Transcript

PLEASE EXPLAIN - Monday 3 April 2017

SARAH FERGUSON: Welcome to Four Corners.

Nine months ago, Pauline Hanson was riding high. Elected to the Senate, along with 3 of her One Nation colleagues, she created out of thin air a powerful new block on the crossbenches of the fractious upper house.

It was an extraordinary comeback for a woman whose first venture into politics more than twenty years ago ended in ignominy, dumped from parliament, and jailed after a conviction for electoral fraud that was later overturned on appeal.

Last month, in the Western Australian State election, Hanson's One Nation Party won three upper house seats but polled far lower than predicted.

Bitter party infighting in Western Australian and Queensland has seen former One Nation powerbrokers and disgruntled candidates come forth to condemn the woman they'd supported and pinned their hopes on.

It was this kind of internal division that helped pull One Nation apart in the late 1990's.

And just like 20 years ago there are claims that a powerful advisor has too much sway over Pauline Hanson - her chief of staff James Ashby.

So are the wheels coming off the One Nation wagon?

Reporter Caro Meldrum-Hanna ventures inside One Nation for tonight's report.

["PLEASE EXPLAIN" plays...]

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: We're on our way to the remote country town of Cunnamulla, 800 kilometres out of Brisbane.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: Senator Roberts hello! How are you? How's your tour going?

MALCOLM ROBERTS, ONE NATION SENATOR: Fantastic it's always great to be out in the bush it's really refreshing.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: We're joining One Nation Senator Malcolm Roberts on his whistle-stop tour of Southwest Queensland.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: Are you getting a warm reception?

MALCOLM ROBERTS: Oh yeah very, very warm yeah.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: You say very warm, I mean what are, what are you actually hearing? What's the body language?

MALCOLM ROBERTS: Thank goodness someone is speaking up at last for the bush, thank goodness someone is speaking up for Queensland. We haven't had this since Joh was around.

What happens at the moment is we have latte sippers up in Brisbane and Canberra who are telling people up here, they're basically glorified hippies who've got regulatory powers now and they're telling the farmers what they can and can't do with their land, and they haven't got a clue.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: The Senator's first stop is at the town's coffee shop for a meeting with the local Mayor, Lindsay Godfrey.

LINDSAY GODFREY, MAYOR, PAROO SHIRE: So if I could start on energy-

MALCOLM ROBERTS: You know everyone has started on energy-

LINDSAY GODFREY: Well it's very frustrating for us. The cost of electricity is an enormous impediment to businesses growing.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: A walk through town paints a bleak picture.

It's lunchtime and the streets are empty. A dire lack of jobs and business opportunity is killing Queensland's regional areas.

Many of the shops here have closed down, several boarded up. Malcolm Roberts blames the National Party for letting its people down.

MALCOLM ROBERTS: The National Party has been stifled by the Liberal Party and they've basically become, they've both drifted over towards the Greens because the Liberals have been scared of calling the Greens out, and the Greens are the most destructive force in Australian politics.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: An hour's drive east, Senator Malcolm Roberts and local One Nation candidate Sharon Lohse are meeting with a small group of graziers.

MALCOLM ROBERTS: I've come out to listen to what you guys have to say, what are your problems?

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: They share a common frustration - a sense of political correctness gone mad.

GRAZIER: Like bah ah black sheep everyone grew up with that. Now they're not allowed to bloody say it in schools because it's bah bah rainbow sheep, politically correct, it's bullshit! Hahaha

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: They also believe climate change isn't real.

JACK PASKETT, GRAZIER: I don't think there is any climate change really.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: So, when you see scientists on the television, you read the newspapers that climate change is being caused by humans, what do you think?

JACK PASKETT: Oh, I don't think there's that much damage like myself, but they say that cos they've got to keep their job.

MALCOLM ROBERTS: Hahahaha! He's aware of what's going on, good on you.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: Malcolm this must be music to your ears?

MALCOLM ROBERTS: No, I've known this for a long time. Farmers close to Brisbane who have been on the land for 60 years, they know it's just cyclical.

We bring a fearlessness. We don't care what people think. We don't care about being slammed by the Greens and all the others, we just speak the facts.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: Malcolm Roberts is a former coal mining executive. He's one of Australia's leading climate change deniers.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: What do your views on climate change? how are they going to help the people of Australia?

MALCOLM ROBERTS: It'll focus people on getting rid of the nonsense that has been driven by the so-called climate scam, and it'll get us back to being realistic because we don't need solar, we don't need wind. Coal is essential for the future.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: Another of One Nation's key policies is to ban the immigration of all Muslim people to Australia.

