One Nation and party leader Pauline Hanson have been questioned over revelations her party sought funding from foreign gun lobbies to change Australian gun laws.
It comes after secret footage of One Nation’s leaders showed that the party sought millions in political donation from the American NRA (National Rifle Association) as well as softening the party’s stance on gun ownership in Australia. It is believed the party was seeking roughly $20 million in donations from the American gun lobby.
The footage has been broadcast as part of an undercover investigation by Al Jazeera. The footage shows One Nations chief of staff James Ashby speaking with Queensland leader Steve Dickson.
The attempts to get funding from the NRA and other US gun groups all took place just a few weeks prior to then Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s ban on foreign political donations. Voting in Parliament, Senator Hanson supported that ban.
There is not any evidence that One Nation was able to successfully levy money from the NRA or any other group.
In a Twitter post, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said that the news was “deeply concerning”.
Reports that senior One Nation officials courted foreign political donations from the US gun lobby to influence our elections & undermine our gun laws that keep us safe are deeply concerning.
— Scott Morrison (@ScottMorrisonMP) March 25, 2019
In a response, One Nation claimed that Al Jazeera was using their investigation to meddle in the upcoming federal election and says that it has made a report to ASIO.