PETER MCCUTCHEON, REPORTER: Since he joined forces with Pauline Hanson two years ago, James Ashby has attracted nearly as much attention as the One Nation leader herself.

JAMES ASHBY, PAULINE HANSON'S CHIEF-OF-STAFF: There's a natural obsession that media have with myself, it's the same natural obsession which was created with Peta Credlin some years ago and it's not like I'm asking for this.

PETER MCCUTCHEON: His latest controversy, a secretly recorded 2016 conversation that was leaked to the media today.

JAMES ASHBY: There is an opportunity for us to make some money on this, if we play it smart.

PETER MCCUTCHEON: The opportunity was the upcoming Queensland election and the overcharging of candidates for electoral materials such as banners and posters, which could be claimed back through the Australian Electoral Commission.

JAMES ASHBY: I will deny I ever said this but what stops us from getting a middle man or gracing, I'm happy to grace in cash double the price of whatever it is.

PETER MCCUTCHEON: James Ashby says it was a brainstorming session nearly 12 months ago, with his leader and two others, that he didn't know was being recorded.

JAMES ASHBY: Look, the words, I guess, are embarrassing and there was, certainly, a lapse there and I could have chosen better words. Am I embarrassed about the fact that we want to make sure that this party survives long-term? No, I'm not.

PETER MCCUTCHEON: It's another drama among many for a party already under investigation for electoral declarations. The One Nation leader today stood loyally with her media adviser, denying any attempt to circumvent electoral laws.

PAULINE HANSON, ONE NATION: It was an issue that was raised and it was knocked on the head there and then. So we never, it's never gone into... to implemented at all.

PETER MCCUTCHEON: The leaking of James Ashby's conversation reveals internal divisions that have plagued the party over the past twelve months, with at least eight Queensland candidates being dis-endorsed, or quit after disputes over fees and offensive comments on social media. One of those candidates Diane Happ, is speaking out for the first time to 7.30.

DIANE HAPP, FORMER ONE NATION CANDIDATE: I don't want to see the party go down in flames. I don't want to see her go down in flames. I want to see James Ashby go down in flames, because I think he will bring her down in flames, I really do. I think you know he's a viper, he's a snake, he's nasty stuff.

PETER MCCUTCHEON: Diane Happ who was preselected to stand for a Gold Coast seat still considers herself to be a One Nation true believer.

DIANE HAPP: It's more probably an objection vote to the Liberal Party and I believe probably like Donald Trump, the Muslim thing gets a lot of people and the Chinese buying our land.

PETER MCCUTCHEON: But she fell out with the party over the very issue James Ashby was talking about in today's leaked tape, candidates paying for electoral material. Diane Happ said she could only afford a fraction of the $3,500 candidates had to contribute. She planned a fundraiser for help, but this was cancelled by head office, leading to a headed conversation with party campaign director Michael Pucci which Diane Happ recorded and played to 7.30.

MICHAEL PUCCI: The rule is Pauline is not coming anywhere where you're not paid up. That's the rule. I didn't make the rule, that's the rule, so don't put that shit on me that I'm trying to stop you. All I've done is try to help you and rules are rules. Pay up or that's it. I'm tired of your bullshit and pointing fingers and making excuses for everybody but yourself.

DIANE HAPP: Making excuses for what?

MICHAEL PUCCI: If you want to be a candidate in this government, in this election, you better start playing ball.

PETER MCCUTCHEON: Michael Pucci has told 7.30 this is part of a long running dispute about Dianne Happ falling behind in payments she agreed to make, but the former candidate claims she was never told the money was needed to pay for the campaign material printed by a company owned by James Ashby.

DIANE HAPP: Well, I didn't know it was his printing company and I wondered why they were being so, the election hadn't even been called. Why are you bullying people for fees?

JAMES ASHBY: $3,500 as a package for candidates to have their corflutes printed at $5.50 each, banners at $110, 1000 business cards for $77, I don't there's too many candidates that can truly complain about those prices. In fact, I think most political parties would be envious of the deals that we've managed to strike throughout the state.

PETER MCCUTCHEON: James Ashby makes no apology for the way he runs the party.

JAMES ASHBY: Let's not kid ourselves. Political parties over the years have survived because they run them like a business and my intention is to see One Nation survive long into the future, we're not just here for the short-term.

ROBERT PASQUALI, FORMER ONE NATION CANDIDATE: You see more organisations during amateur hour. They've forgotten that they are the hunted. They're always the hunted. They need to be as squeaky clean as possible.

PETER MCCUTCHEON: Businessman Robert Pasquali claimed almost 10 per cent of the vote for One Nation in the Sunshine Coast seat of Fairfax in last year's federal election. He says the campaign was a mess. With only frail elderly volunteers and a dated membership list.

ROBERT PASQUALI: Most of the people there the average age would have been 70 plus and I don't think it would have been updated since the prior election three years ago.

When I said I was going to run for Fairfax they said, "There'll be volunteers. There's going to be small groups that will give you help." There was none. There was none coming. In actual fact, the last three or four weeks it was very difficult to contact anyone from the head office.

How are you?

PETER MCCUTCHEON: Today he's catching up with some of those volunteers to tell them he won't be running for One Nation unless the party cleans up its act.

ROBERT PASQUALI: As I said, she came in like a cyclone. At the moment I think she's just a gust of wind at the moment.

PETER MCCUTCHEON: Like Dianne Happ, Robert Pasquali fell out with One Nation over campaign expanses.

ROBERT PASQUALI: It probably cost me $10-12,000. I did keep a spreadsheet and One Nation will gets you to sign an authority form saying, "I'll only claim these expenses, no more than $10,000." I only claimed $5,000 worth and only got a fraction, a small fraction of that back.

PETER MCCUTCHEON: Pauline Hanson says the leaking of James Ashby's potentially illegal fundraising idea was clearly done by disaffected One Nation ex staffers. But the question remains, why do so many former One Nation backers feel the need to air their grievances in public?

JAMES ASHBY: Unfortunately, sometimes these things happen. We're not the only political party which has had people try and bring the party down. We've seen it across all parties. It is disappointing. Am I regretful of the chosen words? Yeah, I am. But I can't take it back. It is what it is.