MALCOLM ROBERTS: And Islam is on everyone's lips. They're going after the Jewish people. They're going after the Christian people. And they're the only ones who have a policy of damage or harm to people who are not of their ideology.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: Do they?

MALCOLM ROBERTS: Yes. They've said it. A lot of their senior people have said that and that's supposedly what they do with people who are not of their belief.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: At the local pub in St George, One Nation's policies are striking a chord.

PATRON 1: What happened to the politics in America is coming to this country, people are sick and tired of the major parties.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: So, the Trump phenomenon?

PATRON 1: Yes

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: It's coming here?

PATRON1: Exactly. Everyone's had enough.

PATRON 2: We don't know anyone else to vote for.

PATRON 3: What else have you got to vote for fucking Liberals. And she's hot and she's red headed.

PATRON 2: She's a hot red head.

PATRON 3: Aw, red heads, they've always got your vote, haven't they?

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: What is it about her? Why is she doing a good job?

PATRON 4: Keeping all the Mu-immigrants out of Australia, I think we've got enough. I reckon she's the only one that call pull Australia back to being real Australia.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: OK good, what's real Australia?

PATRON 4: Get rid of the migrants, the boat people, and just have us.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: Who are the migrants?

PATRON 4: ISIS. Pakistanians.

PATRON 5: Keep Australia Australian, we've got enough people.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: No more?

PATRON 5: No, no more.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: One Nation's supporters have strong views. So, do some of the party's endorsed candidates.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: Endorsed candidates have said such things as single mums are too lazy to attract and hold a mate, gays should be treated as patients - What about the comment that the gay community uses Nazi style mind control?

MALCOLM ROBERTS: Well if you're talking about propaganda the ABC also uses Nazi style mind control.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: Could you answer that question for me, with respect, the comment that the gay community uses Nazi style mind control?

MALCOLM ROBERTS: Well I'm guessing that person's referring to some elements of the gay community doing that in terms of propaganda. The ABC uses Nazi style mind control games.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: The ABC uses Nazi style...

MALCOLM ROBERTS: Yes, yes.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: ... mind control games? What's your evidence for that?

MALCOLM ROBERTS: Um for example carbon dioxide ah has been, whenever we talk about carbon dioxide on the ABC um you see on the news broadcast billowing steam pouring out, giving people the impression that carbon dioxide is both um colourful and it's also huge in volume when it's less than 0.04%.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: Malcolm Roberts only got 77 first preference votes at the July 2016 federal election. He managed to get in to parliament, thanks to the massive number of votes Pauline Hanson's One Nation got in her home state of Queensland.

MALCOLM ROBERTS: She's got courage, she's got strength of character, she's got complete integrity, she says what she thinks and she'll tackle anyone in the way and she'll do what's right for the country.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: At the July 2016, Federal election. Pauline Hanson surprised everyone.

With One Nation winning four Senate seats.

PAULINE HANSON: Saraya, come on, come over here.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: By her side was her marketing manager, Saraya Beric.

PAULINE HANSON: I will tell everyone about these two guys standing beside me for the last year and a half I would not be where I am today.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: Nine months on from their electoral success, Saraya Beric has a very different story to tell.

About the realities inside One Nation.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: Do you feel betrayed?

SARAYA BERIC, FORMER NATIONAL SECRETARY, ONE NATION: Yes. Because you work so hard and you know you do the right thing and then people don't do the right thing by you.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: Who, what has betrayed you?

SARAYA BERIC: I think I'm most disappointed in Pauline actually

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: Saraya Beric isn't alone.

IAN NELSON, FORMER NATIONAL TREASURER, ONE NATION: A political party is supposed to be transparent, democratic, um inclusive and the Party at the moment is not any of those things.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: What is it?

IAN NELSON: It's a dictatorship. It's absolute brutal dictatorship. Brutal.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: Up until late 2016 Ian Nelson and Saraya Beric were two of the most powerful people inside One Nation. Saraya Beric was the party's social media and marketing manager. Pauline Hanson's devoted staffer.

PAULINE HANSON: Special thanks to Ian Nelson for never giving up and asking me to come back and lead the party.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: Ian Nelson, a 20-year party veteran was the State President, and also the Treasurer. He resurrected Pauline Hanson in 2014 and returned her to politics.

But after her election success, both he and Saraya Beric were left without a job.

The losers of a bitter internal power struggle that's now split One Nation.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: Why are you no longer working for One Nation?

