One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has revealed personal details of her life, telling of her time behind bars and experiences with domestic violence.
The PHON leader was at the Swan Chamber of Commerce event to gather support for her party and gave a speech offering intimate details of her life before and during her political career.
While detailing her life running a small business prior to politics, Hanson admitted that she had experienced domestic violence in her life but refrained from going into detail.
“I won’t go into detail, but I had domestic violence as well,” she told the audience.
“So again, that’s a little bit of knowledge and history of knowing what happens running small business, being involved in domestic violence.
“But anyway, since then we split up, I’ve actually had been a single woman.
“I think my whole life and career has just been involved in politics, and of course, how I got into politics.”
Hanson also detailed her rise in politics and the establishment of the party in Queensland in the late 90s.
“I formed the political party in 1997,” she said.
“The first election in 1998 in Queensland, we won 11 seats in parliament, six Labor, five Coalition.
“That put the fear into the major political parties, especially the Howard government, which was going to have an election in October that year.
“They changed voting systems to full preferential voting.
“They all glued together to put One Nation last in that election.
“That’s why it never translated into seats for us, because they preferenced us last to keep the nation out. We won one senate seat in 1998 in Queensland.”
Hanson also addressed one of the major criticisms of One Nation – whether she considered herself or the party as racist.
“Am I a racist? No, I’m not a racist,” she said.
“Do I care if people want to call me that? No way in the wide world, because you know what, they don’t know who I am.
“I have an open heart and mind to a lot of people that come to this country, but at the end of the day, I am Australian, and I’m so proud of my country, and I respect the men and women that have died and fought for our country to give us what we have today.”
The event MC also opened the floor up to questions from the audience, with Hanson asked about her experience in prison after she was found guilty of electoral fraud in 2003, charges that were eventually overturned.
“The day they brought down the guilty (verdict), I was absolutely devastated,” she said.
“I could have just fallen into a heap. I was handcuffed in that room. I was taken downstairs, and I was strip searched.
“I was taken to the watch house that night, that’s an experience in itself.
“The support from the guards and everyone was tremendous.”
Hanson said one of the most difficult parts of serving a prison sentence was the knowledge that she was not guilty.
“I’d been given a sentence and the people didn’t believe me, that I had to be dishonest about registering a political party when I knew that we had thousands of members,” she said.
She also opened up about her first few nights behind bars, claiming she almost gave up, not just on her political career, but on life itself.
“That night I just, I actually gave up, I stopped eating … I just gave up” she said.
“They put me into the hospital ward at the prison when I was taken there the next day after the night in the watch house, and then I was processed and having that picture taken.
Hanson said her past experiences were what had made her into the woman and political leader she has now become.
“Don’t keep living in the past that’s gone, acknowledge what’s happened, and move on with your life,” she told the audience.
“And I think that’s what I’ve done also with my life, stuck with my principles, what I believe in, what I want to accomplish.
“And I think we’ve all had our ups and downs in our lives, we really have, if you look at it, but you stand up tall and straight, and as I just say to everyone, put yourself up on a pedestal.
“The only one that can pull you down is yourself – only you.
“It’s your friends and your loved ones, the people that really care about you. Listen to their advice, listen to them, and the rest of them – put them to the sideline.
“Just do what makes you happy. Don’t let it get into your head worrying about what other people might say and do about you.”
Asked if she had a piece of advice that she would tell herself as a 10-year-old, Hanson had a simple response.
“Don’t get married at 16,” she said.
