One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has declared she would welcome convicted far-right extremist Tommy Robinson to Australia, expressed enthusiasm for mass deportations and refused to retract decades-old inflammatory statements — all during a Channel Seven Spotlight special that aired on Sunday night documenting her self-described "fact-finding mission" to the United Kingdom.
The hour-long program followed the Queensland senator through London and beyond as she met with fringe-right British politicians and figures, offering Australian audiences what Hanson framed as evidence for the direction she wants to take the country. The broadcast has reignited debate about One Nation's positioning ahead of the federal election, with support for Hanson and One Nation already showing signs of slipping among key voter groups.
Tommy Robinson meeting: 'I don't regret it'
The most combustible moment of the program came when Hanson sat down with Tommy Robinson — whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon — a figure described as a renowned racist and convicted criminal whose extremism has placed him beyond the pale even within the UK's hard-right political landscape.
The two greeted each other warmly, with Robinson telling Hanson that "the path has been paved by people like Pauline Hanson." He also expressed a desire to visit Australia, falsely claiming he had never applied for a visa because he assumed his criminal record would prevent entry. In fact, he had previously had visa applications rejected on two separate occasions.
Hanson's response was telling. "Wait until I'm in, you won't have …" she said, appearing to trail off before completing the thought — strongly implying that a One Nation-led government would clear the way for his entry.
When challenged afterwards about why she would associate with a man considered too extreme even for Reform UK — the party whose political positions of Nigel Farage have themselves attracted significant controversy — Hanson was unapologetic. "Why wouldn't I talk to the man?" she said. "I will say and do what I want to." She added she did not regret the meeting.
The journalist accompanying Hanson on the trip said privately the decision to film with Robinson was met with disbelief, describing the encounter as a serious misjudgement and suggesting Hanson appeared largely unaware of the full extent of Robinson's background and convictions.
Mass deportations: 'Oh, I love it'
Hanson had initially been scheduled to meet with Reform UK leader and Brexit architect Nigel Farage, but that meeting fell through after Farage resigned as an MP amid an investigation into his acceptance of funds.
Instead, she sat down with Restore leader Rupert Lowe, who has been advocating for the mass deportation of between 1.8 and 2 million people from the UK's population of nearly 70 million. When asked her view on the policy, Hanson was unequivocal.
"Oh, I love it," she said, confirming she was "very much on the same page" as Lowe. She did not elaborate on how such a scheme would be implemented in an Australian context. Former Neighbours star and right-wing commentator Holly Valance made a brief appearance during the meeting.
No regrets on 'swamped by Asians' and monoculture claims
Asked whether there was anything from her 30 years in public life she wished she could take back, Hanson was characteristically defiant. She specifically stood by her calls for Australia to pursue a "monoculture", her description of Islam as a "disease", and her notorious warning in the 1990s that Australia was at risk of being "swamped by Asians".
"I will apologise if I'm wrong, but I said it for a reason at the time," she said. "I put my head on the chopping block all the time, and I stand up against the establishment."
She also told Robinson that Australia's problems began when Gough Whitlam "got rid of the White Australia policy in 1973" — making no mention of the fact that Liberal prime minister Harold Holt had begun dismantling it seven years earlier, in 1966.
The accompanying journalist noted several other factual inaccuracies during the trip. Hanson cited 100,000 undocumented migrants in Australia, overstating the official figure of 77,700. She also claimed 150,000 Australians were living in cars and tents — a dramatic inflation of the most recent census figure of 7,637 people recorded as homeless.
What it means for One Nation
The broadcast raises fresh questions about the direction and credibility of One Nation as a political force. The journalist who accompanied Hanson described her inner circle as paranoid and poorly prepared, characterising the party machine as operating on "high-level fumes." The decision to engage with Robinson in particular was labelled "delinquent" in terms of the advice Hanson received from those closest to her.
For a party whose polling numbers are at a critical juncture, the optics of the UK trip — associating with figures deemed too extreme even by the British far-right — may prove difficult to manage. Hanson's broader policy platform has previously been described as potentially alarming even to her most committed supporters, and the Spotlight special is unlikely to ease those concerns.
Hanson said she was determined to return to Australia and fight against what she had witnessed in the UK, particularly after walking through the London Borough of Tower Hamlets — where nearly 40 per cent of the population is Muslim, the highest proportion anywhere in England. "I'm going to fight it," she said. "I'm not going to have it happen in Australia."
