One Nation Leader's Undisclosed Private Jet Travel from Mining Billionaire
Senator Pauline Hanson has been found to have failed to declare another private jet flight gifted to her by billionaire Gina Rinehart's company Hancock Prospecting, marking the second such incident within months that breaches parliamentary disclosure requirements.
October Flight Between Melbourne and Sydney
Guardian Australia can exclusively reveal that the One Nation leader travelled on Rinehart's Gulfstream 700 private jet between Melbourne and Sydney on 19 October last year, following her attendance at an agricultural college event in Geelong. The flight, which would typically cost thousands of dollars commercially, was not declared in Senator Hanson's register of interests despite parliamentary rules mandating disclosure of any sponsored travel or hospitality exceeding $300 in value.
When questioned at an Adelaide press conference about whether she had received flights or transfers from Hancock Prospecting to or from the 19 October event, Senator Hanson initially responded: "No ... if you are going to try to say that I am being funded by Gina Rinehart, the answer is no." Pressed again on the specific question of flights or transfers, she stated: "I can't remember."
Event Details and Connections
The Queensland senator had attended the official opening of Nicholas Hancock House at Marcus Oldham College in Victoria, an $11 million student accommodation building partly funded by a $2 million donation from Rinehart. Although the mining magnate did not attend personally, Hancock Agriculture chief executive Adam Giles delivered a speech on her behalf and introduced Senator Hanson as a "dear friend" of Rinehart.
During her speech at the event, Senator Hanson thanked Rinehart for the "kind invitation" and spoke extensively about her support for Australia's agricultural and mining sectors. "My job as a politician is to ensure that what this country was built on – not only agriculture but the mining sector – that we ensure that we do have that because it brings so much money into the country," she told attendees.
Flight Tracking and Previous Incidents
Publicly available flight tracking information shows Rinehart's jet travelled from Perth to Sydney on 19 October, with a brief stop in Essendon that same day. The revelation follows Guardian Australia's December report that Senator Hanson had previously failed to properly declare that Rinehart had flown her and her chief of staff James Ashby to Florida to attend the Conservative Political Action Conference, where they also stayed at the mining magnate's $66 million Palm Beach mansion.
Following that December report, One Nation resubmitted declaration forms on 30 December after initially incorrectly updating the register. Parliamentary rules require senators to notify the registrar of any changes to their interests within 35 days of alteration occurring.
Political Context and Responses
The panel discussion at the Geelong event focused heavily on opposing net zero carbon emission policies, with Senator Hanson also advocating for significant tax reductions. "My God we are overtaxed in this country and if it was One Nation, we'd get rid of payroll tax [and] a lot of these other taxes that we have," she declared during the discussion.
On the evening of her arrival in Sydney, Senator Hanson spoke with former Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce – a long-time Rinehart ally – about his potential defection to One Nation. She later told Sky News about the conversation: "I said: Barnaby, it's your decision, the offer is there, it is up to you now what you want to do about it, that is how I left it."
As of midday Tuesday, no declaration had been published regarding the 19 October flight, despite questions being sent to both One Nation and Hancock Prospecting. Hancock Prospecting referred inquiries to One Nation, who initially promised a response but had not provided one by the Tuesday deadline.
