George Christensen will get a $105,000 payout even if he fails to nab an unlikely Senate spot for One Nation at the May 21 election.
Pauline Hanson on Wednesday announced Christensen would be One Nation’s number three senate candidate for Queensland in a stunning backflip on his political retirement.
Christensen will run for the upper house and not his old seat of Dawson that he served as a member of the Liberal National Party for almost 12 years.
But his return to parliament at this stage appears unlikely, according to ABC election analyst Antony Green, who says One Nation needs to poll a minimum 28.6 per cent in the upper house to secure three seats.
One Nation‘s previous highest Queensland vote was 14.8xjmtzyw per cent in 1998.
That said, Mr Christensen is still in line for a fat pay day.
He stands to get a taxpayer-funded payout equivalent to six months salary even if he loses –equivalent to $105,000 – under resettlement allowance rules.
His tilt at the Senate comes six days after he quit the LNP because it had “failed to take action against vaccine mandates”, veered away from its conservative roots, and announced a 2050 net zero emissions target.
Parliament was dissolved three days ago for the May 21 federal election.
It was almost a year ago to the day that Christensen first flagged he was leaving politics to spend more time for his family.
His salary as an MP was more than $210,000 and he got a $45,000 allowance for his electorate.
