Pauline Hanson says Australia ‘must be monocultural’ in National Press Club speech

“The public are sick to the back teeth with these lies.”

She attacked a Guardian Australia reporter for asking about her daughter, Lee Hanson, who is employed as a senior adviser to New South Wales One Nation senator Sean Bell, despite living and working in Tasmania.

Lee Hanson is expected to run for the Senate at the next election.

“I didn’t get her that job. She got the job on her own merits by someone who actually wanted to employ her,” Hanson said.

Hitting out at support for the renewables transition from the federal government and business leaders including Andrew Forrest, Hanson said environmental rules and efforts to cut carbon emissions should not be allowed to “throttle” the economy.

“We will never be able to do without coal and gas,” she said.

“We should encourage the investment in them and provide power to homes and business, as we once did, at the world’s cheapest price.”

Attacking Labor for changes to the 50% capital gains tax discount and negative gearing, announced in last month’s federal budget, Hanson said the reforms would punish ambitious and aspirational young people.

She labelled the treasurer, Jim Chalmers’ defence of the plans “pathetic”.

“The difference between Albanese, Chalmers and me is that I actually ran a small business. They have earned their income by working for government, taking their salary from the taxpayer.”

Hanson’s speech comes as One Nation pulls ahead of the major parties in opinion polls, and as she outpaces Albanese as the preferred prime minister in Newspoll this week.

Hanson has flirted with a move back to the lower house at the 2028 poll, and the party has begun allocating portfolios for opposition or government.

She lashed the federal public service for being incompetent and promised a One Nation government would direct bureaucrats on how to implement policies.

Hanson accused the media of being complicit in silencing average voters and shutting down debate. She also claimed she was a known quantity and remained outside the political establishment, despite being elected again in 2016.

She accused the media of double standards and petty attacks, of missing the party’s re-emergence and its role in speaking for disgruntled voters.

“Australians aren’t buying this crap from the political establishment and its media supporters any more,” she said.

On transgender rights, she claimed without evidence that school children were having dangerous ideology “imposed” on them, even likening trans awareness to militant Islam.

Asked if Australia was still at risk of being swamped by Muslim migration, as she claimed in 2016, Hanson said: “Not if I have anything to do with it.”