We’ve been in Rockhampton only a couple of hours and finished one interview when a text arrives, out of the blue, from James Ashby.
asserted
text → finish → Ashby
“Welcome to town,” says the One Nation party director.
asserted
director → welcome → town
He recommends the lamb at a restaurant in nearby Yeppoon, a small coastal community 40 minutes up the road.
asserted
He → recommend → road
The 47-year-old former radio presenter, who grew up on the Sunshine Coast, has spent the past decade criss-crossing the country as Pauline Hanson’s closest adviser while calling Yeppoon home.
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who → grow → Yeppoon
The restaurant he recommends?
asserted
he → recommend → ?
It hosted a fundraising dinner for his failed bid to win the local state seat of Keppel in the 2024 Queensland election.
asserted
It → host → election
The event was attended by Hanson and the party’s billionaire benefactor, Gina Rinehart.
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event → attend → Hanson
The $1.5 million plane Rinehart donated to One Nation this year?
asserted
Rinehart → donate → Nation
It’s kept in Rockhampton so Ashby can soon serve as One Nation’s chief pilot, the party says.
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party → keep → pilot
The $56,000 shed on his property outside Yeppoon? One Nation says the party paid for it to house a new alcoholic spirits business.
asserted
it → say → business
Hanson has travelled to the region twice this year, claiming taxpayer funds for flights to and from Rockhampton, although she refuses to say why she made one of the trips.
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she → travel → trips
She also owns land in Yeppoon, described by property developers and news outlets as a “new Byron Bay” due to its natural beauty, expanding population and house price growth.
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She → own → beauty
Together, she and Ashby boast about extracting tens of millions of dollars in grants for the area from the previous Coalition government – grants that account for half her listed “infrastructure achievements”.
asserted
that → boast → achievements
“Am I meant to beat him over the head with a stick for playing an active, positive role in his community?” the Queensland senator posed in a statement about Ashby.
asserted
senator → mean → Ashby
“I wish more political staffers did the same.”
asserted
staffers → wish → same
The pool
Whichever One Nation candidate runs for the seat of Capricornia at the next federal election could find themselves in a fight watched around the country.
uncertain
runs → run → country
Nationals leader Matt Canavan, a Yeppoon local, has not ruled out a move from the Senate to the lower house.
asserted
Canavan → rule → house
It risks becoming, in the words of one federal MP, “a f---ing war zone”.
asserted
It → risk → MP
Hanson visited Cooee Bay pool in Yeppoon in April, dropping in to film a social media video at the nearly finished project.
asserted
Hanson → visit → project
She trailed her fingers in the water, pleased with the temperature, thrilled with the entire facility.
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She → trail → facility
Hanson claims she was the one who clinched $13 million from the Morrison government for the upgrade, now billed as a One Nation project by a billboard on the outskirts of town.
uncertain
who → claim → town
Flickering between delighted and angry, she railed in the video against “all these other dickheads” claiming credit.
asserted
she → flicker → credit
She also said the local shire had banned her from attending the pool’s upcoming opening, a claim Ashby had made on social media.
uncertain
Ashby → say → media
Livingstone Shire Council strongly denied any ban.
asserted
Council → deny → ban
It said One Nation’s allegation led to “significant abuse” of councillors, council staff and their families, including the daughter of Mayor Adam Belot, who was confronted by a “very irate individual” in a carpark.
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who → say → carpark
Councillor Wade Rothery, a former One Nation candidate and Ashby’s former brother-in-law, addressed Hanson online, saying “you know 100 per cent you are not banned”.
asserted
you → address → cent
The need for a new pool appeared beyond doubt after a bleak structural report.
Liberal National local member Michelle Landry said she worked hard to fix the pool where her children had learnt to swim, securing a $13 million Commonwealth Community Development grant in 2021.
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children → appear → 2021
Ashby, who has owned several properties in Cooee Bay, tells it differently.
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who → own → it
He argues One Nation secured the money in 2020 when it held the balance of power in the Senate.
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it → argue → Senate
The council had lost ratepayer revenue after the Defence Force acquired land in the area.
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Force → lose → area
A party spokesperson said: “It was the Livingstone Shire Council who opted for the money to be spent on upgrading the Cooee Bay Pool Complex, not Senator Hanson or Mr Ashby.”
asserted
money → say → Complex
After arguing for the grant money, Hanson bought a vacant block of land in Cooee Bay in 2021 for $580,000, with no mortgage.
asserted
Hanson → argue → mortgage
She had planned to develop a block of units on it.
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She → plan → it
But since January, she’s been trying to sell, for upwards of $1 million.
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she → try → million
Yeppoon real estate agent Ravi Ramswarup said there had been a “ridiculous amount of interest” in Hanson’s land.
asserted
Ramswarup → say → land
“She’s bought in Cooee Bay, which has had some of the biggest growth in the region by a long way,” Ramswarup said, adding that sea-changers had helped push up prices.
asserted
changers → buy → prices
The pool does not feature in the property’s ad campaign.
asserted
pool → feature → campaign
“She’s not going to get an extra quarter of a million because that pool is there,” said the agent.
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agent → go → million
Ashby has sold out of Cooee Bay.
asserted
Ashby → sell → Bay
But he soon bought a block in nearby countryside and began work on a home.
asserted
he → buy → home
…and 56 more, not listed.
The Aporia
