Taxpayers cough up $3700 for Pauline Hanson’s Perth fundraising trip
October 2018
Pauline Hanson charged taxpayers $3,700 for a three-night trip to Perth where she held “intimate” $5000-a-head dinners for One Nation donors and a $20-per-head “fish and chip” fundraiser for about 300 people, according to Guardian Australia.
Records show that Pauline Hanson charged $3,735.07 to taxpayers for her WA trip. Her flights from Brisbane to Perth and back to Canberra cost $2,517 and Hanson also claimed three days of food and accommodation allowance worth $1,218.
Politicians are not allowed to charge taxpayers for travel if the dominant purpose is party fundraising. Guardian Australia reported that a spokesman for Hanson declined to answer numerous questions about the nature of Hanson’s parliamentary business during the trip.
At the “fish and chip” fundraiser at the Botanica Bar & Bistro in Innaloo, Perth, organised by the party’s WA executive, members of far-right extremists the Proud Boys showed up outside to counter a protest against Hanson and One Nation.
A 30-year veteran of the mainstream media, Liz was the editor of MWMuntil June 2021. Liz began her career in journalism in 1990 and worked at The Age newspaper for two 10-year stints. She also worked at The Guardian newspaper in London for more than seven years. A former professional tennis player who represented Australia in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, Liz has a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Letters (Hons).