Michael Johnson (Ryan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Politics and government are very serious endeavours. I understand that today Ms Pauline Hanson has announced that she intends to run for the Senate at the next federal election. This country has great challenges, and I want to say to the people of Queensland that I encourage them very strongly that this place needs political leaders with vision, experience and good judgement. Pauline Hanson is not one of those figures, and I would very strongly encourage all Queenslanders not to support her bid to run for the Senate.

Of course all Australians can nominate to run for parliament. It is their right in this country, a country that welcomes great democratic participation, but in terms of the ideas, initiatives and the policies that will take Australia into the 21st century we do not want people like Pauline Hanson to run again. I do not think that the people in my electorate of Ryan will give her their endorsement at all. This is a place for serious ideas. We have enough TV celebrities wanting to run for parliament, and I think that Ms Hanson’s contribution to national politics is not something that will take this country into the 21st century. I certainly will be encouraging all the Ryan voters that I come across in the months ahead not to endorse her bid for the federal Senate. This government has been run tremendously well in the last 10 years— (Time expired)