Hanson shy about future deals with Libs

One Nation leader Pauline Hanson is thrilled with her party's showing in the WA election but is gun shy about future preference deals with the Liberals.

One Nation leader Pauline Hanson

One Nation leader Pauline Hanson appears reluctant to do another preferences deal with the Liberals. Source: AAP

One Nation leader Pauline Hanson appears reluctant to do another preferences deal with the Liberal party following the backlash against her party in the West Australian election.

Senator Hanson admitted after Labor's landslide win on Saturday that One Nation's controversial preference deal with the WA Liberal Party was partly to blame for her party's worse than expected showing.

Asked on Monday if she was gun shy about striking future preference deals with the Liberals, Senator Hanson replied: "Most definitely".

"I think we've got to stick with what I've always said, we're not there to shore up anyone in the parliament, and I think voters should have the opportunity to pass their preferences where they want to go," she told the Seven Network.

WA's new Labor premier Mark McGowan trounced Colin Barnett's two-term Liberal government on Saturday, claiming as many as 41 MPs in the 59-seat parliament.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has refused to rule out doing preference deals with One Nation in the future despite the WA deal failing to lift the Liberals' performance, saying it's a decision for the state party divisions to make.

Senator Hanson said the swing against the Liberals in WA had nothing to do with One Nation and was purely about Mr Barnett being "on the nose" with voters who wanted to oust his two-term government.

She insisted she was pleased with One Nation's result in the election, even though her party failed to gain any lower house seats.

After polling as high as 13 per cent of the primary WA vote in the election lead-up, the far-right minor party managed just under five per cent of the total vote.

One Nation does, however, expect to pick up at least three upper house seats.

"You have to remember that we have been in this for 50 days, we had no structure in the state whatsoever," Senator Hanson said.

"With this sort of result, I think it's fantastic. I'm absolutely thrilled about it."

Former Nationals senator Ron Boswell warned the One Nation preference deal should not be replicated in Queensland, after the WA wipeout.

Mr Boswell said he would be arguing very strongly in party forums that there should be no similar arrangement made in his state.

"If you stick your five fingers in the fan and you lose them you don't go and stick your other five fingers in the fan and lose those too," the former father of the Senate told ABC radio.

Federal Treasurer Scott Morrison said voters sent One Nation a message just as they did the Liberals - and the preference deal wasn't the only factor.

"Honestly, if people think that's the reason the West Australian state government lost the election on the weekend, I think they're kidding themselves," he told 2GB's Ray Hadley on Monday.

"We'd been in for some time and those other issues locally took their toll. You've just got to take your medicine on that and move forward."


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Source: AAP



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