Pauline Hanson barred The Age, the ABC, and The Guardian from her Melbourne press conference, with the new state leader Warren Pickering threatening legal action against journalists for “character assassination attempts”.

This masthead’s Victorian State Political Editor Chip Le Grand revealed in April that the Nepean by-election campaign committee collapsed under Pickering’s leadership as the state branch’s president, after he advised a candidate to use a personal bank account to accept campaign donations. If acted upon, that would put One Nation in breach of the state’s electoral laws. Pickering disputed the report confirmed by three sources.

“ABC were denied entry, enter here, and The Guardian. I’m not putting up with their rubbish. I’m not putting up with their spin, their lies whatsoever. I want truth and honesty. You get it from me. I expect it back from the media,” Hanson said.

Pickering jumped in: “To elaborate on that just a little bit, we expect and invite a healthy amount of scrutiny of our candidates and our policy positions. However, any blatant character assassination attempts based on fabrications of our candidates will be met with swift legal action.”