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<\/p>\nOne Nation leader Pauline Hanson billed taxpayers $2,000 for flights from Hobart to Brisbane after a fundraising event just in time to catch a private jet to Florida paid for by Gina Rinehart, for a US jaunt courtesy of the mining magnate.<\/p>\n
In October last year Senator Hanson took a $768 flight from Brisbane to Hobart, where she stayed for four nights and opened the Bass branch of One Nation with her daughter, Lee.<\/p>\n
Senator Hanson also hosted an afternoon tea with her daughter to “help raise funds to our new Bass Branch” and for Teen Challenge Tasmania.<\/p>\n
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Lee Hanson and Pauline Hanson held a fundraiser for the party while the senator was in Hobart. (Facebook: Lee Hanson for TAS Senate \u2014 Pauline Hanson’s One Nation)<\/p>\n
On October 26, Senator Hanson flew from Hobart to Melbourne and then to Brisbane, at a cost to taxpayers of $1,990, before a private trip to Florida that same day paid by Mrs Rinehart.<\/p>\n
Senator Hanson has defended Rinehart-sponsored flights as saving the taxpayer money.<\/p>\n
“These flights are no cost to the taxpayer,” Senator Hanson said in March.<\/p>\n
“It didn’t cost the taxpayer a cent for me to fly on a plane \u2014 are you worried about whose plane it was on?”<\/p>\n
But the taxpayer was billed for the legs of her travel up to Brisbane to catch the jet paid by Mrs Rinehart.<\/p>\n
Senator Hanson also billed taxpayers $505 for a Comcar upon her return from Florida to Brisbane.<\/p>\n
Senator Hanson has been contacted for comment.<\/p>\n
Trip to court Joyce, fundraise and attend Rinehart event cost taxpayers $11,000<\/p>\n
Taxpayers also footed the bill for a four-day round trip in mid-October that included a visit to Tamworth for a fundraising event and to woo disgruntled Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce, as well as to Melbourne to attend the opening of a Gina Rinehart-funded student accommodation block.<\/p>\n
Senator Hanson claimed a $650 flight from Brisbane to Sydney on Friday, October 17, staying overnight, then a $372 flight from Sydney to Tamworth on Saturday, the same day that Mr Joyce declared he would not recontest his seat of New England for the Nationals and was mulling a defection to One Nation.<\/p>\n
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Barnaby Joyce ultimately defected to Pauline Hanson’s party. (Supplied)<\/p>\n
That evening, senators Hanson and Sean Bell hosted a ticketed fundraising event at the Tamworth West League’s Club, where guests enjoyed “freshly grilled barramundi” and “hearty beef sausages” accompanied by gourmet sides at a fundraising event following the pair opening a One Nation branch in New England.<\/p>\n
“This special event offers a unique opportunity to dine alongside Senator Pauline Hanson and Senator Sean Bell,” an advertisement for the sold-out event read.<\/p>\n
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Pauline Hanson hosted a fundraiser after opening a branch for One Nation in Tamworth, which was sold out. (Pauline Hanson’s One Nation Party)<\/p>\n
The next day, Senator Hanson chartered a flight from Tamworth to Melbourne at a cost to taxpayers of $8,870, which she has previously defended as the only option available to her.<\/p>\n
In Melbourne, Senator Hanson attended the opening of the Nicholas Hancock House in Geelong, a student accommodation facility named after both sides of Mrs Rinehart’s family.<\/p>\n
She then caught a flight from Melbourne to Sydney, courtesy of Mrs Rinehart, before returning home to Brisbane on a $1,090 taxpayer-funded flight.<\/p>\n
Speaking on the Monday following Senator Hanson’s weekend visit to Tamworth, Mr Joyce confirmed the pair had spoken, as he praised the party’s fight against net zero climate policies.<\/p>\n
Senator Hanson’s taxpayer-funded travel outside her electorate of Queensland for political purposes raises questions about whether the flights were within the rules for members of parliament.<\/p>\n
The Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority (IPEA) says taxpayer-funded flights must serve a “dominant purpose” of parliamentary business and adhere to value-for-money principles.<\/p>\n
Parliamentary business can include “party political duties” such as a formal meeting of the party executive, a national party conference or engaging in a headquarters used by a political party in the context of a federal election.<\/p>\n
Mrs Rinehart has covered Senator Hanson’s travel on several occasions, including a flight from Tamworth to Queensland in December last year when Mr Joyce officially joined One Nation, and flights to Adelaide in March during the state election.<\/p>\n
Following several media reports about her travel, on Wednesday Senator Hanson boasted about a “sexy” private plane donated to her by her benefactor Mrs Rinehart<\/a>, and multi-million-dollar donations that would allow her to visit more regional towns in her campaign to make One Nation a mainstream political presence.<\/p>\n In a promotional video shared by Senator Hanson, former Northern Territory chief minister Adam Giles declared “this aircraft is not for joy rides, this aircraft is for the battle for Australians”.<\/p>\n Senator Hanson told her supporters to “keep an eye out for my maiden voyage”.<\/p>\n