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One Nation leader slams timing of leaked strip club footage

The scandal engulfed One Nation leader Pauline Hanson and her then Senate candidate Steve Dickson.

The scandal engulfed One Nation leader Pauline Hanson and her then Senate candidate Steve Dickson. Photo: AAP

One Nation leader Pauline Hanson says there is no place in her party for right-hand man Steve Dickson after he was taped making remarks about women during an overseas strip club romp.

Mr Dickson was caught on al-Jazeera footage, aired by Channel Nine on Monday night, groping a stripper on a trip to the United States and bragging about his sexploits.

The footage recorded him saying: “I’ve done more Asian than I know what to do with”.

He also said that strip clubs are better in the Philippines because women dance on top of the bars and “then take everything off”, the footage recorded in Washington DC showed. 

Senator Hanson said that as a mother of three boys she was particularly concerned and could not “ignore or condone” the footage.

“I am both a mother of three boys and the only female leader of a political party in this country. I wouldn’t tolerate my own children behaving this way towards women,” she said.

Mr Dickson, who was also a Senate candidate, resigned as soon as footage of his x-rated antics was aired by the Nine Network on Monday night.

Senator Hanson said lots of men went to strip clubs but it was Mr Dickson’s language and behaviour that failed to live up to her expectations and those of voters.

“I am both shocked and disappointed at the vision I forced myself to watch,” she told reporters on Tuesday.

“Steve Dickson yesterday offered his resignation from all positions within the party which I have accepted.”

one nation steve disckson

Mr Dickson admitted to visiting strip clubs around the world. Photo: Channel Nine

The recording was captured by an undercover journalist and leaked to Nine’s A Current Affair.

Senator Hanson accused the Qatari-backed television news network al-Jazeera – which recorded the footage last year – of trying to hurt her party three weeks out from the federal election.

However, al-Jazeera said it did not give Nine permission to screen the footage, filmed as part of an undercover investigation into meetings about political donations between Mr Dickson, Senator Hanson’s chief-of-staff James Ashby and America’s National Rifle Association.

“They have sat on this information and footage for over seven months and conveniently gave the tapes to [Nine’s] A Current Affair less than three weeks out from a federal election,” Senator Hanson said.

Mr Dickson’s name will still appear on the upper house ballot paper on May 18 but Senator Hanson said voters would know he no longer represented One Nation.

Earlier, Mr Dickson issued a statement saying he was very upset with himself.

“I found the footage difficult to watch as my words and actions under intoxication and in that environment are not a true reflection of myself,” he said.

“I am also deeply remorseful for my disrespectful comments towards women.

“The footage shown does not reflect the person I am. It shows a person who was drunk and not in control of his actions.”

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten condemned Mr Dickson’s comments as “absolutely appalling”.

Senator Hanson said Mr Dickson’s language and behaviour were “unacceptable and [did] not meet my expectations, nor the greater public’s expectation, of a person who is standing for public office”.

“Steve Dickson yesterday offered his resignation from all positions within the party, which I have accepted,” she said.

In his resignation statement, Mr Dickson said that his wife was standing by him.

Senator Hanson described Mr Dickson as a “family man”, adding she would not judge him any further.

“He is deeply upset by this. I’m not going to judge him any further. It is a family matter,” she said.

Al Jazeera has said in a statement overnight that it had not run the footage in its report and condemns the “unauthorised use of its material”.

The footage comes more than a month after al-Jazeera released footage from a meeting between Mr Dickson, Mr Ashby and the National Rifle Association in Washington, DC in September 2018.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten condemned Mr Dickson’s comments as “absolutely appalling”.

-with AAP

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