Pauline Hanson's 'ridiculous' conspiracy theory about Port Arthur massacre
Pauline Hanson and her One Nation party have been embroiled in yet another scandal after she was caught on camera appearing to insinuate the 1996 Port Arthur massacre was a government conspiracy.
Just days after hidden footage was released showing two of her senior staff talking about asking the American gun lobby for $US20 million, Senator Hanson has been caught saying she has “a lot of questions” about Port Arthur, Australia’s worst ever massacre.
“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.”
The footage has been released after 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.
Mr Ashby said the pair only spoke about the potential donations with undercover Al Jazeera reporter Rodger Muller, who had 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”.
‘It’s just ridiculous’: Latham distances himself from conspiracy theory
New South Wales’ One Nation leader Mark Latham has distanced himself from Senator Hanson’s remarks, saying it’s impossible to overlook the clear cut evidence.
“There is a thing called historical fact. The idea that you could somehow keep secret these conspiracy theories in a world of political and media transparency is just ridiculous,” the MP told Sunrise.
“People need to stick to the facts.”
He insisted that he “wasn’t making excuses for anyone” and that his stance on gun control had been clearly established.
“This evil assassin Martin Bryant acted alone and it is one of the worst tragedies in Australian history and thank goodness we got a response from John Howard that has kept us free from madness and massacres for the last 23 years,” he added.
‘Being drunk is no excuse’: Morrison
The men claim they were “on the sauce” when the conversation took place, but Prime Minister Scott Morrison said being drunk was no excuse.
He urged Australians to abandon the conservative minor party.
“Being drunk is no excuse for trading away Australia’s gun laws to foreign bidders,” Mr Morrison told reporters on Wednesday.
In Al Jazeera’s 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.
I was shocked & disgusted with the Al Jazeera hit piece. A Qatari government organisation should not be targeting Australian political parties. This has been referred to ASIO. After the full hit piece has been released I’ll make a full statement & take all appropriate action. -PH
— Pauline Hanson 🇦🇺 (@PaulineHansonOz) March 27, 2019
The One Nation leader has been suffering from a tick bite on her face for the past week, but is expected to go public on Thursday.
Labor leader Bill Shorten has repeated his assertion the prime minister needs 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.
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