Al Jazeera has released an investigation exposing how One Nation attempted to collude with the US gun lobby. Al Jazeera has released an investigation exposing how One Nation attempted to collude with the US gun lobby.... OPINION One Nation has distanced itself even further from Australia’s political mainstream and from the possibility it will get preference favours from the Liberals next election. The party, whose leader Pauline Hanson has literally wrapped herself in the Australian flag to enhance her nationalist credentials, has been caught grubbing for American dollar donations. MORE: One Nation sought millions from America’s largest gun lobby And the objective was to use the money to weaken restrictions on gun use and ownership. Coming so soon after Senator Hanson’s refusal to condemn former party colleague Fraser Anning for his comments blaming Muslims for the Christchurch mosque murders, the donation expedition positions One Nation in the extremist band of Australian politics. The fundraising attempt entered a murky legal area and Attorney-General Christian Porter has even suggested the matter might be investigated officially. Further, the party has been snared by its glaring double standards. Last September, Senator Hanson spoke in support of, and voted for, a ban on foreign donations, despite her top advisers having sought them with her approval. The perception is that One Nation went begging for foreign money and when the loot didn’t eventuate switched positions for political convenience. Prime Minister Scott Morrison now will be pressed even harder on whether One Nation should be placed above Labor — or any other parties — on Liberal how-to-vote cards. The Party Games newsletter Get your political briefing from news.com.au's political editor Samantha Maiden. Sign up The Party Games newsletter Success! Check your inbox for details. See all newsletters It will be more than a distraction. It will become a test of the Liberals’ set of principles. The story is gripping, but not in a way that flatters the One Nation folk involved. Last year, the party dispatched a two-man team to the United States to hustle some money from the National Rifle Association, the uber gun lobby of the firearm world. But Senator Hanson’s chief adviser James Ashby and her Queensland leader Steve Dickson were caught by an Al Jazeera journalist’s sting in which they were more Laurel and Hardy than Redford and Newman. It will be $10 million, no $20 million, Mr Ashby and Mr Dickson told each other as they over-rated their attractiveness to their American targets. They left apparently unencumbered by cash, carrying away only some NRA talking points and tactics of deception. It’s not known if any the organisations the pair approached slipped them money as One Nation has been reluctant to comment on that. Its reluctance is understandable. Senator Hanson knew and approved of the project and cannot remove herself from its consequences. Its response to the Qatar-owned Al Jazeera report is hilarious. One Nation is complaining of foreign interference in Australian politics and wants ASIO to investigate. Having sought and failed to get foreign involvement in our politics, One Nation suddenly is against the idea. One group will be pleased by the shambles. The NRA will realise it dodged a bullet when it declined to fund One Nation fantasies.<doc-sep>Scott Morrison has been astride the barbed-wire fence for days, refusing to say what he’ll do about One Nation preferences, despite the moral imperative being absolutely clear to anyone watching. The reasons for this are obvious. Morrison, given everything that has led him to this moment – to being prime minister, heading a political movement barely holding it together – does not feel secure enough in his position to be able to issue forceful public demands and assume his backroom organisation, or even senior colleagues, will meekly follow him. If Morrison had gone out ahead, demanding that One Nation be put below Labor, he would have risked his own people, both parliamentary, and organisational, standing him up, and doing it in highly public fashion. A Queensland rebellion – and that was the significant risk – would have projected further disunity and a corrosive lack of prime ministerial authority, which is not something the prime minister believes he can afford. To put it simply, he believed he had no good choices. Morrison had a huddle about what to do earlier this week. After Tuesday’s cabinet meeting, the prime minister asked Liberals to stay behind after the regular discussion had concluded to discuss One Nation preferences. Mathias Cormann suggested the Liberals keep One Nation off their how-to-vote cards in the Senate, but that did not resolve the issue of the lower house. Josh Frydenberg issued something of a general rebuke. He expressed a view that colleagues should not be freelancing in public about this issue. Kelly O’Dwyer, who had argued publicly before the cabinet meeting that One Nation should be put last, spoke up then, and advocated urgent action. The Liberals needed to spurn One Nation. She said the party had the same opportunity now that John Howard had in the late 1990s. Capping off her contribution, O’Dwyer said the government should not be bullied by the Liberal National party. Simon Birmingham then backed O’Dwyer’s argument according to people present, arguing forcefully that action was required immediately, in both houses, otherwise the government would be kicked to death in the court of public opinion. But while the view of moderates from the southern states was clear, Peter Dutton, Michaelia Cash and Angus Taylor took a different position. They wanted options. They advocated holding on to Morrison’s meaningless “no deals” locution (which was the official holding position) and wait until the nominations closed before making a decision. Dutton was worried about the electoral fallout for MPs in Queensland if the Liberals forcefully shunned One Nation. He thought the government would lose seats if One Nation retaliated by preferencing against the Liberals, given the protest vote is likely to be high in the coming contest. There was also a message for Morrison in Dutton’s contribution. Dutton told colleagues if a general directive was issued, he didn’t know what the LNP would do in response. The implication was the Queensland organisation could easily go rogue. At the end of the discussion, Morrison told his colleagues the government should only act once in relation to the issue, and that wouldn’t be happening on Tuesday. In the end, he waited until Thursday. Following the soundings on Tuesday, Morrison has been working with key organisational figures to get to Thursday’s hedged position: One Nation will be put below the Labor party on the Liberal party’s how-to-vote cards. But Nationals in Queensland will be able to do as they will, and Queensland Nationals have already made their views clear: they will do what they believe is in their electoral interests. Tuesday’s cabinet discussion provides a window on the internal crosscurrents Morrison is attempting to manage as the electoral clock ticks down. The bottom line is the prime minister should have done the right thing, and done it days ago, just because it was right. But Morrison didn’t have the luxury of overestimating his authority, doing something just because it was the right thing to do, because doing the right thing could carry a cost – both personally for him and, potentially, for the government which is now so close to D-day the collective anxiety is palpable.