Pauline Hanson sets her sights on Prime Minister role as she doubles down on controversial burqa ban

By ZAC DE SILVA FOR AUSTRALIAN ASSOCIATED PRESS Published: 07:02, 31 May 2026 | Updated: 07:06, 31 May 2026 One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has declared she has what it takes to become prime minister, saying she could pull together an effective cabinet to run the government. As support surges for her right-wing party, Senator Hanson said she 'won't knock the job' of prime minister while conceding she didn't know if she would ever be elected to the job. 'I believe that I have the ability to do it,' she told Sky News on Sunday. 'I'm not going to underestimate myself or say no, I can't do it, because ... have a look at what we've got now... and that's why we're in a mess. 'Whether it's Pauline Hanson as prime minister or we've got someone else to take on that job ... I will look at who's the best person to do it.' A recent RedBridge/Accent Research poll showed One Nation could win up to 59 seats in parliament if an election were held now, leaving Labor with a slim majority, the Liberals with a handful of seats and the Nationals with none. The former fish and chip shop owner turned firebrand conservative said she had confidence One Nation MPs would be able to form a competent cabinet if the party won government. 'I'm getting a great team around me, and even those members of parliament that I have now, they're great, down-to-earth - the experience and knowledge they have behind them, it's marvellous,' Senator Hanson said. Pauline Hanson (pictured) said she wouldn't 'knock the job' of being Prime Minister  Senator Hanson again said she was considering moving to the lower house at the next election, but she did not say which seat she wanted to contest. 'I'm not making a decision now and I'm not going to tell anyone what I'm doing at this moment because I haven't clearly made up my mind,' she said. By convention, Australia's prime minister serves in the lower house, rather than the Senate. Pressed on her party's stance on Muslim immigration, Senator Hanson said she wanted to ban the burqa and left the door open to blocking people from certain countries from entering Australia. 'If you've got people coming from these countries that are radical Islamists, and their ideology is not compatible with our country ... there's certain countries I probably would ban them coming into Australia,' she said. The One Nation leader also defended her ties to mining magnate Gina Rinehart, who recently gifted the party a million-dollar private plane and has flown Senator Hanson to events in Australia and abroad. 'I appreciate the support she's given me,' Senator Hanson said. 'I've been open and honest with it. I don't know why people ... have a problem with my having a plane which gets me out to regional areas. Pauline Hanson (pictured) defended her use of a plane provided to her by Gina Rinehart 'It's no cost to the taxpayer. You don't pay for the fuel.' Ms Rinehart is Australia's richest person and was previously a strong supporter of the Liberal Party. The comments below have not been moderated. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.