Pauline Hanson’s Taxpayer-Funded Travel and Fundraisers
Queensland senator Pauline Hanson has charged taxpayers for flights and chauffeured vehicles to attend political fundraisers for One Nation, prompting scrutiny over potential breaches of parliamentary rules.
Despite previously criticizing MPs’ use of taxpayer-funded entitlements, Australia has found that Hanson billed taxpayers for multiple flights to campaign alongside her daughter, Lee Hanson, who was the party’s lead senate candidate in Tasmania during the last election. This included a return trip from Hobart to Sydney to appear live on Channel 7’s Sunrise program.
On Friday, reported that Lee Hanson has since been employed by One Nation as a senior adviser to the party’s NSW senator, Sean Bell, who was formerly a trusted adviser to Pauline Hanson.
Parliamentary guidelines state that taxpayer-funded travel must be for parliamentary business. While political campaigning is not excluded, MPs
“must not claim work expenses or use public resources for the purpose of fundraising, soliciting donations or attending fundraising events and activities”unless related to charity.
MPs from major parties have often justified using taxpayer resources to attend political fundraisers by citing coincidental parliamentary or constituent business.
Records from the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority (IPEA) reveal that in the lead-up to the last election, Hanson billed taxpayers thousands of dollars for trips including attendance at political fundraisers. Among these expenses was $1,650 to attend an Adelaide “Australia Day” fundraiser last year, alongside senate candidate and South Australian upper house MP Sarah Game, who has since left the party.
Hanson also claimed over $2,000 for flights from Brisbane to Sydney on 14 February 2025, and from Newcastle to Brisbane two days later.
On 15 February, Hanson headlined a One Nation fundraising dinner with NSW candidates on the Central Coast, approximately midway between Sydney and Newcastle. Comcars in Brisbane linked to this trip totaled $700.
The party’s NSW annual general meeting was held in Gosford on the same day.
In April 2025, Hanson claimed about $1,200 in flights to and from Newcastle and attended a fundraising event in Maitland with the party’s candidate for the seat of Paterson.
In 2024, Hanson also headlined a fundraiser at an open-air floating bar on the Swan River during a $2,200 trip to Perth.
Hanson has been contacted for comment.
Daughter’s Campaign
IPEA records show Hanson claimed $2,400 across six flights to and from Hobart over five days last April, coinciding with the launch of her daughter’s senate campaign. These included return flights to Sydney where they appeared together on Sunrise on 3 April, costing $1,200, plus $200 in Comcar fares.
The party leader then claimed another $2,500 for travel to and from Hobart, campaigning with her daughter in the final week of the election. She remained in Hobart until the day after election night, returning to Brisbane on 4 May.
Hanson’s use of taxpayer-funded travel has previously been reviewed by the expenses watchdog after she claimed nearly $5,000 to attend Gina Rinehart’s 70th birthday party in Perth in 2024.
Her office provided diary entries showing meetings with senior executives from Rinehart’s company, Hancock Prospecting, which were used to justify the trip as parliamentary business.
The One Nation senator has also repeatedly failed to properly declare gifts from Rinehart, updating the register only after Australia revealed details of undeclared flights. previously reported that Rinehart flew Hanson on her private jet to Florida and between Melbourne and Sydney after a Rinehart-linked event in Geelong in October.
IPEA records indicate Hanson claimed $2,260 in taxpayer-funded flights to Adelaide in November 2024, where she joined Rinehart at national mining and agriculture days. Hanson was observed dancing with Rinehart at the gala mining event in Moomba, where Guy Sebastian performed.
The use of taxpayer funds has been a recurring issue for Hanson, with her party twice repaying election funding to the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC). She is also subject to an enforceable undertaking following the 2019 federal election, which imposes conditions on her as the registered agent for claims exceeding $10,000 in public funding.
This 2021 enforceable undertaking was imposed after the AEC found the party wrongly claimed about $165,000 in expenses, which it had to repay. The AEC review determined some of Hanson’s claimed expenses were either
“not Electoral Expenditure …[or] were Electoral Expenditure that had not been incurred”.
Following the 2022 compliance program, Hanson repaid approximately $70,000.
The AEC is currently conducting a compliance review of 2025 election campaign funding, which distributed just over $6 million to One Nation. This review is part of an annual program based on a sample of disclosure returns. Other parties’ claims will also be audited as part of the process.
Nearly 90% of election funding paid to eligible participants was covered through compliance for the 2022 federal election, with similar levels expected for 2025. The review is anticipated to conclude in the coming months.
