How George Christensen’s One Nation defection secures MP $100K and hands Pauline Hanson another Senate term

George Christensen has all but secured a six-figure payout courtesy of taxpayers, with the maverick Queensland MP to make a doomed bid for the senate after switching allegiances to One Nation and reneging on a decision to retire.

George Christensen has all but secured a six-figure payout courtesy of taxpayers, with the maverick Queensland MP to make a doomed bid for the senate after switching allegiances to One Nation and reneging on a decision to retire.

Aside from securing the financial windfall for the Mackay-based politician, Mr Christensen’s tilt for the upper house on the unwinnable third spot has likely helped secure Senator Pauline Hanson’s re-election in Queensland’s tight race according to experts.

Mr Christensen had refuted claims his tilt for the upper house was a ploy to secure the $105,000 “resettlement allowance”, claiming he had been in line for the cash anyway — something the LNP rejects.

George Christensen will run for One Nation in the senate. Picture: Steve Pohlner

Mr Christensen’s defection to One Nation and election bid had not come as a surprise to his former LNP colleagues, though some expressed disappointment.

Senator Pauline Hanson, announcing the candidate coup on Wednesday, signalled she believed One Nation could muster up enough votes to elect three Queensland senators and people shouldn’t “underestimate” the party’s support base.

But Griffith University politics expert Dr Paul Williams said it would not be possible, though Mr Christensen’s personal popularity could help “kickstart” the campaign to get Senator Hanson re-elected.

“(She) is the big winner out of this,” Dr Williams said.

One Nation did not secure enough votes outright to get a Senate spot in 2019, getting over the line only through preferences.

Mr Christensen announced in April 2021 he would retire at the federal election, with The Australian reporting at the time the Dawson MP had quietly attempted to get the LNP to disendorse him so he would be eligible for the resettlement allowance.

The payment, worth up to six months of the parliamentarian base wage, is accessible to federal politicians who lose their job because they fail at an election — regardless of whether they run for a different level of parliament — or are dumped by their party for reasons other than misconduct.

Pauline Hanson on Wednesday announced Raj Guruswamy and George Christiansen would run for One Nation the senate. Picture: Steve Pohlner

Mr Christensen, in an exclusive interview with the Courier-Mail, said it was “highly likely” he was “entitled” to the payment regardless of his Senate run because there was a “recorded motion from the Dawson (LNP branch) to not proceed with my nomination.

Asked again on Wednesday if he was running simply to get the allowance — to him worth about $105,000 — he said “no”.

Senior LNP members have maintained they shut down Mr Christensen’s disendorsement manoeuvre when he tried it last year.

An LNP spokesman said Mr Christensen was “free to contest the preselection” in Dawson, but chose to retire instead of doing so.

“We have thanked George Christensen for his contribution over the years. His decision to stand for One Nation does not come as a surprise to anyone,” he said.

Dr Williams said Senator Hanson would be the “big winner” of Mr Christensen’s defection, though if he had run for the party in Dawson — something the MP said he didn’t want to do — a One Nation win would have been plausible.

Northern Australia Minister David Littleproud said he was “disappointed” in Mr Christensen.

“It’s not the action I would take and what I’m focused on, while this might be the titillation of Canberra, in trying to make something outside good policy,” he said.

“Most of these people don’t give a rats.”

Originally published as How George Christensen’s One Nation defection secures MP $100K and hands Pauline Hanson another Senate term