One Nation leader Pauline Hanson and mining magnate Gina Rinehart were among scores of political and business figures who attended Donald Trump’s controversial Great Gatsby-themed Halloween party at the weekend.
The soiree, hosted at the US President’s famed Mar-A-Lago estate in Florida, was labelled “A Little Party Never Killed Nobody”, drawing from a song on from the 2013 film adaptation of The Great Gatsby.
With a US government shutdown halting crucial federal services, including food support for some 42m Americans, the party sparked widespread ire.
Though, confirming her attendance on Monday night, Senator Hanson called it “a great night”.
“It was lovely to actually have been at that function on Friday night for Halloween,” she told Sky News.
Meanwhile, Ms Rinehart, Australia’s richest person, was spotted in the background of a photo posted on social media by fellow attendee, Jeanine Pirro – a celebrity lawyer and the US attorney for the District of Columbia.
She was leaning over Mr Trump and while in discussion.
Senator Hanson is in the US for the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), where she is set to speak in her first overseas speech.
Against a backdrop of soaring poll numbers, she was asked if her CPAC speech indicated she was gaining “international attention”.
Playing down any sort of global success, she said “it’s very important to me to be there on behalf of Australians, speaking on behalf of many Australians at this conference”.
