Hanson is last on Liberal poll card

PRIME Minister Scott Morrison has ordered Pauline Hanson’s One Nation be put below Labor on Liberal how-to-vote cards.

The minor party has been rocked by revelations Senator Hanson questioned whether the Port Arthur massacre was a government conspiracy during an undercover investigation by Al Jazeera.

Mr Morrison said the issue prompted him to contact the Liberals’ organisational wing to ask them to preference One Nation below the ALP at the May election. “My recommendation to them, which they’re accepting, is that One Nation will be put below the Labor Party at the next election by the Liberal Party,” Mr Morrison said yesterday.

He said the decision was based on the Government’s strong view about the sanctity of Australia’s gun laws, introduced by John Howard after the Port Arthur shootings in 1996.

“The comments, particularly last night, and the linkages to Port Arthur, I’m sure all Australians would be shocked about. I was shocked by them,” the Prime Minister said.

Hidden camera footage also showed Senator Hanson’s chief of staff James Ashby and One Nation Queensland leader Steve Dickson talking about getting $20 million in donations from the US gun lobby.

Mr Morrison said he was disappointed with the response of the One Nation officials, who claimed they were drunk when they made the comments and were set up by a Middle Eastern spy.

Labor has committed to putting One Nation last on its how-to-vote cards, with leader Bill Shorten calling for the Liberals to do the same. Mr Shorten said he was concerned the LNP in Queensland and the Nationals had been given a “leave pass” by Mr Morrison to do preference deals with One Nation. “This is sneaky. He can’t bring himself to put One Nation last because he wants their preferences if he can get away with it,” Mr Shorten said yesterday. “You can’t pretend to stand up for middle Australia while your government colleagues are swapping preferences with conspiracy theorists and conmen.”

Some conservative government MPs believe the Greens should be below One Nation, arguing their economic policies are more dangerous than Senator Hanson.

Mr Morrison refused to weigh into where the Greens should be preferenced.

ONE NATION WILL BE PUT BELOW THE LABOR PARTY AT THE NEXT ELECTION BY THE LIBERAL PARTY SCOTT MORRISON