IAN NELSON: Basically, James Ashby, two words, James Ashby. He couldn't have me around, I was warned, I was warned months before it happened, so James Ashby couldn't have me around and he just poisoned Pauline against me.

SARAYA BERIC: I'm very disappointed in the person he turned out to be.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: James Ashby seen here on election night, became Pauline Hanson's right hand man very quickly.

To understand his meteoric rise, you have to go back to late 2014.

When Ian Nelson says James Ashby rang him out of the blue, with an irresistible offer: Cut price professional printing for federal and state election campaigns for the entire party.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: Did you run any checks or . . .

IAN NELSON: No.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: On who James Ashby was?

IAN NELSON: No. Everybody could blame me for that, no I didn't, I just thought what a kind offer, I've had you know, I have offers simular but this one was a bit funny.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: A quick online search would have revealed James Ashby is no stranger to controversy.

In 2012, he accused his then boss, speaker of the house Peter Slipper, of sexual harassment.

Ultimately James Ashby didn't pursue the case, but it was one of the ugliest political scandals in recent times.

IAN NELSON: I was there to watch Pauline's back and, when I had time I was going to vet people, before they get too close to Pauline but I absolutely failed miserably on that one.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: You failed to vet James Ashby?

IAN NELSON: Yeah. Had I have known what I know today, there was no way I would've put him in, let him anywhere near her.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: In early 2015, James Ashby was appointed to the party's executive.

SARAYA BERIC: James was looking at different ways to promote Pauline and the party and he came up with the idea of getting an aeroplane, a little plane that she could get around logistically, and you know he said the media will go for it, it was a bit of a gimmick and I actually agreed with him.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: How the party managed to pay for the extravagant purchase has remained shrouded in secrecy.

PAULINE HANSON, 19 JANUARY, 2017: We have never received huge donations from anyone in all the time. Our donations come from the small people.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: One of the party's biggest recent donors is wealthy Victorian property developer, the director of VicLand Corporation, Bill McNee.

Four Corners has obtained emails revealing how he contacted One Nation offering financial support.

One Nation's head office responded in February 2015.

EMAIL, 27th February 2015: Pauline ... would like to meet with you if you are still able to travel to QLD. May I also ask for your phone number to pass on to Pauline?'

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: Bill McNee wrote back:

EMAIL, 27TH February 2015: 'I would be delighted ... I would like to become a major financial supporter of your party...Let me know when suits for me to come up and meet with you all.'

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: Bill McNee followed up again two weeks later, keen to meet:

EMAIL: 16 March 2015: Sorry to be pushy...I'm so eager to offer support to a party that has the courage to stand up for ordinary Australians and give us a voice.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: They met one month later on the 11th of April 2015 at Pauline Hanson's home for a roast dinner. Ian Nelson was there.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: Did James Ashby ask Bill McNee for a plane?

IAN NELSON: He just kept saying I'm a pilot, you know w- we should be flying Pauline around and and then Bill said, 'Well, we'll have to get you a plane then'. That's how that conversation went.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: Two days later James Ashby wrote this text message to a party official:

TEXT MESSAGE, 13 April 2015: We need to talk to Bill about funding it.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: The official responded:

TEXT MESSAGE: 5 May 2015: 'We had a good chat with Bill. I think Pauline's going to go for the plane'

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: Eight days later, donor Bill McNee sent this email to Pauline Hanson and James Ashby:

EMAIL, 13 May 2015: 'James we will sort out the plane tomorrow as well.'

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: And after that message was sent between James Ashby and Bill McNee did a plane arrive?

IAN NELSON: Yes, very shortly afterwards, brand new Jabiru.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: How was that funded- the purchase of that aeroplane?

IAN NELSON: Well, after Bill McNee said, 'Yes we'll have to get you a plane', to my understanding that means, well all right, I'll buy you a plane. But as it turns out, Bill McNee didn't buy the plane, but as I understand it, he transferred the funds to James Ashby, not the Party, not Pauline, but to James Ashby.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: Bill McNee has denied funding the purchase of the plane.

He's told Four Corners: "There has been no financial support or assistance to any political party outside what is publicly disclosed and already well known."

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: Ian Nelson, the party's state treasurer, says he asked Pauline Hanson to explain how the purchase of the plane had been funded.

IAN NELSON: I said where's the plane, there's no evidence of it anywhere, whose plane is it and she said it's my plane, I said fine, okay, well then, you've got to declare it and she said, 'No, don't worry about it, don't worry about it'. I said 'Well, did Bill McNee buy that plane for the party, did he buy it for you, or did he buy it for James Ashby, and she just looked at me and walked away.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: Four Corners has obtained a copy of these 2015 insurance documents for the Jabiru plane.

