am I happy? No I’m not happy.”

‘Pauline spotted me, turned around, and walked the other direction’

Senator Burston said he was very disappointed with Senator Hanson’s comments in the interview, describing it as an “outburst”.

“I know she was quite emotional and upset. I’m not sure where she gets the fact that I’ve stabbed her in the back on this occasion or on previous occasions,” he told Sky News.

“In fact she was insistent that I run the ticket in New South Wales at the 2016 election.

“We’ve been friends for 22 years, Pauline and I. I’ve never had a cross word with her, we never had an argument, and I’m very disappointed with her response, her allegations. It’s very hurtful.”

Asked when their relationship had deteriorate, Senator Burston said it was “probably tonight” before revealing that she had not been returning his text messages for weeks.

“I think it was probably tonight. I spoke to Pauline on the phone on the way into the studio to talk to you and she was very angry and raised her voice,” he said.

“I ended up hanging up on her because I couldn’t make any sense of what she was saying.”

Senator Burston conceded that his interview with The Australian had not helped his relationship with Senator Hanson.

“I didn’t go to the media, the media approached me. I finally answered a call after quite a lot of calls over the last week or two, and spoke to The Australian newspaper and gave an interview that was printed very accurately this morning, and my position is that I support the government’s position on these tax cuts because I had a handshake deal with Mathias Cormann, as did Pauline and Senator Georgiou.

“Once I have a handshake deal and sign off on something, I do not break my word. My word is my bond and always will be. That’s the way my father brought me up and I don’t intend to change.”

In her interview, Senator Hanson said she had phoned Senators Burston and Georgiou on Monday and made it clear that the party position was that they would not support the tax cuts.

Senator Hanson claims Senator Burston did not voice any objections.

Senator Burston said he told her he was “not comfortable” with the position.

“In fact after that conversation I texted James Ashby, her chief of staff, and put that very proposition, that I’ve got a handshake deal with Mathias Cormann, I’m not comfortable in breaking that handshake deal, and we should discuss it on Thursday as planned,” he said.

“He sent back a text message saying yes, I think we all should all talk about this and resolve it amicably, and the following day I’ve got the front page story on The Australian newspaper, indicating that she’s done this backflip, and making the claim that she had spoken to and had the support of both Peter Georgiou and I, which quite frankly is untrue.”

Asked whether he should have spoken to Senator Hanson before going to the media, Senator Burston cited an incident last week.

“Last Tuesday night I heard that Pauline was going to be present at a hotel, a pub, in Canberra, so I went with Peter Georgiou to that hotel, that pub, with him, having a normal beer,” he said.

“Pauline and James Ashby walked in, spotted me and turned around and went in the other direction, so to say that I’m not prepared to speak to her, I think you could make assumptions from what I’ve just said that she is the one that isn’t prepared to talk to me.

“I have texted her on dozens and dozens of occasions, and not received any reply.”

Senator Burston said his demotion as party whip was “payback” for not supporting One Nation’s position on company tax cuts.

“I said I’m not prepared to backflip, and break a handshake deal with the government, and about one minute later she said, ‘you’re no longer government whip’,” he said.

“So that was a little bit of a payback, I think it was a little bit of punishment for not supporting her position in terms of those government tax cuts.”

Senator Burston said he remained a member of One Nation.

“Absolutely. I’ve got no intention of leaving,” he said.

He denied trying to defect to the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party, despite party MP Robert Borsak telling The Australian this evening that Senator Burston had approached state director Robert Brown to “discuss the possibility of doing so”.

“The claim that I have approached the Shooters Party is totally and absolutely false,” Senator Burston said.

“I have never met Borsack. I’ve met Robert Brown, but I’ve never met Borsack nor spoken to him ever in my life.”

Asked whether he had approached or initiated any conversations with any other political party, Senator Burston said: “No”.

He said he would remain with One Nation, “unless Pauline decides otherwise of course.”

“I’ve known Pauline for so long. She has her moods, if you like,” he said

“I’m sure she’ll come back down to earth and I support what she’s trying to do for Australia.

“I’ve known Pauline for a long time. We’ve been very, very close friends, and I mean very close friends, and for many, many, many years, and I would hate to see that destroyed over this one particular issue because I didn’t want to break my word to the government on a handshake deal, and that’s all this issue is. Nothing more, nothing less.

“Now if the government puts this proposition to the senate, on current numbers it’s going to fall over. I will cross the floor. I will vote in support of the government, but I’m not sure why that would be an issue because One Nation has not got a comprehensive tax policy and therefore are not breaching any of the One Nation policies in voting against this particular legislation.”

Senator Burston denied stabbing Senator Hanson in the back, indicating that they had previously come to blows over a dispute with One Nation co-founder David Oldfield.

“Many years ago she suspended me from the party when I worked for David Oldfield, and I think I was collateral damage,” he said.

“She was the one that approached me to come back into the party, so it was hardly a falling out on behalf of Pauline and I, it was more to do with David Oldfield at that time. About 2003 I think it was from memory.”

Senator Burston said he thought there was “a way through this”.

“I think Pauline and I should sit down and have a drink and kiss and make up so to speak if she’s prepared to do that,” he said.

“I’ve no intentions of destroying One Nation or causing angst. Perhaps if I thought the article in today’s Australian was going to do that, perhaps I would have had second thoughts, but I had no idea that this would be the reaction from Pauline.”

WATCH: THE FULL INTERVIEW: