Pauline Hanson’s daughter, Lee Hanson, has been working in Tasmania as a senior adviser to a New South Wales One Nation senator without the required ministerial approval, Guardian Australia can reveal.
Under work base arrangements that apply to the staff of all MPs, a personal adviser such as Hanson can only be allowed to work in a location other than Canberra or the parliamentarian’s home base with approval from the special minister of state.
But Guardian Australia has learned that when Sean Bell appointed her as an adviser, he did not submit a request for an alternative work base arrangement as required under parliamentary rules.
The revelations are included in the first episode of The Populist, the Guardian’s new podcast about One Nation.
The Department of Finance approved a contract variation for Hanson to be reclassified from an electorate officer to a personal adviser, without going through the proper process.
The Populist
The Populist: Aeroplanes and bulldozers | Episode ۱
The role pays between $۱۵۰,۰۰۰ and $۱۸۰,۰۰۰ a year, according to the latest enterprise agreement.
Sources say the process was a departmental “stuff-up” that allowed Hanson’s work arrangements to take shape without the minister undertaking the required consideration of “special circumstances” for her employment in a different state.
A Guardian Australia analysis of Hanson’s social media activity also shows that she appears to be regularly campaigning for One Nation in Tasmania during work hours.
If her activities are taking place without taking leave from her role, she would be in breach of the Members of Parliament (Staff) Act, known as the Mops Act.
Under the act, staff are employed to assist a parliamentarian to carry out their duties as an MP and “not for party political purposes”.
Dozens of social media posts and videos on Hanson’s page or One Nation Tasmania’s page in support of her bid to be elected as a senator for the state have been recorded or posted on her site during working hours.
It is unclear whether she took leave to attend the events or undertake the campaign-related activities.
Hanson has been spearheading the party’s expansion in the state, opening five new branches and claiming thousands of new members.
Her Facebook accounts show that while there are almost daily posts about Tasmanian and party issues after work hours, there are many occasions when campaign activity takes place during normal business hours.
This includes events that Hanson has attended as a One Nation representative.
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In May she opened a new community centre in Longford for the organisation Rekindle. While she posted about the event after hours, the organisation had advertised that she was there during work hours for the ceremony.
Hanson also spent a day at AgFest campaigning for the party, rockclimbing with Scouts Tasmania. “Great day meeting locals and enjoying everything AgFest has to offer,” she wrote.
After another event, Hanson appears to have confused the day on which a meeting with the group Concerned Farmers Tasmania took place. A social media post for the One Nation Tasmania page on Saturday ۱۶ May said: “Today, I had the pleasure of meeting with several deeply concerned Tasmanian farmers in Ross yesterday.”
The Guardian has confirmed that the meeting took place on Friday ۱۵ May.
On ۵ December last year, also a Friday, Hanson attended a networking event for businesswomen as a party representative, posting about the event with a One Nation authorisation.
In February she posted about a “Tassie road trip” with her mother, showing the pair campaigning in regional Tasmania.
Hanson has recorded multiple media interviews about One Nation’s success in Tasmania and posts letters and media releases about state issues.
She is also a member of One Nation’s federal executive and oversees the party’s human resources management in parliament.
An email obtained by the Guardian was sent to party staff in June announcing the appointment of staff to the MP David Farley’s office.
“Please join me in extending a warm welcome to Nicki Waldron and Brenton Trott who have joined David Farley’s parliamentary office,” Hanson says from a party email address sent on a Tuesday afternoon at ۲.۲۰pm.
“We are still recruiting the remaining positions within David’s office and will therefore make announcements of our new team members in due course.
“Please share this with your teams to ensure nobody is missed.”
One Nation and Lee Hanson did not reply to questions from Guardian Australia.