They confirm the plane was insured in James Ashby's name. It's listed purpose? Business.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: What is the primary purpose or use of that plane?

IAN NELSON: The One Nation Party. To ferry Pauline around, to the little towns and properties.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: Was that gift declared?

IAN NELSON: No.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: Under the rules, should that have been disclosed?

IAN NELSON: If I did it, yes I would've. If I'd had anything to do with the transaction. I said, 'Yes disclose it for heaven's sakes, because it's been used to ferry Pauline Hanson around the state, so it's really a party matter, so it should've been disclosed.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: The acquisition of the plane wasn't the only thing to worry party Treasurer Ian Nelson.

In 2015 Bill McNee's company, VicLand Business, made donations totalling almost $70,000 to One Nation.

When it came time to declare them, Ian Nelson says James Ashby rang him, questioning the way he'd declared the donations to the Queensland Electoral Commission.

IAN NELSON: You know, he said this is confidential, all these matters are confidential and ah they they're for our business only and I said no, that's not quite right, the rules and regulations state that we have to declare any amount of money over a thousand dollars, we have to declare it, and he said well can't you just put 'anonymous donor'? And I said, no, you can't do that, I'll end up in jail.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: To be clear, James Ashby asked you to list a donor as anonymous instead of declaring the name?

IAN NELSON: Yes.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: Rather than disclosing who it is, in contravention . . .

IAN NELSON: In contravention of all the rules and regulations, yes. Later on, Pauline had a bit of a go at me about the same thing.

I said, 'You've got to declare everything', and she just kept calling me an obstructionist, you know, 'Why are you doing it like this?' They just don't understand, and now they're running a party, so God help them all.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: While working alongside James Ashby, party Secretary, Saraya Beric began to receive complaints from candidates, regarding his printing business.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: What were the complaints you were receiving?

SARAYA BERIC: Well that James had asked candidates to buy a huge quantity of election signs and these candidates just couldn't afford it.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: Did it make you uncomfortable that you were being asked to pay?

ELISE COTTAM, DISENDORESED QLD CANDIDATE: It did because it, there's no election yet, so what's the purpose of collecting all this money now? Why is it so important now?

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: Elise Cottam is one of many who've found Being a One Nation candidate is a costly exercise.

Four Corners has obtained a copy of One Nation's Queensland candidate application form.

It must be signed by every candidate, most of them battlers on low incomes, before they can run for the party.

It lists two standard fees. But then there's this clause:

QLD CANDIDATES AGREEMENT: 'The purchase of promotional material such as business cards, corflute's and other election material as decided by the party....'

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: There was a catch. Candidates have told us the only printing business they were allowed to use was James Ashby's.

ELISE COTTAM: I was asked to pay for campaign equipment, like campaign paraphernalia, corflutes you know flyers, business cards, banners. It came to around three and a half thousand dollars; I wasn't prepared to pay that.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: Three and a half thousand dollars for printed material?

ELISE COTTAM: Yeah, yep.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: How were you meant to pay for that?

ELISE COTTAM: Out of our own pocket

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: Elise Cottam found a local printer, her son-in-law, to produce the same material for $1,500 less. She was disendorsed before she could suggest the cheaper alternative.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: What did the letter say?

ELISE COTTAM: Just that I didn't comply with the paperwork and I hadn't provided any funds and that I was no longer required... as a candidate.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: Elise Cottam is one of many candidates who've told Four Corners. They felt pressured to buy large amounts of printing from James Ashby.

IAN NELSON: Multiple candidates, being pressured all the time to buy the product from Ashby, the corflutes and the flyers had to come from Ashby, nobody else, and there was significant amounts of money being talked about and they had to find this money.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: There are other concerns about James Ashby's conduct inside the party. Of candidates feeling controlled and intimidated once they've been brought inside the One Nation tent.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: Four Corners has been leaked this secretly recorded phone hook-up between James Ashby and a group of Queensland candidates.

JAMES ASHBY: (Phone call, January 2017) I don't give a rat's ass what you think of me. I'm here to do a job, and that job is to get you elected, and get the party into a position where we are either in opposition or in government.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: It's January 2017 and James Ashby is laying down the law after a string of scandals in the media. Candidates caught making offensive comments online.

JAMES ASHBY: (Phone call, January 2017) Pauline's watching your pages whether you like it or not.

