Praise for Pauline Hanson: Trade Minister Steve Ciobo. Credit:Edwina Pickles "… It's a continuing cycle to the bottom and will stay that way until both parties – and both major parties are guilty of it - realise that it is in the best interest of the Australian people for the parties to negotiate." One Nation is emerging as the deciding power in two upcoming state elections, with the West Australian Liberal Party admitting it will preference the outlier party ahead of the Nationals in some seats. Party leader Pauline Hanson has also entered into a stoush with the Queensland Labor Party over an alleged preference deal ahead of the upcoming Queensland election. Senator Hanson accused Labor state secretary Evan Moorhead of attempting a "grubby deal" with her staff, a claim he vehemently denied.

A spokesperson for One Nation leader Pauline Hanson said it was a matter for the lawyers. Credit:Andrew Meares Senator Hanson said Mr Moorhead had contacted her staff on January 25, proposing a preference deal. "The tears are running down your cheeks because you haven't been able to do a preference deal with us," Senator Hanson said. Warren Entsch says the state of politics is a "pox on both parties". Credit:Andrew Meares "The fact is you have lost your way in this nation. Whether you've held government at state or federal, you have run this country into the ground because you have gone so socialist with your policies, you've got the CFMEU, the unions running you, so you've got no control over your own destiny. People can't rely on you at all. So don't talk to me about grubby deals."

Mr Moorhead said Senator Hanson's chief of staff James Ashby had contacted him proposing a deal targeting "lazy LNP MPs" and Labor said no. Federal Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce urged WA Premier Colin Barnett to reconsider a deal with One Nation. Credit:Bradley Kanaris "I said no deal," he said. "They are just desperately trying to find ways to get out of their deal with the Liberal Party." Earlier on Monday Federal Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce urged WA Premier Colin Barnett to reconsider a deal with One Nation.

"He should seriously consider whether he thinks that this is a good idea or whether he's flirting with a concept that would put his own side and Liberal colleagues in opposition," he said. But the Liberal Party has shifted its view on One Nation since John Howard's decree that the party be put last on any ballot paper, nearly 20 years ago. Mr Howard has been contacted for comment. The Queensland LNP, which does not have the same problem as its WA colleagues, having formally merged its Liberal and National parties in 2008, is likely to preference One Nation in some seats, as it seeks to unseat the minority Labor government. That move has the support of federal colleagues, including George Christensen, who said he would like to see One Nation preferenced ahead of Labor. The most recent News Corp poll found One Nation is on track to win one-in-four votes at the upcoming Queensland election, expected to be held later this year, and is likely to do better than the 11 seats it won at the peak of its popularity in the 1998 state election.

Former prime minister Tony Abbott, who was a key player in the defeat of One Nation in the late 1990s, early 200s, said he believed Senator Hanson was a "different…[and] better person today than she was 20 years ago" and recommended placing One Nation ahead of Labor on the ballot. Industry Minister Arthur Sinodinos described the second coming of One Nation as more "sophisticated" on Sunday. The following day, Trade Minister Steve Ciobo echoed the praise. "If you look at, for example, how Pauline Hanson's gone about putting her support in the Senate, you'll see that she's often voting in favour of government legislation," he said. "There's a certain amount of economic rationalism, a certain amount of approach that's reflective of what it is we are trying to do to govern Australia in a fiscally responsible way. One Nation has certainly signed up to that much more than Labor."

But Labor has maintained its opposition to the party, both at a federal and state level. "To have senior ministers on the television and on radio describing these views as sophisticated is quite frankly shocking and they should take a good look at themselves and stop this 24-hour parameter that defines the Turnbull Government. Just take a step back and look at the national interest," shadow infrastructure minister Anthony Albanese said. "Australia's national economic interest is not served by xenophobia. "We are in a region whereby we have to engage with the economies of our region and with the people in our region and we have to engage on the basis of respect." Follow us on Facebook