Pauline Hanson teams up with Fatima Payman against Albanese – despite her calling the One Nation leader ‘a disgrace to the human race’
Pauline Hanson has found an unlikely ally in Fatima Payman, who once called the One Nation leader a ‘disgrace to the human race’, in her latest dispute with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
Hanson, Payman and crossbench MP Dai Le have joined forces to demand changes to the way Parliament allocates staff, arguing the current system favours Labor.
It marks a significant turnaround for Payman and Hanson, who have publicly clashed several times over the last few years.
In one high-profile clash in late 2024, Hanson questioned whether Payman was eligible to sit in Parliament because she was born in Afghanistan and had previously held Afghan citizenship.
The move triggered a Senate confrontation, with Payman accusing Hanson of being a ‘disgrace to the human race’.
But the pair appeared to have found common ground on Thursday as they stood side by side in Canberra to address what they believe are inconsistent staffing allocations.
‘We have different views on almost everything, but what we have in common is that we’re all women,’ Payman said.
Payman also criticised Albanese, accusing the Prime Minister of talking up his support for women while treating female critics differently.
Fatima Payman (left) has teamed up with Pauline Hanson (centre) and Dai Le (right)
Payman said the Prime Minister’s rhetoric on gender equality was at odds with his treatment of women who challenge or criticise him.
She pointed to comments about former Australian of the Year Grace Tame as ‘difficult’, remarks involving Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and a podcast appearance in which Albanese joked about wanting to ‘shag’ pop star Kylie Minogue.
‘Australia has heard the Prime Minister’s recent comments about melons, Grace Tame and Kylie Minogue,’ Payman said.
‘He boasts about leading a female-majority caucus and points to his government’s record on women’s rights. But are those rights only extended to women who agree with him?’
At the heart of the dispute is a parliamentary resource: personal advisers.
While every federal MP and senator receives electorate staff to help run their local offices, the Prime Minister ultimately determines how many additional advisers are allocated across Parliament.
These advisers handle everything from policy development and legislative research to media management and political strategy.
Labor’s 124 MPs are supported by more than 500 advisers and ministerial staff, while the Coalition’s 68 parliamentarians have access to 96 additional support staff.
Fatima Payman accused Anthony Albanese (pictured) of punishing her for quitting Labor
The Greens, with one lower-house MP and 10 senators, have been allocated 17 extra staff. By comparison, One Nation’s six-member parliamentary team receives five.
Payman argued the system gives the government enormous power over its political opponents.
Figures released earlier this year showed Payman is the only independent parliamentarian without a single additional adviser.
After quitting Labor over disagreements about the government’s position on the Israel-Gaza conflict, Payman says she believes she has been deliberately sidelined.
‘I know the Prime Minister wants to punish me, but he should not be allowed to play favourites,’ she said.
‘There should be an independent process for determining parliamentary resourcing, not the whim of a petty man.
‘We don’t have to agree with each other, but we can come together, join forces, and say we demand better from this government.’
For Hanson, the campaign revives a long-running concern.
The One Nation leader has repeatedly argued that her party’s staffing allocation no longer reflects its growing parliamentary presence.
In an August letter to Albanese, she requested a significant increase in adviser numbers, arguing One Nation is being treated less favourably than the Greens despite meeting the threshold for a recognised minority party.
‘Commonwealth law uses five members as the threshold for a recognised non-government minority party,’ she said.
‘The Australian Greens meet that threshold and you have allocated their adviser staffing on that basis. One Nation now meets this threshold.’
The 2024 feud between Hanson and Payman was one of the most dramatic and widely reported Senate exchanges during that parliamentary session.
Hanson had attempted to table documents relating to Payman’s citizenship in the Senate, to which the independent senator responded with a fiery speech.
Payman accused Hanson of racism and said she had spent years ‘spread[ing] hatred’ and ‘division’, adding that the One Nation leader was ‘vindictive, mean, nasty’.
