Pauline Hanson

Pauline Hanson
Hanson in 2017
Leader of Pauline Hanson's One Nation
Assumed office
29 November 2014[1]
DeputyMalcolm Roberts
Steve Dickson (2017–19)
Brian Burston (2016–18)
General SecretaryRod Miles
James Ashby (2014–19)
Ian Nelson (2014)
Preceded byJim Savage
In office
11 April 1997 – 27 January 2002[1]
DeputyBrian Burston
John Fischer (2000–02)
National DirectorDavid Ettridge
David Oldfield (1997–2000)
Preceded byParty created
Succeeded byJohn Fischer
Senator for Queensland
Assumed office
2 July 2016
Preceded byGlenn Lazarus
Leader of Pauline Hanson's
United Australia Party
In office
24 May 2007 – 31 March 2010
DeputyBrian Burston
Preceded byParty created
Succeeded byParty dissolved
Member of the Australian Parliament
for Oxley
In office
2 March 1996 – 3 October 1998
Preceded byLes Scott
Succeeded byBernie Ripoll
Councillor of the City of Ipswich
for Division 7[3][4]
In office
3 April 1994[2] – 22 March 1995[2][5]
Preceded byPaul Pisasale
Succeeded byDenise Hanly
Personal details
Born
Pauline Lee Seccombe

(1954-05-27) 27 May 1954 (age 70)
Woolloongabba, Queensland, Australia
Political partyOne Nation (1997–2002; 2013–present)
Other political
affiliations
Independent (before 1996; 1996–1997; 2010–2013)
Liberal (1996)
Pauline's UAP (2007–2010)
Residence(s)Beaudesert, Queensland, Australia
EducationBuranda Girls' School,[6]
Coorparoo State School[7]
OccupationSmall business ownerFish and chip shop
(Marsden Hanson Pty Ltd)
Administrative clerk
(Taylors Elliotts Ltd)
ProfessionPolitician
Signature
Websitewww.onenation.org.au/our-team/pauline-hanson/

Pauline Lee Hanson (née Seccombe, formerly Zagorski; born 27 May 1954) is an Australian politician who is the founder and leader of One Nation, a right-wing populist political party. Hanson has represented Queensland in the Australian Senate since the 2016 Federal Election.

Hanson ran a fish and chip shop before entering politics in 1994 as a member of Ipswich City Council in her home state. She joined the Liberal Party of Australia in 1995 and was preselected for the Division of Oxley in Brisbane at the 1996 federal election. She was disendorsed shortly before the election after making contentious comments about Aboriginal Australians, but remained listed as a Liberal on the ballot paper. Hanson won the election and took her seat as an independent, before co-founding One Nation in 1997 and becoming its only MP. She attempted to switch to the Division of Blair at the 1998 federal election but was unsuccessful. Nevertheless, her newly formed party experienced a surge in popularity at the 1998 Queensland state election, garnering the second-highest number of votes of any party in the state.

After her defeat in 1998, Hanson unsuccessfully contested the 2001 election as the leader of One Nation but was expelled from the party in 2002. A District Court jury found Hanson guilty of electoral fraud in 2003, but her convictions were later overturned by three judges on the Queensland Court of Appeal. She spent 11 weeks in jail prior to the appeal being heard.

Following her release, Hanson ran in several state and federal elections, as the leader of Pauline Hanson's United Australia Party and as an independent before rejoining One Nation in 2013 and becoming leader again the following year. She was narrowly defeated at the 2015 Queensland state election, but was elected to the Senate at the 2016 federal election, along with three other members of the party. She was re-elected at the 2022 federal election.

  1. ^ a b "History – Pauline Hanson's One Nation". Archived from the original on 13 March 2016. Retrieved 12 April 2016.
  2. ^ a b "The rise and fall of Pauline Hanson". 20 August 2003. Archived from the original on 27 July 2016. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  3. ^ "Pauline Hanson's bitter harvest". 16 September 2014. Archived from the original on 10 July 2016. Retrieved 4 July 2016.
  4. ^ "Ipswich City Council - Divisional Boundaries" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 March 2016. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
  5. ^ "Councillors Of Ipswich 1860–2005 – Chronological List" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 23 April 2016.
  6. ^ Rosemary Francis (22 April 2009). "Hanson, Pauline Lee (1954 – )". The Australian Women's Register. Archived from the original on 22 August 2016. Retrieved 21 August 2016.
  7. ^ Hanson, Pauline (2007). Untamed & Unashamed. p. 34.