Pauline Hanson 'unrecognisable' after tick bit her on the face

Pauline Hanson has reportedly been left “unrecognisable” after being bitten on the face by a tick, amid claims her party sought $20m from the US gun lobby to undermine Australian gun laws.

The Senator was nowhere to be seen as One Nation officials faced the media over shock revelations the party sought a $US20 million donation from US pro-gun lobbyists.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Tuesday accused the party of trying to “sell Australia’s gun laws to the highest bidders”.

Morrison was responding to an Al Jazeera documentary that reported One Nation party officials Steve Dickson and James Ashby flew to the United States for meetings with pro-gun interests including the National Rifle Association (NRA) and political donors Koch Industries in September last year seeking money to undermine Australian gun laws.

In Al Jazeera’s footage, Dickson says One Nation could get the government “by the balls” through holding the balance of power in both houses if they could get millions in funding.

That would allow them to weaken Australia’s gun laws, a point they raised with powerful lobby groups in Washington DC including the NRA.

One nation staffers ‘on the sauce’ during undercover Al Jazeera chat

Dickson and Ashby later told reporters they had not secured any US money. They claim they were “on the sauce” when they spoke to an undercover Al Jazeera reporter about potential donations and they had been quoted out of context.

“Being drunk is no excuse for trading away Australia’s gun laws to foreign bidders,” the prime minister told reporters in Sydney on Wednesday.

Morrison said the revelations were reasons why Australians should not vote for One Nation at general elections due in May, criticising minor parties’ ability to pursue their agenda.

“These are not parties of government, they are parties of grievance,” he said.

“We have reports that One Nation officials basically sought to sell Australia’s gun laws to the highest bidders to a foreign buyer and I find that abhorrent,” Morrison said.

Pauline Hanson under medical care for tick bite

With Senator Hanson missing as the pair addressed the media about the scandal on Wednesday, Dickson and Ashby revealed the One Nation leader has been suffering from a tick bite for the past week but is expected to front the media on Thursday.

She was bitten on the face last Thursday and remains under medical care, a One Nation source told News.com.au.

The news site said the source confirmed Hanson was currently “unrecognisable” after the bite on her right cheek “flared up”.

Tick bites can cause neurological symptoms including facial paralysis.

“She’s waiting until the final episode airs and her face goes down,” the source said.

Senator Hanson broke her silence about the gun scandal on Wednesday, saying she was shocked and disgusted with the “hit piece” by Qatari TV network Al Jazeera.

“A Qatari government organisation should not be targeting Australian political parties. This has been referred to ASIO,” she tweeted.

– with AP and AAP