Lee Hanson, daughter of Pauline Hanson, has been working as a senior adviser to a New South Wales One Nation senator while based in Tasmania, reportedly without the required ministerial approval. Parliamentary rules state that a personal adviser working outside Canberra or the parliamentarian's home base needs approval from the special minister of state.
When Sean Bell appointed Hanson as an adviser, a request for an alternative work base arrangement was not submitted. The Department of Finance reportedly approved a contract variation to reclassify Hanson from an electorate officer to a personal adviser without following the proper process. Sources suggest this was a departmental "stuff-up" that allowed the work arrangements to proceed without the minister's consideration of "special circumstances" for employment in a different state.
An analysis of Hanson's social media activity indicates she appears to have regularly campaigned for One Nation in Tasmania during work hours. If these activities occurred without taking leave, it could be a breach of the Members of Parliament (Staff) Act, which states staff are employed to assist an MP and "not for party political purposes."