Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has hit back against Pauline Hanson after she asked supporters for donations a day after criticising the federal government for doing the same.
One Nation today shared an attack advertisement on social media calling for donations to “stop Labor” and “fire the liar”.
One Nation’s attack ads called for supporters to donate $29, $2 more than Labor’s request from their supporters. Pauline Hanson’s One Nation
“Labor is destroying the Australia we know,” the party said in the post, claiming One Nation was now in a position to target Labor seats after its historic success in last month’s Farrer by-election, where it took the seat of former opposition leader Sussan Ley.
Donations start at $29 – $2 more than what Labor asked when it released ads yesterday asking supporters for spare change to fight off the rise of One Nation.
“One Nation is on the rise and we need to expose their real record before it’s too late,” Labor’s ad read.
One Nation’s ad directly responded to this, saying: “Albo thinks $27 buys him the right to silence us. We think Australians deserve a real choice.”
Hanson told Sky News yesterday it was “absolutely disgusting” that Albanese had asked for donations, before coming out with her own campaign today.
Albanese this morning accused the One Nation leader of promoting division.
“We do ads all the time because we have supporters, and what we do is we ask our supporters to provide support for the Labor Party,” he told reporters.
“Nothing unusual about that. We do on a regular basis out there, and I’m pleased that it’s been pretty successful.
“I’ll leave the negativity to someone who has made a career out of seeking to divide people and seeking to be negative.”
Pauline Hanson has led One Nation to the top of some opinion polls. Alex Ellinghausen
One Nation has raised more than $370,000 of its $1 million fundraising goal, according to the website at the time of writing.
Hanson has enjoyed support from Australia’s richest person – mining magnate Gina Rinehart – who gifted her a $2.1 million private plane and $2 million in April ahead of the Farrer by-election.
Hanson with the plane given to her by Gina Rinehart. Getty Images
Hancock Prospecting, the company owned by Rinehart, has also provided Hanson with several flights over the past year, which is something the One Nation leader has publicly declared.
One Nation has enjoyed a meteoric rise in recent months, fuelled by a collapse in support for the Coalition following its historic loss at the election and leadership struggles and voter discontent at the government’s budget and rising cost of living.
A recent Australian Financial Review, RedBridge Group and Accent Research poll found One Nation had jumped in front of Labor for the primary vote with the Coalition trailing behind.
Labor still led on the two-party preferred basis, but the poll showed One Nation would form the opposition, over the Coalition, if an election was held today.