“At the next election, I swear to you, I will be standing candidates in Victoria,” Hanson said.
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“One Nation will fight for you, to give you representation in the Victorian parliament.”
Hanson’s speech came days after she created fresh controversy by wearing a burqa in the Senate last Monday. She was later suspended from the Senate for seven days.
Hanson drew passionate cheers and chants of “Pauline, Pauline” from the crowd of a few hundred people, many of them draped in Australian or boxing kangaroo flags.
People surged towards Hanson when she arrived and, again, when she left the rally. Some spoke to her, others yelled her name and the odd person confronted her with various grievances.
Hanson’s speech featured many of her trademark political views covering gripes with immigration, crime and government debt along with a call to action to the people at the rally who appeared to come from a wide range of Christian groups and the far-right fringes.
“All I ask is that you get behind One Nation,” Hanson said. “Come and talk to us. Come and put up your hand [to run for a seat] but don’t think it is a job where you can sit back and do nothing and collect your pay because I’ll kick you out myself. I’ve done it [before].”
Melbourne Put Australia First organiser Nick Patterson, who spoke after Hanson, said the Melbourne City Council would fine organisers for parking a truck, which served as a stage during the gathering, on the grass at Flagstaff Gardens.
A Melbourne City Council spokesperson confirmed organisers would be fined. She said legal action would be pursued to recover the costs associated with damage to the lawn and potentially infrastructure and drainage which could reach $20,000.
About 500 counter-protesters had earlier gathered at the State Library on Swanston Street to protest the anti-immigration rally.
The Put Australia First demonstrators, numbering around 700 according to Victoria Police estimates, assembled in Flinders Street before marching to Flagstaff Gardens.
The Put Australia First rally in Melbourne on Sunday.Credit: Chris Hopkins
The two rallies coincided with the introduction of Victoria Police’s greater powers to conduct on-the-spot searches for prohibited weapons.
The new search powers were tested outside the State Library during the rally by counter-protesters. Six officers stopped a man wearing a grey hoodie to search his bag. A crowd gathered around chanting, “No justice, no ban. No racist police.”
The man’s bag was emptied on the forecourt and deemed safe.
Victoria Police made one arrest on Sunday after searching a man on Swanston Street and allegedly finding knuckle dusters.
Two people were given move-on directions from Flagstaff Gardens.
Police will review CCTV and investigate the display of a Nazi symbol, an unknown man who threw a can of drink at police officers, and other incidents involving offensive behaviour.
Robinson’s address, which came several speakers after Hanson’s, was filled with inflammatory anti-Islamic sentiments and misleading statements about crime figures from the United Kingdom.
Robinson said he still wanted to come to Australia despite his ongoing ban from entering the country.
Under the new declaration, officers can conduct pat-down or wand searches of people without a warrant, search vehicles and force people to remove face coverings in the designated areas of the CBD, Southbank and Docklands.
The expanded powers will be in force until May 29, 2026.
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