Staff Offer: One Nation Accuses PM of Buying New MP

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s office offered MP David Farley an additional staff member that his party says was not requested. One Nation leader Pauline Hanson called the move an attempt to exert political influence over the new legislator.

Hanson posted a statement on social media describing the offer as an effort to use taxpayer money to sway Farley. She said the extra position would cost the public up to $200,000 in salary. According to the party, the offer fell outside any existing request for more staff that One Nation had made.

The Sydney Morning Herald reported that a member of the prime minister’s team hand-delivered a letter to Farley’s office in Canberra on Monday. The document authorized the MP for Farrer to hire another person. Hanson said Albanese and Farley had also met privately over recent weeks. She noted that the prime minister initiated those meetings.

Hanson said her party made the matter public because voters needed to know what was happening behind closed doors. She stated that One Nation had campaigned for months to create a transparent system for allocating staff. She added that the prime minister refused to respond to those calls for change.

Farley rejected the offer. He spoke to News24 on Thursday and said he had chosen One Nation because he found political courage and tenacity in the party. "I know that I've still got that courage and tenacity in behind me. I have got a very, very clear and defined mandate," he said. He did not rule out joining the Labor party in the future.

Albanese addressed staffing allocations on Thursday morning. He was asked about calls from former Labor senator Fatima Payman for more funding. The prime minister said Payman, now an independent, had one more staff member than she did before leaving the Labor fold. He did not answer questions about whether it was appropriate for him to control staffing funds for MPs across parliament.

Last month, Hanson joined independents Dai Le and Payman to demand consistent staffing resources. "The prime minister should not personally control the resources available to his political opponents," she said. She claimed the power had been weaponized to an unprecedented extent under the current government. The prime minister’s office was contacted for comment on the specific offer to Farley.