Pauline Hanson has defended One Nation MP David Farley after his call to display Indigenous flags at his new office put him at odds with his party. The new MP for Farrer recently signalled his intention to fly Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags alongside the Australian flag at his electorate office.
Ms Hanson previously said she was unaware of the call and reaffirmed her longstanding opposition to flying multiple official flags in public institutions. However, she has since claimed Mr Farley never said he would fly the Indigenous flags. 'He never said that he was flying three flags,' Ms Hanson told Sky News host Andrew Bolt. 'He said he believes in the Australian flag but he said, you know, you have to actually acknowledge other people here in the nation, and of course they thought that was: “Oh I'm flying three flags”. As I said to him... there is only one flag that is the Australian flag.'
Mr Farley was elected to parliament after securing a historic victory in the Farrer by-election last month, joining fellow One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce in the lower house. Ms Hanson said Mr Farley is 'new to it' and 'doesn't understand getting caught up in it and the gotcha moments'. 'He is very much One Nation and he is very much one flag and that's what he represents,' she said. 'He's also mindful of the Aboriginals and trying to work with them in his own electorate. So he's trying to find his feet with that.'
She also said Mr Farley was 'probably not as much up front' as she was on the issue and reiterated her stance that only one flag should be displayed at parliament. 'There won't be three on the floor of parliament, I made that quite clear. There won't be any more Welcome to Country. We will not be divided any more in this nation and it is one nation,' Ms Hanson said.
The One Nation leader's comments came after Mr Farley recently told The Border Mail he intended to display all three flags in his offices in Albury and Griffith. 'We all live in three worlds, we live in the world of our forefathers and those that came before us, we live in the present today and we live in the future,' he said. The call put him at odds with Ms Hanson, who has long called for the removal of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags from parliament.
Ms Hanson on Sunday said she did not know about Mr Farley's intention to fly three flags. 'I don't run David Farley's office with his staff or his decision-making, we work together as a team. So that's clearly his choice, he's the elected member of parliament,' she told Sky News.
