Gina Rinehart has gifted Pauline Hanson a “sexy” new private plane, worth more than $1.5m, to use in the lead-up to the next federal election, as a group of her close associates donate another $2m to the reascendant One Nation party.
The One Nation leader addressed a social media post to the Guardian on Wednesday, boasting about the purchase of a new Cirrus SR22 G7, which can retail for about US$1.5m (A$2.1m).
“BREAKING NEWS – I’ve got a new plane, Sarah,” Hanson said the post, in an apparent dig at this journalist.
“Yes it was donated. Yes I’m super happy. Yes it’s fast. Yes it’s amazing. Yes it’s going to annoy the Guardian. Yes it means I can visit more regional towns across the country more often. Yes it’s a Cirrus G7. Yes it’s sexy. Yes I have a pilot.”
Sign up for the Breaking News Australia emailGuardian Australia has reported extensively on Hanson’s links to Rinehart, including her repeated failures to properly declare free flights gifted on the mining magnate’s private jet.
A spokesperson for Hancock Prospecting confirmed on Wednesday that the aircraft had been gifted to One Nation through one of Rinehart’s companies, not from Rinehart personally.
Hanson thanked two of Rinehart’s closest associates and senior executives for their “investment” in the party – geologist Ian Plimer, who is an executive with Hancock Energy and known for his climate denialism, and Adam Giles, the head of Hancock Agriculture and former Northern Territory chief minister.
Both donated $500,000 each.
In a video accompanying the post, Giles said the donation was about “providing the wings for a movement that refuses to let the heart of this country be silenced”.
Hanson also thanked “two wonderful patriotic Australians”, who made a $1m investment.
“I also want to give a huge shout out to two wonderful, patriotic Australians, Angus and Sarah Aitken for their enormous $1 million dollar investment in myself, Malcolm Roberts, Sean Bell, Tyron Whitten, Barnaby Joyce and future One Nation candidates this week,” Hanson said.
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, criticised the donation and “this very close relationship between One Nation and Gina Rinehart”.
“I think Pauline Hanson is a wholly owned subsidiary of Gina Rinehart, and we know this because whenever Pauline Hansons asked to vote in the interests of Australian workers, she instead votes in the interests of Gina Rinehart,” he said.
“Whether it’s in industrial relations, whether it’s in cost-of-living relief, what we’ve seen again and again from One Nation is they typically vote the way that Gina Rinehart wants them to rather than how the workers and battlers of this country need them to.”
The Greens’ Steph Hodgins-May said the case highlighted the need to take big money out of politics.
“One Nation claims to stand for everyday Australians, but openly gloating about being handed a million-dollar private jet tells an entirely different story,” she said.
“A plane worth as much as the median Australian home doesn’t come without strings attached. Those strings won’t be pulled by voters, they will be pulled by the billionaire donors.”
In December, Aitken was one of three former Liberal donors who was reported to have switched support to One Nation after a fundraising dinner held by Rinehart on mega-yacht The World.
Aitken has previously referred to Rinehart as his “good friend”, telling a News Corp-backed summit last year: “She’s not just an Australian who’s successful in business. She’s a genuine patriot.”
In Hanson’s highly produced social media video, “two other tremendous friends of One Nation” in Giles and Plimer are shown holding giant novelty cheques.
“Their faith and investment in One Nation is an enormous help towards our next federal campaign and I can’t thank them enough,” Hanson said in the accompanying post.
She said the aircraft would soon make its maiden voyage.
“No I won’t be doing welcome to country each [time] we land. No it’s not battery operated.”
In the video, Giles praises Hanson and One Nation for being the “iron gate-keepers of Australia’s values”.
“Laughed at by some, ridiculed by others, the Australian people are realising One Nation is the only party that is truly standing up for Australia,” the one-time Country Liberal party leader said.
“Pauline has been a lone voice in the wilderness that has now become a chorus of millions.
“Your resilience is the fuel for the One Nation party. This is about providing the wings for a movement that refuses to let the heart of this country be silenced.
“This aircraft is not for joyrides, this aircraft is for the battle for Australians. Let this plane be a symbol to every Australian that help is on its way, and the journey has only just begun.”
Plimer also spoke in the video, seated in front of the Kidman plane that has previously been provided to Hanson for free flights and was at the centre of questions around donation caps in the South Australian election.
“Whenever I think of One Nation, I think of a four-letter word: ‘Hope’,” Plimer said.
Hanson said the party also had “a lot of additional fundraising” to undertake between now and the cut-off in December when new electoral laws come into effect. Hanson said this was “to combat the uni-party ahead of the 2028 federal election”.
“I want to pass on my sincere thanks to everyone who has made a contribution to One Nation over the years. I cannot thank you enough for the hope and encouragement you give me to help turn this country around.”
