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Senator Hanson – get used to hearing it people

Controversial anti-immigration crusader Pauline Hanson looks set to get  Senate seat in Queensland thanks to a new voting system and the withdrawal of Clive Palmer from the race.

The Courier Mail has reported that even both major parties admit they have little chance of stopping her.

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Ms Hanson, who was formerly a federal MP, has her best chance of returning to Parliament thanks to the lower threshold needed to win in a double-dissolution election combined with a new Senate voting system that will disadvantage micro parties.

With Mr Palmer bowing out of the race for the Senate, Ms Hanson now only has to battle with Glenn Lazarus to pick up the conservative protest vote in Queensland.

Labor and LNP strategists both concede Ms Hanson is likely to pick up the last Senate seat in Queensland, where she could share the balance of power after the election.

Labor’s Queensland state secretary Evan Moorhead told The Courier Mail that with the “changes to Senate voting, together with a double dissolution, have made it easier for Pauline Hanson to win a Senate spot”.

A senior LNP source told the paper that Ms Hanson’s appeal could be even larger than expected because many people were too ashamed to admit they would vote for her when surveyed for opinion polls.

Pauline Hanson at a Reclaim Australia rally in Brisbane. Photo: AAP.

Pauline Hanson at a Reclaim Australia rally in Brisbane. Photo: AAP.

Ms Hanson, who almost won the state seat of Lockyer in last year’s Queensland elections, has been planning her return to Canberra for almost two decades.

LNP senators are planning an all-out offensive on Ms Hanson to counter her message and try to sway disgruntled conservative voters.

The paper reported that Ms Hanson is planning a scare campaign based on immigration and limits on foreign investment, claiming that her past complaints and predictions about immigration have “come true”.

After multiple failed attempts to re-enter Federal Parliament or become a state MP, Ms Hanson reckons she will be the big winner from a new voting system designed to stop micro parties winning with a fraction of the vote.

“It’s actually in my favour,” Ms Hanson said. “Previously the major political parties never preferenced me. This time the preferences belong to voters.”

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