She watches from afar, and believe it or not we also have everyone in the office there monitoring your pages as well, and if shit hits the fan - don't speak to media. Speak to us first.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: James Ashby goes on to reveal he's been privately speaking with the Queensland Liberal National Party, striking a private agreement, before the state election has even been called.

JAMES ASHBY: (Phone call, January 2017) I got a phone call this morning, from the chief of staff of Tim Nicholls. I have an agreement with the Liberal National Party, I've made one commitment to them, one agreement. And I'll be upfront with you.

I've made a commitment that we will not go out there and slag them for the sake of slagging them. I also kindly reminded him that if they choose to change that agreement, we have plenty of ammunition on their candidates as well.

Which pulled his head in a little bit.

SARAYA BERIC: James Ashby actually told me he had dirt files on politicians.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: What are dirt files?

SARAYA BERIC: So, I guess files or folders where he's kept notes on politicians in parliament, maybe information that they don't want getting out.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: How would you characterise the leadership of the Party?

IAN NELSON: Sick. Um, lacking empathy.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: I'm going to put the phrase to you - it was said to me from someone within the Party that Pauline's Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party is a people burner, would you agree?

IAN NELSON: That's a pretty appropriate thing to say now. I would. She burns people, that's for sure, when she's finished with 'em or doesn't need 'em anymore and they've done their job. Pst- off you go!

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: It's early morning in Canberra. On the outskirts of town at a no-frills motel a former One Nation Senator is hatching a bold plan.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: Rod Culleton and his trusty chief of staff, Margaret Menzel are plotting their latest attempt to get reinstated to parliament.

Rod Culleton was recruited in to politics in early 2016. Handpicked for the One Nation party by Pauline Hanson. At the time, he was embroiled in private legal battles, including a charge for larceny.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: Was Senator Hanson aware of your troubles?

ROD CULLETON: Absolutely.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: Your legal troubles before running?

MARGARET MENZEL: No question.

ROD CULLETON: I'd spoken to Pauline before I went into Parliament, and I said to her that I have these scars, these battle scars.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: And her response?

ROD CULLETON: That's fine, so we'll support it and work through it.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: But in December 2016 Rod Culleton quit One Nation sparking this ugly - and very public - tirade from Pauline Hanson:

PAULINE HANSON, 19 December 2016: He was demanding he was over the top. He's ego driven and he loves the media. Rod was a pain in my backside to tell you the truth.

I am glad to see the back of him. Merry Christmas everyone. Thankyou.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: Four weeks later, in January 2017, Rod Culleton - now an Independent Senator was sacked from Parliament altogether.

ROD CULLETON (archive): I'm very proud to have been a senator. I'm not a bankrupt, I will appeal.

PAULINE HANSON (archive): Am I happy about the demise of Rod Culleton? No. I'm not.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: Pauline Hanson told Australia she didn't know about Rod Culleton's legal woes when she selected him to join the party.

TV INTERVIEW, 12 January 2017:

Q: Were you aware of his financial woes when you put him on your team?

PAULINE HANSON: No not at all, I had no idea. Look, it is what it is. I didn't know about the larceny charge and the conviction that was there.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: But Four Corners has obtained a series of emails suggesting the opposite.

In this April 2016 email... Pauline Hanson writes to her lawyer about Rod Culleton's legal issues:

EMAIL, 6 April 2016: Hi Danny, Thanks for talking to Rod yesterday... Rod is very happy for you to work for him. He needs to have this squashed as soon as possible. I am waiting for this to be cleared up before I endorse him officially for the WA Senate.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: Other emails show detailed information about the larceny charge and conviction; the court attendance notice; and police fact sheet being sent to Pauline Hanson's lawyer.

And an email about a sworn affidavit, with Rod Culleton noting his appreciation for Pauline Hanson's assistance in April 2016.

But when news of Rod Culleton's private legal affairs broke in the media, the support he once enjoyed from his leader quickly evaporated, prompting him to secretly record this phone conversation with Pauline Hanson.

PHONE CONVERSATION, 2 November 2016:

PAULINE HANSON: You've been in politics for what six months? I've been doing it for 20 years. Don't tell me how to run politics and how the system works.

I think I know a little bit more than what you do... Go and read your constitution section 44(ii) and it states that if you have a criminal conviction more than 12 months sentence.

I haven't done that Rod. You did it before you were actually standing. Now they've caught up with you over this. That is the facts. Right? Now don't try and blame me.

ROD CULLETON: I'm not blaming you, I'm not blaming you. But I don't seem to be getting support from you in a sense now that you're wanting me to stand down.

PAULINE HANSON: Rod you have a think about, get some legal advice ok? I'll leave it up to you. I'll see you at parliament next week.

