Pauline Hanson quits as One Nation Party leader

Australian maverick politician Pauline Hanson, who founded the anti-Asian and right-wing One Nation Party, resigned as its leader yesterday, saying she needed time to concentrate on clearing her name of fraud allegations.

The decision took many of her party members by surprise, but political analysts had been predicting Hanson's exit after One Nation failed to win any seats in national elections late last year.

"It was my decision to hand in my resignation as national president," Hanson said yesterday. "I've constantly got these court battles and challenges, and I couldn't do the job."

Hanson, 47, and former One Nation director David Ettridge have been charged over the alleged fraudulent registration of the political party in 1997.

The pair is due in court in April. The charge carries a maximum 10-year prison sentence. Both have pleaded innocent in a pre-trial hearing.

"I do believe it's a political witch hunt, and a lot of people don't have faith in the justice system -- and I'm fighting the justice system," Hanson said.

The fraud case was one of seven pending legal challenges, Hanson said. She did not give details.

The former fish-and-chip shop owner from Queensland state entered Australian politics in 1996 as an independent legislator in the House of Representatives.

In her maiden speech, Hanson said Australia was in danger of being "swamped" by Asians, and also argued against providing welfare handouts to Aborigines, the nation's underprivileged indigenous minority.

In 1998, Hanson's newly formed One Nation party rose to prominence by attracting almost a quarter of the vote in Queensland state elections to win 11 seats in the legislature. At a 1998 federal election, the party won almost 9 percent of the vote nationally.

However, One Nation failed to win a seat in the most recent national election in November, and Hanson lost her own bid for a Senate seat. Analysts said Hanson had been marginalized as international security issues saw voters concentrating on Australia's two main parties, the Liberals and the opposition Labor Party.