One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has delivered a heated rant aimed at the government as she demanded Australian voters “wake up” to Labor’s failed economic credentials.
One Nation Leader Pauline Hanson has urged Australians to stop voting for the “same idiots all the time” as the country suffers through a per capita recession.
“We are in a recession, but we’ve only been propped up because of the high immigration levels coming into Australia,” Ms Hanson told Sky News host Chris Kenny.
“Your cost of living is escalating because you don’t think what the policies are.
“Why keep voting for the same idiots all the time .. we are getting a bigger mess year after year after year.”
Ms Hanson’s comments come as the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported a GDP growth of just 0.1 per cent for the first three months of the year.
The latest data represents Australia’s lowest GDP growth since Sepetember 2021, or the lowest in more than 30 years with the exception of the COVID years.
But in more dire news for Australians the data confirmed what millions would already know, that the country was suffering a per capita recession, with per capita GDP dropping for the fifth straight month.
Senator Hanson exploded in reaction to the latest data, telling Sky News Australia host Chris Kenny: “We’ve known that for a long time”.
Pauline Hanson has called on Australians to “wake up” after the economy almost came to a standstill for the first quarter of the year. Picture: Sky News
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“We are in a recession, but we’ve only been propped up because of high immigration levels coming to Australia,” she said.
“Wake up people. Stop voting for the same old – that you are actually destroying your way of life.
“Your cost of living is escalating because … you don’t think. You don’t think what the policies are. Why keep voting for the same idiots all the time?
“We are getting a bigger mess year after year after year.”
One Nation Leader Pauline Hanson says the NDIS scheme has “blown completely out of proportion”.
It has been revealed that two billion dollars of NDIS funds have been spent on fraudulent expenses including cars, drugs and alcohol.
“It is such a scam … and it’s not even means tested,” Ms Hanson told Sky News host Chris Kenny.
“You’ve got multi-millionaires that are actually on this.
“They are all scared to do anything about it because they will lose the voters out there.”
Ms Hanson’s call for Aussies to “wake up” was echoed earlier by shadow treasurer Angus Taylor who said Australia was experiencing a “hugely dangerous combination”.
Mr Taylor said the addition of stubborn core inflation, negative GDP per capita growth and flailing household disposable income was the reason why Australians were in “so much pain”.
“These numbers are just telling us the story that every member of Parliament is seeing on the ground every day. And it’s truly diabolical,” Mr Taylor told Sky News Australia.
Speaking on the ABS numbers, Treasurer Jim Chalmers said while the Australian economy was nearing a standstill, it was still performing better than many comparable countries.
“The primary cause of this very weak growth was higher interest rates but in combination with moderating but persistent inflation and ongoing global uncertainty as well,” he said before adding the growth was welcome amid the challenging financial circumstances.
Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers during Question Time at Parliament House in Canberra. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman
“Any growth is welcome in these domestic and global circumstances that we confront,” Mr Chalmers said.
“Many economies around the world are feeling the impact of higher interest rates and high but moderating inflation.
“Over the past year something like three quarters of OECD economies have recorded a negative quarter while Australia has avoided one to date.”
The nation’s 0.1 per cent quarterly jump comes after reporting a 0.3 per cent increase in the three months to December 2023 and a 0.2 per cent economic hike in the September 2023 quarter.