ROD CULLETON: Bye.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: Today the former One Nation loyalists tell me, when it comes to Pauline Hanson's One Nation, they're persona non-grata.

ROD CULLETON: Yeah it cuts deep to be honest so. That's it. Yeah, I get better respect from a sheep dog.

MARAGARET MENZEL: Definitely.

ROD CULLETON: Definitely.

MARGARET MENZEL: Better loyalty too.

MARYE DANIELS, FORMER WA SECRETARY, ONE NATION: See this? Pauline Hanson's One Nation, Volunteer of the Year 2001, presented to Marye Louise Daniels... and this one is a life membership/

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: On the other side of the country in Perth, Western Australia, Pauline Hanson's most adoring staffer is reeling.

MARYE DANIELS: When Pauline kicked us out of the party I took it down. It means nothing now, I don't want it on my desk. I shouldn't cry. I can't understand though, what I've done. 'I trust Pauline Hanson' - look at this! I don't trust Pauline Hanson, when she's mean to me.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: In January 2017, Pauline Hanson told Marye and her husband Ron McLean, the Secretary, and the President of One Nation's WA Branch they were no longer wanted, demanding all of their files.

MARYE DANIELS: And I stood up, and I said you can't have the files.

RON MCLEAN, FORMER WA PRESIDENT, ONE NATION: Yeah, she said to me, 'Ron you're too old to be a candidate, and we don't need you there'.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: You're too old?

RON MCLEAN: Yeah, she said I was too old, couple of times she said I was too old.

MARYE DANIELS: Straight out. I said it's an absolute disgrace, absolute disgrace. And then they went out the door. And then I started to cry, and I've been crying for three weeks, every time her name is mentioned, I cry.

RON MCLEAN: Yeah, we had a pretty close relationship.

MARYE DANIELS: Oh, we were very close.

RON MCLEAN: Did you put it on play?

MARYE DANIELS: Yep, away we go.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: Ron Maclean and Marye Daniels have supported Pauline Hanson since the late 1990's.

Home videos from over the years record Marye Daniels performing at fundraising events they organised for Pauline Hanson.

HOME VIDEO September 2004: Ladies and gentlemen, Pauline Hanson!

MARYE DANIELS: Oh look at me. She's overwhelmed, look.

HOME VIDEO: PAULINE HANSON: I'm stuck for words.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: On this night in September 2004, Pauline Hanson had been out of jail less than a year, after her convictions for electoral fraud were overturned on appeal.

HOME VIDEO: PAULINE HANSON: But very importantly, my being here was really due to Marye Louise Daniels and Ron McLean.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: The couple say they donated around $70,000 dollars to One Nation's for legal fees, all up, giving well over $100,000 dollars to Pauline Hanson's party over the years.

When Pauline Hanson decided to contest the state election...

Marye and Ron were tasked with getting the party up and running, recruiting hundreds of members, opening their home to vet dozens of candidates.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: Anthony Fels, a former Liberal party MP - was the last of around 40 One Nation contenders, to be interviewed and vetted by Pauline Hanson and James Ashby, filmed here at Marye and Ron's home in December 2016.

ANTHONY FELS, FORMER WA LIBERAL MP: Pauline wanted to know how much her party would be able to claim out of the election.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: How much money One Nation could make?

ANTHONY FELS: Yeah, how much money per, you know, it's ah dollars per vote ah based on the number of votes that they get.

She was very interested to know how much they'd be eligible for and how that worked in Western Australia.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: What were you left thinking?

ANTHONY FELS: I felt that Pauline was very much focused on how much they would earn out of the Western Australian election, and not so much focused on getting members into parliament.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: So, you've kept a lot of the documentation from your time with One Nation?

DANE SORENSON, DISENDORSED CANDIATE, ONE NATION: I've pretty much kept everything.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: When Dane Sorensen was selected as a candidate, he was told he needed to sign a contract -a candidate's agreement.

DANE SORENSON: It's unreasonable it doesn't bear any relationship to the costs of the party of you being elected.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: The contract enforces quarterly donations to the party adding up to $5,000 per year if elected, only reimburses candidates 75% of their expenses, and then there's this clause:

WA ONE NATION CANDIDATES AGREEMENT: If ...(you) resign from the party in a sitting term a $250,000 administration fee will become due and payable immediately upon resignation.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: Dane Sorensen refused to sign the agreement.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: Did you raise your concerns with One Nation about that agreement you were being asked to sign?

DANE SORENSON: Definitely. I wrote quite a detailed email pointing out my areas of concern.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: Did you receive a response?

