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20 years after she warned Australia about Asians, Pauline Hanson takes aim at China investment and Muslims

Pauline Hanson’s comments about the impact of Islam and migration on Australia have received condemnation from Muslim leaders and politicians across the spectrum

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Australia's One Nation party leader Senator Pauline Hanson makes her maiden speech in the Senate at Parliament House in Canberra. Photo: Reuters
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Some were shocked when the vote from Australia’s cliffhanger federal election in July finally shook out: The long-marginalised far-right party One Nation, led by Pauline Hanson, won four crucial spots in the 76-seat senate, becoming both the largest minority party behind the Greens and a significant player in the divided parliament.

Hanson wasn’t exactly new to the political scene, though she’d long been toiling on its sidelines. Back during her heyday when she first held a parliamentary seat in 1996, Hanson was notorious for bashing indigenous affairs and whipping up anti-immigrant sentiment, warning at the time that Australia was in danger of getting “swamped by Asians.”

On Wednesday - after 16 years out of parliament - she made her first speech back in the spotlight to denounce Chinese ownership of assets and warn about the impact of Islam and migration on Australia.

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“Any foreign ownership is regrettable, but why are we allowing the Chinese government, an oppressive communist regime ,to own our assets?” Hanson said in the Senate.

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“Why are we allowing our ports, utilities, services, agricultural land and industries to be acquired by foreigners of any nationality? Our land and assets are not for sale.”
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