Politics

Fist Fights, Bloody Stains And Harassment Allegations: One Nation’s 2019 Is Off To A Great Start

These idiots have been back at work for less than three days.

by Tom Clift  14 February 2019
Brian Burston, Pauline Hanson, One Nation

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Former One Nation senator Brian Burston got into a physical altercation with Pauline Hanson’s key advisor James Ashby in Parliament House on Tuesday night, following conflicting claims by Hanson and Burston, each accusing the other of sexual harassment.

These idiots have been back at work for less than three days.

The scuffle between Burston and Ashby occurred on Wednesday evening after a dinner function, and was captured on camera by photographers from News Corp. Burston later shared photos of his bloody hand, which he says he injured after attempting to grab a mobile phone Ashby was waving in his face.

Burston, who currently represents Clive Palmer’s United Australia Party after quitting One Nation in June last year, claims he told Ashby to “fuck off”, but that Ashby continued to pursue him and his wife.

“I lost it,” Burston told News Corp. “I grabbed him and I pushed him up against the wall. I defended myself and my wife, physically.”

Burston was then approached by a reporter for The Australian, who he also told to “fuck off”.

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The senator said he had reported the incident to the Australian Federal Police.

Ashby, for his part, has denied being the aggressor, telling News Corp that he was simply trying to take a photo of Hanson, who was leaving the function at the same time as Burston.

“The AFP are welcome to review all video footage and they will see these claims by Brian Burston are false,” he said.

Burston, in turn, denied being responsible for bloody stains found on Hanson’s office door. Yes, you read that correctly.

Senators Deny Sexual Harassment Allegations

The scuffle between Burston and Ashby occurred after Hanson used a speech in the Senate on Tuesday to accuse an unnamed senator of multiple instances of “serious sexual harassment”. Burston later confirmed Hanson was talking about him, but denied the allegations, calling them “bullshit” and describing Hanson as “a woman scorned”.

According to The Guardian, a female staffer accused Burston of sexual harassment as part of an unfair dismissal claim late last year. The staffer alleged Burston propositioned her while she was upset, offering to “‘fuck’ me to make things better”.

Burston’s wife Rosie has since come to her husband’s defence, saying he couldn’t have done it because he “never says fuck”.

Burston subsequently accused Hanson of more than two decades’ worth of sexual harassment, claiming it was one of the main reasons he left One Nation.

“Right back when we had our first One Nation AGM at the Rooty Hill RSL [in 1998], that was the first time she hit on me,” Burston told News Corp. He went on to describe an incident in which he alleges Hanson rubbed her fingers up his spine while they were on stage listening to the national anthem.

He also claimed Hanson had propositioned him numerous times since he was elected to Parliament in 2016.

Hanson dismissed Burston’s allegations as a “load of bloody rubbish”.

“I can’t help laughing about it,” she told Sky News. “I might be 64 but I’m not desperate.”

She also said Burston needed to “go and get some anger management” following his altercation with Ashby.