Pauline Hanson has publicly snapped at a reporter who asked her a seemingly innocent question as she landed in Perth yesterday via a Virgin Airlines flight.
Referring to the recent access to a new private jet that mining tycoon Gina Rinehart recently gifted the Senator, the reporter questioned why Hanson had flown on a public airline.
“Why didn’t you fly Gina’s jet?’’ the reporter from Nine News asked.
“Did you fly cattle class?”
Mediaweek has contacted Nine for comment. It has been reported by another masthead that the journalist’s name is Sophie Fenna.
Hanson was visibly irritated by the questions. Her chief of staff, James Ashby, who was recording the exchange, zoomed in on the reporter’s seemingly satisfied smile.
Ashby is heard muttering “what a stupid question,” before Hanson snapped, “I’m not answering those stupid questions. Get some credibility about you as a journalist and learn respect as well.”
Although the exchange may not seem flattering to Hanson, she proudly posted video of the moment on Instagram on Wednesday night.
She captioned it: “Have a listen to these disrespectful questions asked by this Channel Nine reporter when I came off the Virgin flight to Perth.
“This is why mainstream media have lost much of the respect from the public.”
View this post on Instagram
Pauline Hanson captured saying “I said you’re the nasty b*tch”
Just last month, One Nation staffer Richard Henderson confirmed to Mediaweek he was “reprimanded” by Hanson after telling a journalist to “shut up” following a press conference in Adelaide.
The exchange, captured on video by both Nine and Seven, involved Guardian Australia senior correspondent Sarah Martin.
Vision of the incident shows Hanson beginning to walk away from the lectern while Martin continues to ask questions.
Henderson can then be heard telling Martin, “We’re done”, before she responds: “Did you just tell me to shut up?”
“Yes, I did tell you to shut up,” Henderson replies.
Following the interaction, Hanson was filmed speaking with One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce in footage captured by 7News cameras.
Joyce can be heard saying: “That was good, you did very well”.
Hanson then replied: “I said you’re the nasty b*tch.”
It remains unclear who the Senator was referring to in the exchange.
One Nation’s ‘Fire the Liar’ campaign
One Nation has now raised more than $1.7 million from voters in 24 hours to run a ‘Fire the Liar’ campaign against Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
On Thursday morning, chief of staff Ashby spoke to 2GB radio about the party’s new fundraising campaign, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.
“I think it will go down in history. It goes down well in my history books. So, look, it is big.
“Yeah, that’s going to give us that firepower, and as I said, we’re going after Labor, because this is the worst Labor government.
“In fact, I think it’s the worst government we’ve ever seen in our political history in this country.”
Time will tell.
Feature image: Pauline Hanson snaps at reporter when asked about Gina Rinehart’s donated plane. Image: Instagram