July 17, 2026 — 5:45amLondon: One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has named her daughter as a potential leader of the party during a controversial podcast with right-wing activist Tommy Robinson over the threat to Australia and Britain from mass migration.Hanson praised her daughter, Lee, but said she would have to prove herself because there would be no nepotism in decisions on the future of the party.Pauline Hanson is the latest right-wing figure to appear on Tommy Robinson’s podcast.Spotify/The Tommy Robinson PodcastThe remarks, recorded last week, have been released online at a highly sensitive time for One Nation and its leadership because of tensions over Hanson’s working holiday in Europe and her decision to speak to Robinson, a divisive figure who has been convicted of assault.Former Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce is seen as a successor to Hanson after defecting to her party last year, but Hanson’s daughter has also joined the party as an adviser after running for the Senate at the last federal election.The one-hour podcast with Robinson featured laughter from the host and his guest as they shared stories of their political careers, while Hanson vowed to win the next election so she could deliver on pledges to slash migration, stop Muslim hate preachers and ban the burqa.When asked about her family, Hanson told Robinson that her daughter was “cluey” and had surprised her last year when she revealed, one month before polling day, that she wanted to run for the Senate in Tasmania.Hanson said her daughter had witnessed the pressures of political life but had chosen to enter politics despite the impact on families. Lee Hanson was 19 when her mother was convicted of electoral fraud in 2003 and spent several weeks in prison before the conviction was overturned on appeal.“She’s a cluey kid. She’s quite smart and highly respected – in the positions that she’s held, wherever she’s worked, they didn’t want to lose her,” she said.“She took a cut in wages to come across. She said: ‘I know that if I don’t stand up … I’m frightened of where the country’s going.’“It’s great to work with her. She’s the future. She’s got the softer approach.”Lee Hanson is looking to follow in her mother’s political footsteps.When Robinson asked if her daughter could be the leader of One Nation, Hanson said that was yet to be decided.“She’s got the potential, but I don’t believe in nepotism. And she has to prove herself – not only to me, but also to the other members and to the public, and everything like that.“That’s something she has to earn.”‘She has someone right in front of her’Nationals MP Llew O’Brien, a friend of Joyce, named him a future leader for One Nation when questions about Hanson’s daughter arose last month.“If Pauline is looking for someone, she has someone right in front of her face,” he said.Hanson, 72, has shown no sign of leaving politics. Lee Hanson, 42, works as an adviser to NSW One Nation senator Sean Bell, a post with a salary of more than $150,000 a year.Hanson revealed the sensitivities about her daughter’s role when asked about it by Guardian Australia journalist Sarah Martin at the National Press Club last month. Hanson called the journalist “trashy” and “nasty”.The One Nation leader arrived in the UK early last week and spoke to Robinson in her first days in the country, and then visited his hometown of Luton, where they warned against the impact of Muslim migrants.Hanson left the UK for Sicily and saw mining billionaire Gina Rinehart at a luxury hotel, sparking taunts about her holiday from critics ranging from Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young to Liberal leader Angus Taylor.In the latest sign of leadership tension, this masthead revealed on Thursday that there was unhappiness over the future. “It’s falling apart rapidly. Barnaby and Pauline are in constant disagreement,” one source said.While One Nation adviser James Ashby sought to distance Hanson from Robinson, telling this masthead on Thursday that the Seven Network suggested the pair speak together, the podcast highlighted a political kinship between the two.Hanson and Robinson laughed together at several moments during the podcast and praised each other for continuing to call for cuts to migration when they were criticised for their beliefs.Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on what’s making headlines around the world. Sign up for our weekly What in the World newsletter.From our partners