Pauline Hanson asks Brian Burston to quit Senate

Pauline Hanson has written to her One Nation senator and asked him to resign from the Senate - but he’s not budging.

Pauline Hanson has written to One Nation senator Brian Burston and asked him to resign from the Senate.

Senator Hanson said she no longer had confidence in him after he split from her opposition to the government’s tax cuts to big business, and she wants someone else to represent One Nation in the upper house of the federal parliament.

“I no longer have confidence in you as an officer of Pauline Hanson’s One Nation. You have been removed as deputy registered officer in NSW and in the federal party,” Senator Hanson writes in a letter given to 2GB radio.

“Please consider resigning from the Senate seat and handing it back to the party. It would be the honourable thing to do as you would not be a senator but for your association with me.

“You describe yourself as loyal to me and I now ask that you demonstrate that loyalty by giving up your seat in the Senate to enable the party to appoint a replacement NSW senator.”

Senator Burston said he would not resign from the One Nation party and would “never” voluntarily leave the Senate, calling her letter a “massive dummy spit”.

He found out about the letter when it was read on 2GB radio.

Senator Burston said it would be up for Senator Hanson to kick him out of One Nation, vowing to sit as an independent if that happened.

“I certainly will not be standing aside for Pauline to put in a crony that’s a yes-man or woman,” he said.

“I’ll be one of the other 23 people who have either walked or been sacked. I’ll be 24 out of 30 - not a good record,” he said.

EXCLUSIVE: @PaulineHansonOz says PLEASE RESIGN to @SenatorBurston. #auspol Senator Burston is about to respond on @SydneyLive2GB pic.twitter.com/gO30F9SYg8

— BenFordham (@BenFordham) June 1, 2018

EARLIER: Shooters, Fishers and Farmers NSW state director Filip Despotoski, has revealed rogue One Nation Senator Brian Burston used an “intermediary” in a secret attempt to defect to the rival conservative party.

The approach made through a third party trusted by both sides gave Senator Burston deniability in arguing that he had not personally made overtures to the Shooters.

But Mr Despotoski told The Australian it was untrue for Senator Burston to claim that he had not previously met with him before, arguing that they met for the first time at an information session in 2016 held by the Australian Electoral Commission.

“This was in the lead-up to the federal election,” Mr Despotoski said. “We just so happened to be sitting next to each other in the corner. We exchanged contact details.

“Fast forward to about a year ago to January or February 2017 -- I wanted to have a chat with him. We texted each other. That was in Perth. We were running a campaign. They (One Nation) were running a campaign. It was ahead of the WA state election. We never ended up having a face to face meeting”.

Mr Despotoski said that, in the last few weeks, Senator Burston had made overtures to the party through an “intermediary” who was not a member of the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers party.

He was would not name the intermediary, but said it was “someone I trust, but it’s not a member of our party”.

“This intermediary contacted me saying he had been speaking to a federal Senator who was on the outer. Thursday afternoon the intermediary contacted me at about 3:30 to 4:00. He said this Senator wants to meet you next week. I said we were happy to meet but wanted to know who it was. He said it was Brian Burston. I laughed and said ok”.

“I called Robert Borsak straight after I spoke to this intermediary and we decided ‘Thanks, but no thanks’”.

“Technically he didn’t speak to a member of our party or a party official. But he did speak to this intermediary to facilitate a meeting to talk to me, Robert Borsak and Robert Brown in Sydney next week on Friday, June 8”.

The meeting will not be proceeding.

Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party MP Robert Borsak: @OneNationAus reached out to us to confirm whether Mr Burston had approached us to defect and we confirmed it. We don't really want him as our representative.

MORE: https://t.co/WAnKNNh0U6 #newsday pic.twitter.com/Hx6iDvnEtP

— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) June 1, 2018

‘Hanson has more sense than to roll me’

One Nation senator Brian Burston says he wants to remain in Pauline Hanson’s party as former Labor leader Mark Latham refuses to deny the party approached him to run on its NSW Senate ticket.

Senator Burston said he believed Senator Hanson would “have more sense” than to expel him from One Nation, saying he still considers her a friend and the company tax stoush was their first argument in 22 years.

But Mr Latham this morning refused to deny reports he was approached by One Nation, while The Australian has also confirmed Australian Conservatives senator Cory Bernardi knocked back an approach to run for Senator Hanson’s party in South Australia.

.@realMarkLatham refuses to deny that he’s been approached to join One Nation. pic.twitter.com/mpkZTbcQ5S

— Sunrise (@sunriseon7) May 31, 2018

I statted the Australian Conservatives Party to provide a stable, credible and principled alternative for conservative voters in the upper house.

That remains my commitment and the role of @AuConservatives is more important than ever.

— Cory Bernardi (@corybernardi) June 1, 2018

Senator Burston said he was committed to Senator Hanson’s cause and did not believe he would be rolled as the party’s number one NSW Senate pick. He has angered Senator Hanson by splitting from her opposition to the government’s big business tax cuts.

“I don’t think that will happen I think she has more sense than that, I have made it very clear that I am still a One Nation senator, I will remain so and I still have a lot to contribute and I intend to contribute more and support the principles and policies of One Nation,” Senator Burston told 2GB radio.

“That is why I was elected, I was elected on the One Nation name, not on my name, it was certainly on Pauline Hanson’s name, I acknowledge that and I want to do my best to serve her and the party and Australia generally.”

He said be believed they would patch things up despite Senator Hanson accusing him of stabbing her in the back and trying to joint to Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party in an emotional interview last night on Sky News. Senator Burston said he had never made contact with the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party and had no interest in joining it.

“This is the first argument, publicly or privately, we have ever had in 22 years, quite seriously,” he said.

“We are very compatible, we get on very well together and we have similar beliefs and outlooks for what we want for Australia and I think we can patch things up and I am very hopeful we can.”

Finance Minister Mathias Cormann said he thought Senator Hanson’s emotional breakdown on Sky News last night was “sad”.

“It is all very sad and I feel sorry for Pauline, Pauline is a good person, I have very good engagement,” she told Sky News.

“Obviously from my point of view it would be preferable if all three One Nation senators remained committed to the consensus that we reached, to support a globally more competitive business tax rate for Australian business.”

Senator Cormann would not comment on a Sky News report he texted One Nation senator Peter Georgiou yesterday with a quote of Senator Hanson’s where she failed to mention him as a worthy supporter.

“I engage with all of my Senate colleagues, as appropriate from time to time, a number of them reach out to me in relation to a range of issues that are up for discussion and I am not talking through the media about my private conversations,” he said.

WATCH: The full Sky interview