Pauline Hanson claims she had the federal government’s blessing to announce an $8m grant for a Rockhampton hospice, saying the Nationals MP Michelle Landry had no role in securing the funding.
The One Nation leader, who announced the grant in August, told Guardian Australia she lobbied for the funding after meeting the hospice proponents at Beef Week in May and was subsequently advised directly by the government that a grant had been approved.
It is understood the finance minister, Simon Birmingham, directly advised One Nation in mid-June that the government would fund the project given it was in line with its regional development agenda.
Hanson said the party had been preparing for a joint announcement to be made by herself and Landry, the local MP, in July, but this was delayed after the then-Nationals leader Michael McCormack was dumped as leader.
“[Landry] has always constantly gone out to try and get credit for this, where she has had absolutely nothing to do with it,” Hanson said.
Asked if the government had been happy for her to make the announcement, Hanson said “of course”. She said McCormack’s office and the treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, had been aware of the arrangement.
McCormack told Guardian Australia he was not aware of any arrangement for a joint announcement between Hanson and Landry, and he was dumped as leader the day after he visited the hospice with Landry.
“I know senator Hanson was keen on this palliative care project, I know she was, but I also know that Michelle Landry was, and at the end of the day Michelle Landry is the one who is in government,” McCormack said.
“It is about delivery for the people, not about the media event, not about who announced it.”
The One Nation leader, who is gearing up to try to retain her Queensland Senate seat at the next election, said she had decided to push ahead with the announcement because Landry had wanted to announce the grant without her.
The day after Hanson announced in the local media that she had secured the funding, Landry and Joyce published a statement with the chair of the Fitzroy Community Hospice board, Vicki Richmond, reannouncing the grant.
Quick GuideHow to get the latest news from Guardian Australia
Show
Email: sign up for our daily morning and afternoon email newsletters
App: download our free app and never miss the biggest stories
Social: follow us on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook or Twitter
Podcast: listen to our daily episodes on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or search "Full Story" in your favourite app
Steve Richards, the treasurer of Fitzroy Community Hospice, told Guardian Australia they had “been lobbying our local politicians for nearly 12 months”, and both Landry and Hanson had been involved.
Landry has previously said she “fought hard for this service as it is absolutely crucial that comprehensive access to community-based palliative care is available in central Queensland”.
“I have been in discussions with the Fitzroy Community Hospice since mid-to-late 2020,” she told Guardian Australia earlier this week. “In June 2021, I met with the board at the Fitzroy Community Hospice site with the former deputy prime minister.”
Landry said she welcomed Hanson’s interest and the One Nation leader could “claim whatever she likes however the LNP are in federal government”.
“I’m the federal member and we are the ones who write the cheques,” she said. “I have been lobbying the deputy prime minister for quite some time for this project and at the end of the day he is the one who signs off on this funding.”
In parliament on Wednesday, Labor asked the deputy prime minister, Barnaby Joyce, why the government had allowed Hanson to “gazump” the announcement.
“Of course we have senators that lobby us,” Joyce said.
“Quite obviously it is the case that if we have an announcement, then a whole range of people like – you know, what they say about success and failure and the parentage of both – but I can tell you that success is driven by government, announcements are driven by government, the government has the expenditure review committee, that approves the money. The government has the cabinet that approves the policy.
“And this government, on this side, has the member for Capricornia, Michelle Landry, who has been an absolutely tireless worker for her electorate.”
Earlier, the Labor senator Murray Watt said “very mysterious things” were happening in Queensland, and questioned whether Hanson’s announcement was “part of some deal with the federal government”.
“We know that senator Hanson is the most reliable ally the LNP has in this chamber, voting with them almost every single time,” Watt said.
“Is this what she gets in return – she gets the ability to go out and announce government funding instead of government members?”
The One Nation leader dismissed suggestions that she had been allowed to make the announcement as part of a specific “deal” with the government, saying it was normal for senators to lobby for projects in their states.
“I’ve actually taken a lot of suggestions to the government. What we do as each of us as representatives of the parliament is to actually take projects to the government, which I believe need funding,” Hanson said.
“I state my case what needs to be done, if that passes the pub test with them, fine. I’m doing my job like anybody else.”
A similar spat between the Nationals and One Nation erupted in September 2020, when Hanson took credit for a $23m taxpayer-funded federal grant to build a stadium in Rockhampton, announcing the government’s decision to fund it with a novelty cheque bearing her face.
In 2017, Nationals MPs blasted the then finance minister Mathias Cormann and prime minister Malcolm Turnbull for allowing Hanson to announce an $8.9m convention and exhibition centre in Ipswich and $5m for a motorsport facility, suggesting the relationship with Hanson was “too cosy” to get her cooperation in the Senate.
Landry was contacted for comment regarding Hanson’s latest claims.