DANE SORENSON: Yes. I was told that they would drop several of the clauses and that it was to be kept secret, that it was only to be four or five of us that would be offered the new and much edited agreement, which doesn't speak very well for the rest of the candidates.

I think it was very duplicit to do something like that.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: Dane Sorensen says he sent multiple emails of complaint to One Nation. Pauline Hanson responded by disendorsing him for refusing to conform to party policy, calling him 'belligerent and abusive'.

DANE SORENSON: If the public knew what went on in the Party I don't think they'd have anything to do with One Nation.

Well, they're just another grubby dirty bloody political party that are out to serve their own ends, their own interests.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: Of all the things to anger One Nation's WA candidates, one stands out: Pauline Hanson's preference deal with the Liberal Party.

SANDY BARAIOLO: You can't trust Pauline Hanson. She'll sell you one thing and she'll do something completely different. Pauline Hanson is about Pauline Hanson.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: When Sandy Baraiolo joined One Nation as a candidate, she had no idea about the backroom deal being done.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: So, you had no idea, that behind the scenes...?

SANDY BARAIOLO, DISENDORSED ONE NATION CANDIDATE: Yes. Behind the scenes she was already manoeuvring - I would hazard a guess and say she was already manoeuvring behind the scenes and getting her deal in place.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: Pauline Hanson's discussions about a preference deal with the Liberals date back to at least the 21st of December 2016.

On the evening she'd finished vetting candidates at the home of Ron Maclean and Marye Daniels.

MARYE DANIELS: She said, 'Oh I'm going to a meeting, got a meeting'. Oh I said 'Really? What sort of meeting?' and she said, 'A secret meeting'. I said, 'A secret meeting - who with?" and she said, "I can't tell you."

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: Soon after there was a knock at Ron and Marye's door.

MARYE DANIELS: There was a knock on the door and I went to the door and I nearly died, there was Michaelia Cash and another gentleman, I didn't know it was her husband.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: Just to be clear here Marye.

MARYE DANIELS: Yeah.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: Michaelia Cash and her husband arrived on your doorstep to pick Pauline Hanson and James Ashby up?

MARYE DANIELS: Yes, to have a secret meeting.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: Michaelia Cash, the Federal Minister for Employment, was there to personally escort Pauline Hanson and James Ashby to dinner with another Liberal powerbroker, the Federal Minister for Finance, Mathias Cormann.

MARYE DANIELS: We realised then it had been talked about before they even came over because seeing Michaelia Cash at the door and her husband it was all arranged and nobody needed to introduce anybody, they all- all knew each other.

SANDY BARAIOLO: We were told categorically by Pauline Hanson that she was not going to make a deal with anybody.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: Pauline Hanson told you, no preference deal?

SANDY BARAIOLO: Yes, no preference deal. She told all of us candidates the same thing.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: That was in January 2017. Three weeks later One Nation's WA candidates woke to the news, their leader had done a deal.

SANDY BARAIOLO: I heard it on 8826PR on my way to work and I was like are you shitting me? Is that for real? Oh. My. God. That is wrong.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: Sandy Baraiolo took to her personal Facebook page and complained.

She says she was ordered to delete her account, and was disendorsed over the phone, by James Ashby and Pauline Hanson, for being belligerent and not a team player.

SANDY BARAIOLO: During these phone conversations with James Ashby, how did he speak to you?

Oh my god. You should not speak to somebody like that, that is just so wrong.

When I said to him don't treat to me like a petulant young child he starts berating me again, telling me that I don't follow orders, it was just like orders? Really?

PAULINE HANSON, 7.30 ABC, 15 February 2017: I have to make the decisions. I am leader of this party. If they're not happy with it, everyone has a choice. Don't stand under my name.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: It's five days out from the Western Australian election. Pauline Hanson is on the campaign trail at a shopping centre on the outskirts of Perth.

Polls predict One Nation could capture a massive 13% of the primary vote.

PAULINE HANSON: We don't cheat, we don't lie, we are upfront with the people, and that's what we are about, that's what One Nation stands for.

Representing the people with truth, honesty and integrity.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: We were there just in time to ask One Nation's leader a question.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: Senator Hanson why should the people of WA vote for you and vote for your party considering the mess with Rodney Culleton in the Senate, considering a string of disendorsed candidates, and people who've walked away from the party?

COLIN TINCKNELL, WA LEADER, ONE NATION: What about Craig Thompson?

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: Senator Hanson, Senator Hanson, why should people vote for your party?

PAULINE HANSON: You're exactly right, that's exactly right.