<doc-sep>One Nation leader Pauline Hanson is sticking by her senior staffers and blaming the media for the scandal engulfing her party. Key points: Pauline Hanson defends senior One Nation staffers caught in a gun lobbying sting Pauline Hanson defends senior One Nation staffers caught in a gun lobbying sting She claims her comments about the Port Arthur massacre were heavily edited She claims her comments about the Port Arthur massacre were heavily edited Senator Hanson calls Scott Morrison a "fool" for preferencing Labor ahead of One Nation Senator Hanson said both James Ashby and Steve Dickson would retain their positions despite secret recordings that revealed both men wanted millions of dollars in donations from America's National Rifle Association and discussed softening One Nation's policies on gun ownership as they tried to secure the funding. The same Al Jazeera investigation obtained footage of Senator Hanson appearing to suggest the Port Arthur massacre was part of a conspiracy. The revelations prompted Prime Minister Scott Morrison to announce today that the Liberals would preference Labor ahead of One Nation at the federal election. Today Senator Hanson dubbed the Prime Minister "a fool" and said the media had been blinded by its hate and bias for One Nation and had fallen victim to political interference from the "Islamist" Qatari government. "With Scott Morrison's comments today where he has done a preference with Labor, you, Prime Minster, have just handed the keys to the lodge to Bill Shorten, Di Natale and the CFMEU. You're a fool," she said. Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Watch Duration: 1 minute 8 seconds 1 m 8 s One Nation's Pauline Hanson and James Ashby on a hidden camera ( Al Jazeera ) The ABC will broadcast the second part of the Al Jazeera documentary tonight. In the episode, footage shows Senator Hanson discussing Port Arthur with her chief of staff, Mr Ashby, and undercover journalist Rodger Muller at a dinner in the central Queensland town of Yeppoon. Senator Hanson claimed her comments about the Port Arthur massacre in the undercover Al Jazeera investigation were heavily edited. "There is no question in my mind, that Martin Bryant was the only person responsible for the murders of 35 innocent lives. "My belief stands today that he should have faced the death penalty." The One Nation leader also took aim at the ABC for broadcasting the Al Jazeera documentary. She appealed to the public broadcaster's newly appointed chair, Ita Buttrose, to intervene and prevent tonight's broadcast. "The questions must be asked, how much involvement did the ABC have in this illegal, covert operation? How much money has the ABC paid using taxpayers' dollars to organisations affiliated with the Qatari Islamist government?" Senator Hanson said. "Qatar is a government that enforces Sharia law, public floggings, genital mutilation, suppression of women and stoning. "This is a political attack by Al Jazeera in cooperation with the ABC. If the ABC had any ethical bone in their body, they would refuse to put this unfair and unbalanced story to air tonight." The documentary is entirely an Al Jazeera investigation. The ABC has said Al Jazeera approached it about the documentary and the public broadcaster acquired it in accordance with its usual proceedings. Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Watch Duration: 32 seconds 32 s Pauline Hanson says Port Arthur comments were edited Watch the second part of the Al Jazeera investigation at 8:00pm on ABC TV, or watch the full documentary on iview.<doc-sep>
Pauline Hanson is preparing to front the media over a scandal engulfing her One Nation party after appearing to insinuate the 1996 Port Arthur massacre was a government conspiracy. Two senior One Nation officials have also been caught talking about asking the American gun lobby for $US20 million. Hidden camera footage, released by Al Jazeera as part of an undercover operation, showed Senator Hanson saying she had “a lot of questions” about Port Arthur. “An MP said it would actually take a massacre in Tasmania to change the gun laws in Australia,” Senator Hanson told Al Jazeera reporter Rodger Muller. “Haven’t you heard that? Have a look at it. It was said on the floor of parliament. “I’ve read a lot and I have read the book on it, Port Arthur. A lot of questions there.” NSW party leader Mark Latham said the comments didn’t match up with his exchanges with Senator Hanson. “I had a discussion with her about the making of the Howard gun laws and she didn’t raise any doubts about the veracity of the truth of what happened at Port Arthur,” he told Seven’s Sunrise on Thursday. Another of Al Jazeera’s videos showed Queensland One Nation leader Steve Dickson and Hanson’s chief of staff James Ashby speaking to the undercover reporter about potential donations. The men claim they were “on the sauce” when the conversation took place. Prime Minister Scott Morrison said being drunk was no excuse and has urged Australians to abandon the conservative minor party. In the Al Jazeera footage, Mr Dickson says One Nation could get the government “by the balls” through holding the balance of power in both houses if they could get millions in funding. That would allow them to weaken Australia’s gun laws, a point they raised with powerful lobby groups in Washington DC, including the National Rifle Association. Senator Hanson broke her silence on Wednesday, saying she was shocked and disgusted with the “hit piece” by Qatari TV network Al Jazeera. “A Qatari government organisation should not be targeting Australian political parties. This has been referred to ASIO,” she tweeted. The One Nation leader has been suffering from a tick bite on her face for the past week, but is expected to speak publicly on Thursday. Labor leader Bill Shorten has repeatedly called for the prime minister to back up his condemnation of One Nation by putting them last on Liberal how-to-vote cards. Mr Morrison has consistently said the Liberals will wait until final nominations before deciding on its preferences. Mr Ashby said the pair spoke only with undercover Al Jazeera reporter Rodger Muller about the potential $US20 million in donations. Mr Muller posed as the head of fake lobby group Guns Rights Australia and initiated the One Nation meetings with the NRA. Mr Ashby accused Mr Muller, who is Australian, of being a “Middle Eastern spy”.