Sydney, Nov 07: Australian right-winger Pauline Hanson ruled out using a wave of public sympathy to revive her stalled political career today as she relished her first day of freedom since having a conviction for electoral fraud overturned. Hanson's dramatic release into the arms of her waiting family late yesterday dominated Australia's newspapers and airwaves today, with most pundits saying her stint in jail had created a right-wing martyr figure who would be swept into the Australian Senate if she chose to stand.
"She's back on the warpath with a new axe to grind," Sydney's Daily Telegraph said, noting Hanson "has never been more marketable".
Hanson's former adviser David Oldfield said she would be unable to resist the temptation to stand for office after being vindicated in the public eye.
"She won't be able to stay away from politics, it'll happen sooner or later," he said.
Officials from Hanson's anti-immigration one nation party reported a surge in support and canvassed the possibility of putting the wheels back on the bandwagon that careered through Australian politics in the mid to late 1990s.
After initially declaring a return to politics was "the furtherest thing from my mind" when quizzed by media outside jail, Hanson appeared to toy with the idea before finally ruling it out today.
"The last three elections I've stood for I've got a kick in the guts, I couldn't go through it again," she told reporters.
Bureau Report