Pauline Hanson has attempted to shift attention away from growing questions about one of her own senators by reviving her long-running attack on Labor senator Fatima Payman’s dual citizenship — as polling shows One Nation has become Australia’s most popular party for the first time.
The One Nation leader posted on social media on Tuesday accusing Coalition MPs calling for an investigation into her senator of being “pure hypocrites,” before pivoting to renew claims that Payman, who holds Afghan citizenship, remains the more pressing eligibility question in the Senate. “The most questionable Senator in Parliament, Fatima Payman, holds Afghan citizenship. It’s a case that still needs investigation and an answer,” Hanson wrote.
The deflection came amid a media firestorm over Western Australian One Nation senator Tyron Whitten’s register of interests. Whitten reportedly amended his submission after The Australian contacted him about links to his family’s construction company, Whittens Group, which signed a $75 million deal with Commonwealth-owned Snowy Hydro in October 2024. Under Section 44 of the Australian Constitution, people who receive direct or indirect financial benefit from Commonwealth work are barred from sitting in parliament. Whitten co-founded the company with his brother in 2001 and served as director and company secretary until the end of 2024, with ownership only changing in July last year — after his election to the Senate.
Hanson dismissed concerns about Whitten’s eligibility, arguing Snowy Hydro was a public company rather than a government department and insisting “there is no question over Senator Whitten’s eligibility.” Coalition MPs were unpersuaded. Liberal frontbencher Jonno Duniam called on Hanson to address the matter directly, saying: “If Pauline Hanson wants to be prime minister, this is a way to demonstrate leadership by clearing the air on these matters.”
Payman fired back at Hanson on social media, showing little patience for the renewed attack. “Every accusation is a confession, Pauline. Maybe focus on your own senator’s eligibility before coming for mine,” she wrote. In subsequent posts she described Hanson’s “obsession with me” as “crazy” and called on her to focus on “the cost of living crisis and closing the wealth disparity caused by her billionaire friends.” When asked whether Hanson was effectively volunteering to engage with the Taliban in order to pursue the citizenship question, Payman added: “I don’t know why Pauline is hellbent on legitimising the Taliban.” Payman had previously said she had taken “all reasonable steps” to renounce her legal ties to Afghanistan following Hanson’s initial criticism in November 2024.
The row comes at a significant moment for One Nation. A Newspoll survey published last week recorded the party’s primary vote rising four points to 31 per cent — making it the most popular party in Australia for the first time. Labor dipped one point to 30 per cent while the Coalition fell two points to 18 per cent, underlining the scale of the political realignment currently under way in Australian politics.
