Pauline Hanson may come to regret deeply her past criticism of Aborigines as she begins her new life behind bars.
The divorced mother of four was transferred early yesterday from holding cells in Brisbane's Supreme Court complex to a women's jail in Wacol, one of the city's outer suburbs. Ironically, it is in her former electorate when she was a federal MP for One Nation.
She was handcuffed and strip-searched before having her smart suit confiscated and being given a drab brown uniform.
She was also given a standard pack of toiletries, nightwear and flip-flops. As a small reminder of her former life, she will be allowed to wear her ruby-red lipstick.
Aborigines are hugely over-represented in Australian prisons and there were warnings that the former right-wing firebrand could be subjected to attacks and would have to be isolated from other prisoners.
Australia's only Aboriginal senator, Democrat Aden Ridgeway, said some inmates were likely to be hostile towards Hanson, who often claimed that Aborigines unfairly received more welfare benefits than white Australians.