Hanson denies Liberal preference hypocrisy

One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has defended her party's decision to do a preference deal with the Liberal Party in Western Australia.

Pauline Hanson denies she's being hypocritical by doing a preference deal with the Liberals in Western Australia after blaming the party for landing her in jail.

WA Premier Colin Barnett has defended a "practical, pragmatic" decision to preference One Nation ahead traditional coalition partners the Nationals in the coming state election.

Asked whether she was being hypocritical by now siding with the Liberal Party despite her history, Senator Hanson told the Seven Network on Monday: "It's about getting on and moving on and doing what's right for the people in this country."

Federal cabinet minister Steve Ciobo has flagged further coalition preference deals with One Nation ahead of the Queensland state election.

Polling shows One Nation winning up to 23 per cent of the primary vote in the Sunshine State, taking voters from both the LNP and Labor.

"That's a fair swag of voters ... we can't be dismissive of that," Mr Ciobo told ABC radio.

That didn't mean the coalition should embrace or "cuddle up " to One Nation policies, just as Labor would argue it didn't adopt all the "kooky" polices of the Greens when it preferenced the minor party.

"What we've got to do is make decisions that put us in the best possible position to govern, ideally obviously with the support of the vast majority of people in Queensland," Mr Ciobo said.

The trade minister said there were One Nation policies he rejected unequivocally, but he noted the minor party generally supported the government's legislation in the Senate.

"There's a certain amount of economic rationalism, a certain amount of an approach that is reflective of what it is we're trying to do ... in a fiscally responsible way," Mr Ciobo said.

"They've signed up to that much more than Labor."

Mr Ciobo acknowledged that a section of the community felt their vote was best anchored in a protest against the major parties.

But in the end it was either the coalition or Labor that won government.


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Source: AAP


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