Who is Pauline Hanson? Everything You Need to Know

Quick Facts

Australian Celebrities Born In May

Also Known As: Pauline Lee Hanson, Pauline Lee Seccombe,Pauline Lee Zagorski

Age: 69 Years, 69 Year Old Females

Family:

Spouse/Ex-: Mark Hanson, Walter Zagorski

father: John Alfred Seccombe

mother: Hannorah Alousius Mary Seccombe

children: Adam Hanson, Lee Hanson, Steven Zagorski, Tony Zagorski

Political Leaders Australian Women

political ideology: Political party One Nation (1997–2002; 2013–), Other political - affiliations Liberal (1994–96), Independent (1996–97, 2010–12), Pauline Hanson's United Australia (2007-10)

Ancestry: English Australian

City: Brisbane, Australia

Founder/Co-Founder: One Nation, Pauline's United Australia Party

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Childhood & Early Life

Pauline Hanson was born on May 27, 1954 in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, and has six siblings. Her parents owned a fish and chip shop, where all the children worked.

She dropped out of school when she was 15 and also left her home to work in a variety of unskilled clerical and service jobs. In 1978, she started a plumbing and roofing business and finally opened a fish and chips shop in Ipswich in 1987.

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Career

Pauline entered politics in 1994 and was elected as the councillor of the City of Ipswich till 1995, when certain administrative changes demanded early elections. She narrowly lost the re-election.

In 1996, she joined the Liberal Party of Australia and was the Liberal candidate for the House of Representatives from Oxley for the federal elections. The party disendorsed her shortly and after winning, she entered the parliament as an independent candidate.

In her maiden speech, she stressed on the issues of race and immigration. She said that other races and cultures are taking over Australia, and are giving nothing back in return. She felt that the lenient immigration laws meant much lesser jobs for Australian nationals.

In April 1997, she co-founded the 'One Nation' political party with senior advisor David Oldfield and professional fundraiser David Ettridge. The party called for zero net immigration and a review of the 1967 constitutional referendum.

The party believed that as the real Australian culture was being diminished, it was time to stop multiculturalism, abolish special Aboriginal funding and native title, and ban foreigners from owning Australian lands.

The party's economic policies included increasing restrictions on foreign capital and its flow overseas, and supporting protectionism and trade retaliation to revert the effect of globalisation on Australia's economy.

On the domestic front, the party stood against privatisation, competition policy and the GST. It planned on opening a government subsidised bank to provide loans to farmers, small businesses at a mere 2% interest.

Pauline Hanson’s One Nation won 11 seats when it contested the Queensland state election in 1998. However, the voting system was changed to preferential voting just prior to the 1998 federal election and ultimately, the Liberal candidate, Cameron Thompson was elected.

In the 2001 Federal elections, she narrowly lost the Queensland Senate seat. The next year she was expelled from the party on electoral fraud charges.

She narrowly lost the New South Wales (NSW) Upper House election in 2003 to John Tingle from the Shooters Party.

She stood as an independent candidate in the 2004 Federal elections and received only 31.77% of the required quota of primary votes. But she managed to recover her $150,000 deposit from the Australian Electoral Commission.

She launched 'Pauline's United Australia Party' (PUAP) on May 24, 2007. At the 2009 Queensland state election, she contested independently from Beaudesert and came third.

She announced in February 2010 that she would de-register PUAP and move to the UK. But after rejoining the One Nation party, she contested in the 2013 federal elections for a Senate position from New South Wales and lost again. She became the leader of One Nation in November 2014.

Personal Life & Legacy

Pauline Hanson married twice and both the marriages ended in a divorce. She ran away from home at the age of 15 and married Walter Zagorski. They had two boys, Tony and Steven. This marriage ended when she was 21 years old.

Her second marriage was to a tradesman named Mark Hanson. They had two children, Adam and Lee. This marriage too ended in divorce.

She and fellow politician David Ettridge found themselves in the midst of a serious criminal investigation on grounds of an electoral fraud in 2003. They were found guilty and sentenced to three years in maximum security prison. However, they were released after 11 weeks.

Pauline Hanson Biography