Australian politician Pauline Hanson returns to lead One Nation party

Firebrand Australian politician Pauline Hanson, who once claimed the country was at risk of being swamped by Asians, said yesterday she was returning to lead the One Nation party after a 12-year hiatus.

Hanson, who rose to prominence in the 1990s as head of the right-wing, anti-immigration party she co-founded, said the time was right as she hit out at multiculturalism, halal beliefs and foreign ownership of land and property.

"I was terribly concerned for Australia when first in parliament, but more so now," she said on the One Nation website after being re-elected by the party executive. We are witnessing large amounts of our prime farming land and housing sold to foreign ownership.

"The push for multiculturalism is only segregating us as a nation and not uniting us as Australians with the same values, beliefs and laws. Halal is being forced on us by 2 per cent of the population," she added. "Increased violence, educational standards well below world standard and our health care are a lot to be desired. Our elderly are living in poverty and families struggling to make ends meet."

The party is expected to be rebranded as Pauline Hanson's One Nation, a move she claimed had nothing to do with ego.

"I think that people relate to me," said Hanson, who spent several weeks in jail in 2003 for fraudulently spending electoral funds before the judgment was quashed. "If I don't succeed then it'll be my fault. But no one's going to pull my strings. No one's going to tell me what to say."