Steve Dickson quits Liberal National Party to join Pauline Hanson’s One Nation

Steve Dickson, former Queensland racing minister has quit Liberal National Party to join Pauline Hanson’s One Nation. He said that the latter supported his viewpoint to give amnesty for medical cannabis while the former kept turning a deaf ear to his repeated attempts. The decision was announced on Jan. 9 at a press conference.

Hanson made it clear that she had neither approached Dickson nor forced him to quit LNP to join One Nation. She said that he joined out of “sheer frustration” as he did not want to be a “yes person” for the major parties. Hanson said that she was proud of Dickson’s decision. She apologised to those who were disappointed with switching of parties.

Hanson announced that Dickson would contest Queensland elections from her party in 2018. She added that the leader of Queensland party has not been chosen yet. It will only be chosen after the candidates are finalised.

On the other hand, Dickson said that he wants to put people before politics. He admitted that many Liberal people from the National Party would be disappointed. He said that he is putting his career at stake for the people of Queensland. He said that Hanson cares about the people; she cares about the life of a child, which she would save using whole-plant medicinal cannabis instead of sitting aback like a bureaucrat and letting the child die.

“A young lady who was in my office, just this Monday gone, has a brain tumour and was using this exact same product so that she can stay alive. I called on the Premier of Queensland Annastacia Palaszczuk and also the Prime Minister of Australia Malcolm Turnbull over a week ago to grant amnesty, so that these people can access this life-saving drug to keep their children alive,” Dickson said adding that only Hanson was willing to take up the issue.

Hanson said that last year, Queensland had passed a bill to legalise the use of medical cannabis. However, there aren’t any licensed suppliers as of now. She added that the legalisation of cannabis is a happy decision. However, it is of no use if it is not reaching the desperate families in need. “I’m sorry but that fails the commonsense test.”