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CANBERRA - Rightwing firebrand Pauline Hanson has denied telling lies in a tell-all biography in which she recounts a night of passion with former adviser David Oldfield at a Canberra motel.
Mr Oldfield has denied having sex with the founder of the anti-immigration One Nation party, but failed
a lie detector test when the question was put to him by Channel Seven last night and he said he hadn't had sex with that woman.
Ms Hanson, now considering a bid for a Senate seat at the election later this year, was back in the news with the recent publication of her autobiography Untamed and Unashamed.
She said the book contained much more than the few paragraphs detailing her intimate relationship with Mr Oldfield which only lasted a couple of weeks.
Ms Hanson said her memory of what happened was spot on.
"I haven't got Alzheimer's and I don't tell lies," she told Canberra local ABC Radio.
"If he hasn't told his wife the truth, that's his problem."
Ms Hanson said she felt Mr Oldfield used her, then abandoned her the moment he gained a seat in NSW parliament.
"I can't stand him. I don't like him at all. When someone is quite happy to see you go to prison for something you did not do, I think that clearly depicts the type of person that he is," she said.
"I am not a vindictive person, but I think it needs to be explained."
Unfortunately, for Canberra's Sundowner Motel where their tryst occurred - and which is intent on exploiting this PR bonanza - Ms Hanson can't recall which room they used.
"I have no idea. I can't even tell you that. It is quite, quite big. There's a lot of rooms there and I stayed there on more than one occasion. I used to stay there quite a bit in the early stages," she said.
"So I am sorry about that."
Recounting her political career as the independent member for the Queensland seat of Oxley from 1996-98, Ms Hanson said she regretted nothing of her controversial maiden speech saying Australia was being swamped with Asians.
The speech catapulted her to international notoriety, imposing strains on Australia's relations with some Asian nations, although she was widely condemned at home and abroad.
"A lot of those issues have been spoken about or taken up by the Howard government," she said.
Ms Hanson said her comments on Asian immigration sparked a national debate and in the long run the government addressed the issue.
"I don't beat around the bush. I do say what I mean and people say you are only saying what we have been thinking but you have had the guts to get up and say it," she said.
"I am straight forward, I am direct, I am honest and maybe I am a bit outspoken but I wasn't taught to be any other way."
Ms Hanson said she believed Australia was a better place for her foray into politics through giving a voice to those not represented by the major parties.
She said that was reflected in measures such as the government's immigration rules requiring new arrivals to speak English.
"I have no doubt about that," she said.
"The public voiced their opinion at the ballot box and at the (state) election in 1998. One Nation pulled 23-24 per cent of the parliament," she said.
- AAP
