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WA One Nation Candidate Calls Hanson 'Liberal Puppet' Over Preference Deal

She won't be handing out the party's how-to-vote cards on election day.
Dodd says she feels like she's been
Twitter/ABC
Dodd says she feels like she's been

A Western Australian One Nation candidate has lashed out at Pauline Hanson for her preference deal with the WA Liberal Party, calling her a "puppet" and saying she won't hand out the party's how-to-vote cards on election day.

Speaking to the ABC's 7.30, Scarborough candidate Margaret Dodd says the deal that was signed between the two parties ahead of the WA election was "dishonest".

"They should not have been so dishonest. You know? Don't pretend that you're about something and then go and do deals with the Liberals," she said.

"Unless you're going to be up-front and tell your candidates before they join that you're just a Liberal puppet, don't to it."

Dodd has been pushing for 'No Body, No Parole' laws as a candidate in light of the murder of her daughter in 1999.

She also made it clear she found it hard to work with the party after One Nation backflipped on its pledge to give her control over who she could preference, alleging that any criticism from candidates is met with threats of disendorsement.

"It makes me feel as though I've been lied to. It makes me feel that the party that I've joined is dishonest," she said.

"And their only answer to any criticism is 'you're disendorsed. Suck it up or leave,' 'you're not working as a team'. Well, it's very hard to work as part of a team when you're working in a dictatorship."

She also told 7.30 she plans to tell voters at the polls on Saturday to preference Scarborough Liberal candidate Liza Harvey last.

Despite this, Dodd's official One Nation Candidate Facebook page still has the Greens listed last on her how-to-vote card. The Liberal candidate, Liza Harvey, is listed fifth.

Party leader Pauline Hanson has responded to Dodd's sledge, reportedly saying she is welcome to leave the party ahead of the election.

The tensions come just days before the WA election, which is set to be held on Saturday March 11, and follows the removal of two other party candidates in the state in February for critiquing the preference deal.

At the time, One Nation's WA leader Colin Tincknell, said the pair had not been meeting party expectations.

"We unfortunately had to disendorse both of these candidates as they did not meet the standards that are required to be a Pauline Hanson One Nation candidate," he said.

"We wish them all the best as independents."

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