Greens senator brands Pauline Hanson a ‘political coward’ over press conference bans – as it happened

Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young has rubbished Pauline Hanson’s decision to bar the Guardian, the Age and the ABC from a One Nation press conference today.

Hanson-Young claimed Hanson was “running scared of scrutiny”, calling her “a politician who thinks that she should have the right to say whatever she wants, but no one else should have the right to ask questions”.

“Pauline Hanson is showing herself to be a political coward by hiding from certain media because she doesn’t like questions from journalists, and this is a very very bad start to any political campaign,” the Greens senator told a press conference in Parliament House this afternoon.

As we reported earlier, reporters from the ABC, the Age and the Guardian were not provided with the time or location of the press conference to announce One Nation’s Victorian state election candidates.

“I’m not putting up with the spin, gotcha moments, wanting to have a go at me … [and] treat us totally different to what you do the other major political parties. Enough is enough,” Hanson said of her decision at the press conference.