Pauline Hanson and Barnaby Joyce: Hypocrisy is thy name

Parliamentary expenses reports for April to June 2026 show that Pauline Hanson and Barnaby Joyce are two of the most wasteful spenders of taxpayer money while they constantly complain about government waste, writes Belinda Jones.

WE HAVE SO OFTEN heard Pauline Hanson and Barnaby Joyce complain about government waste; it has been a constant One Nation narrative.

In March, Hanson told the Senate:

“There's so much waste of government money…”

After this year’s May Budget, Hanson said:

“We've identified more than $90 billion that could be easily cut from government spending.”

In her National Press Club (NPC) address in June, Hanson indicated that if elected to government, she would slash funding for Indigenous programs, the ABC, SBS and renewable energy subsidies, among other things, citing government waste as the primary reason.

Barnaby Joyce has complained regularly about government spending, especially after the Budget was handed down in May.

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This week the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority (IPEA) published the parliamentary expenses for the April-June 2026 quarter. Hanson and Joyce both have ample opportunity in their expenses budgets to lead by example by tightening their own belts to reduce the burden on taxpayers.

Even though Hanson has received a plane and a new car this year from Gina Rinehart or her representative Adam Giles, her scheduled transport and ComCar costs have barely budged.

The day she received the plane, Hanson posted on social media:

‘I thought I'd take the new plane to Rockhampton on its maiden voyage and sneak a peek at the One Nation inspired project for the Capricorn Coast community.’

So, it was quite surprising to find in her recent IPEA expenses that she had actually slugged the taxpayer for the $524.21 return flight from Rockhampton to Brisbane. One would think a $2 million plane could manage to do the return trip on its maiden voyage.

Similarly, Hanson boasted in her error-ridden interests register details on 22 June 2026 that ‘HPPL’ aka Gina Rinehart had provided her flight 'from Townsville to Brisbane on 18 July [sic] 2026':

‘Flight did not come at the cost to the taxpayer.’

Hanson failed to mention that the flight from Brisbane to Townsville that day to collect her orange bulldozer did come at a cost to the taxpayer — $257.95.

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Hanson also charged taxpayers $66.60 for a ComCar that day, which is a significant amount because it indicates that a ComCar was ordered and Hanson was a no-show or cancelled within the hour of pick-up. It’s twice that price on weekends and public holidays.

For the April-Jun quarter, Hanson clocked up six no-shows/cancellations; Barnaby Joyce managed 17 no-shows/cancellations. Quite a bit of waste charged to the taxpayer — and Hanson and Joyce have the gall to complain about government waste!

Three weeks after receiving her new plane at the end of April, Hanson slugged taxpayers $3111.14 in flights for a round trip to speak at the Australian Energy Producers Conference in Adelaide, plus $93.54 for her ComCar.

In June, Hanson travelled to Perth to speak at a leadership breakfast organised by The West Australian and One Nation fundraising events. That trip cost taxpayers $2732.39 in flights and $357.68 for a ComCar. Hanson's fancy new plane must not have been working that day.

Another interesting timing factor here is that about a month after Hanson received her new "sexy" plane, she launched the Fire the Liar campaign, which could have coincided with the realisation that her new plane would cost more than a million dollars per year in upkeep.

Additionally, reports have recently surfaced in the media revealing Hanson used One Nation party funds to pay for her to stay two weeks at a $900-a-night London motel in July.

If Barnaby Joyce is really concerned with government waste, perhaps he could curb his insatiable habit of buying flags.

In the April-June 2026 quarter Joyce slugged taxpayers $27,165.32 for flags. Yes, you read that correctly, nearly $30,000 for flags in three months!

Most Australians would probably like to know how Barnaby Joyce justifies spending an average of slightly under $10,000 on flags per month while simultaneously complaining about government waste. Who is receiving these flags? Where are all these flags going?

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Another way Joyce could reduce government spending is to avoid additional trips during sitting weeks, given that taxpayers have already paid for his travel to Canberra.

The latest IPEA expenses reports show he jetted off mid-parliamentary sitting day to Sydney on Wednesday 4 March 2026 to speak at the AFR Business Summit. That jaunt cost taxpayers $1668.86 for flights and Comcars.

The following week Joyce inexplicably jetted off to Hervey Bay, costing taxpayers a total of $3,244.01. Those expense details included a very interesting "Unscheduled Commercial Transport" amount of $87.56, about the cost of a ferry ride to K’gari.

In the first sitting week of June, he jetted from Canberra to Sydney and back the same day, to attend an abortion rally, costing taxpayers a total of $1,475.39.

So, next time Pauline Hanson or Barnaby Joyce complain about government waste, tell them to get their own houses in order first, tighten their own belts and lead by example.

There’s an old saying that "if you can’t save money when you don’t have it, then you’ll never be able to save money when you do".

Hanson and Joyce ought to take a leaf out of that book and apply it to themselves. If you can’t save money on the Crossbench, you’ll never be able to save money if you ever get into government.

If hypocrisy were an allowable parliamentary expense, then Pauline Hanson and Barnaby Joyce would be charging taxpayers like wounded bulls, and they would be perfectly legitimate expense claims.

Belinda Jones is an IA assistant editor and a former teacher and federal political candidate. You can follow Belinda Jones on Twitter @belindajones68.