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One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has backed Warren Pickering, the leader of her party’s Victorian branch and a candidate in the November state election, after he admitted to historical drug use and drink-driving this week.
Hanson told News24 on Wednesday that Pickering was “a man of conviction” who had admitted to taking drugs 20 years ago.
“I believe in redemption,” Hanson said. “He’s a fellow who, actually in hard times, stood by his partner.”
On Tuesday, Pickering admitted to taking speed, amphetamines, ecstasy and marijuana, as well as saying he had explored his sexuality and had an open relationship in his 20s.
Pickering, who is contesting the marginal seat of Pakenham at the election, was responding to claims from his former partner of almost two decades, Jo Scott, published in The Australian on Monday.
Pickering initially denied Scott’s claims before addressing the media on Tuesday with his daughter and stepson. He admitted to drug use but said he was never a “drug addict”. He also said he had lost his licence three times for drink-driving and had made mistakes when he was in his 20s.
Pickering’s stepson, Johnny Scott, said his mother had “a vendetta against Warren and has for many years”.
“My mother has a past, and she’s stuck in that past,” he said.
In response, Jo Scott said Pickering’s press conference was a “lost opportunity for him to come clean with Victorians about his past”.
“Warren’s claim that he simply ‘dabbled’ in drugs as a young man, and that he was a ‘casual drug user’ was a masterclass in deceit and dishonesty,” she said in a written statement.
Hanson accused the media of a double standard against her party, referencing Victorian MPs who were quizzed by the media on their personal drug use as they arrived at parliament on Wednesday.
Most said they had not used drugs. Treasurer Colin Brooks and Health Minister Ingrid Stitt confessed to “dabbling” with marijuana in their 20s.
Legalise Cannabis MPs David Ettershank and Rachel Payne also admitted to previous drug use.
“Of course I have,” Payne said. “I’m Legalise Cannabis. I still consume drugs.”
Ettershank said his busy time in parliament had meant he had limited time for consumption over the past four years.
“Who in this country possibly has not tried drugs?” Hanson asked interviewer Chris Kenny.
“You know, a great majority of people have. We have a big issue with drugs in this country.
“Maybe you should do a test in parliament here because I’ve heard that even here in Parliament House [in Canberra], if you tested the water here, you’d probably find there’s a lot of drugs in the system as well.”
Pushed on Pickering’s initial denial of the claims in The Australian, Hanson said she was “sick and tired” of the media chasing after dirt on members of parliament, candidates and herself.
“This is actually a personal matter, and he was trying to protect the children and his ex-partner,” Hanson said.
“He’s never been charged over this in the court system.”
Speaking at the same press conference as Pickering, One Nation Northern Metro candidate Mark Nicholson laid out some of the party’s crime policies and denied they conflicted with their leader’s past.
Nicholson said that if One Nation were in power today, a person in a similar situation to Pickering would have “therapeutic jurisprudence”.
“We would look through and understand that drugs are at the core of the problem,” he said.
“But most importantly, we would try and intervene before crime ever happens to someone like Warren.
“He’s a man that’s willing to take accountability for himself.”
Nicholson promised One Nation would make Victoria the “toughest state on crime” and would make “crime illegal”.
Speaking sarcastically, he said rather than investing in safe injecting rooms, the party would “try making drugs illegal”.
“We’re going to have a crack at that here in Victoria. Maybe make crime illegal and corruption illegal in Victoria as well.”
Hanson said on News24 that Pickering was receiving a lot of support for his admissions, which told her “people are not interested in this”.
“If you want to hang that around his neck, well, then, pity you, Chris Kenny, because there are a lot of people out there and members of parliament who are paedophilias [sic], who actually have been … jailed, and other members of parliament that have been jailed for … worse crimes.”
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