Do you have a short memory of what's happened with the political parties over the years with their candidates? What about the Craig Thompson. Gordon Nuttall. I can name quite a few.

COLIN TINCKNELL: Bronwyn Bishop.

PAULINE HANSON: So, every political party - and these were members of parliament, they'd been in there for quite a while. So you know, every party is going to have those problems.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: The next morning, a nervous Marye Daniels and Ron Maclean are getting ready to drop a bomb on Pauline Hanson's One Nation.

They've decided to challenge their dismissal from the party, claiming wrongful termination. Their news is broadcast live around the country.

JOHN HAMMOND, LAWYER: We now want to know why Ron and Marye Louise have been sacked?

MARYE DANIELS: We're devastated, devastated.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: That afternoon, another burnt One Nation candidate comes forward.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: Ray we're only a few days out from the election, why aren't you putting these up?

RAY GOULD, FORMER WA CANDIDATE, ONE NATION: Why? Because Pauline's done a preference deal with the Liberals. Plain as day. Pauline's attitude is, if you don't like it, goodbye.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: Ray Gould, a retired bricklayer, says One Nation's preference deal with the Liberal Party has killed any chance he had in his electorate.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: Ray, what are you going to do with all this stuff?

RAY GOULD: Well I'm sorry Caro it's not soft enough for toilet paper so I think we'll just bin it.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: The next One Nation candidate to walk is Margaret Dodd, One Nation's highest profile candidate a fierce campaigner for criminal justice and law and order.

MARGARET DODD: If you come with me, I'll just show you how absolutely shambolic and how wasteful this campaign has been.

Here we have ten boxes, which is 30,000 how to vote cards, all these boxes here, and not one of them can you use.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: She's been delivered a stack of invalid how to vote cards organised by One Nation.

MARGARET DODD: No printer's name and address, you've got to have that on them, everybody knows that.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: And if the printers name and address isn't on them?

MARGARET DODD: $1000 fine every time you hand one out

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: Margaret Dodd has quit the party on the eve of the election.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: How are you feeling?

MARGARET DODD: I'm relieved, quite honestly. Relieved. Relieved at not being part of One Nation. It's not what I thought it was. I thought Pauline was this ordinary person, fighting for the battlers, she's out there shaking hands, high fiving people.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: What is she then?

MARGARET DODD: She is a populist, she goes on things that will get her the attention that she wants, gets her in the power position that she wants to be and that's all it is, it's about power for Pauline.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: What does the public need to know, the voters need to know, about the truth of Pauline Hanson's One Nation?

MARGARET DODD: They can't be trusted. There's nothing more to say. They just cannot be trusted.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: One Nation's election campaign is winding up.

We've been asking Pauline Hanson for an interview for the past five weeks.

All of our requests have been rejected. We made a final effort to speak with the Senator in-between her many, daily media interviews.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: Senator Hanson, Hi, I'm Caro from Four Corners at the ABC -

PAULINE HANSON: Yep.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: We'd love to have a chat with you -

PAULINE HANSON: No -

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: If you have any time throughout the next couple of days while you're in Perth?

PAULINE HANSON: No -

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: Any chance at all - of just fifteen minutes?

PAULINE HANSON: No.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: It's election night at Marye Daniels and Ron Maclean's.

Their home, once the epicentre of One Nation in Western Australia has become a meeting place for Pauline Hanson's growing list of casualties.

Election night broadcast, 11th March 2017:

PAULINE HANSON: Look doing the preference deal with the Liberal party has definitely damaged us.

SANDY BARAIOLO: You do a deal with the devil, you get what you're given.

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: One Nation polls 8% of the primary vote, well below their expected high of 13%. It's been a shambolic, ugly political campaign.

MARYE DANIELS: The only thing I can say, is Pauline Hanson, you shouldn't have got rid of Marye and Ron, you shouldn't have got rid of Marye and Ron. Hip hip hooray!

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: As Pauline Hanson flies out of Western Australia her devastated state secretary is beginning to feel brighter.

Marye Daniels grabs the opportunity to say goodbye to her former leader.

MARYE DANIELS: Goodbye thank goodness, you're gone, goodbye thank goodness you're gone, all together, bye!

CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: She leaves behind a lot of unanswered questions. It's now up to Pauline Hanson - to please explain.

[OUTRO]

SARAH FERGUSON: Pauline Hanson and James Ashby declined to be interviewed or to answer written questions for the program.

Next week the Facebook revolution. How the social media juggernaut is using our data to build its multi-billion dollar empire.

See you then.