Watching One Nation's Senators Celebrate Trump Was Rock Bottom

While it would appear most Americans feel differently, many Australians were likely hoping for a Clinton victory yesterday. Even our federal government, whose immigration policies actually kind of echo those that Trump proposes, was reluctant to endorse a man who was swept into power by middle aged white supremacists. Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has been publicly critical of him.

Still, there were some people who were ecstatic about America becoming Great Again: the members of One Nation, and in particular their leader Pauline Hanson. She and her fellow senators gathered in front of Parliament House yesterday afternoon to toast the victory of a man who has spent much of his adult life running beauty pageants and avoiding paying federal taxes, and who will now become leader of the free world.

The similarities between Hanson and Trump don't stop at their hair. The One Nation leader was able to draw the obvious policy parallels between herself and the Republican candidate, who advocates for a total ban on Muslim immigration into the United States.

"Why I'm celebrating is that I can see that people…around the world are saying, 'We've had enough of the establishment,'" Hanson said yesterday.

"Give people the power back to have their own democracy. I think Donald Trump will bring that to America and I can see in Donald Trump a lot of me and what I stand for in Australia. I think it's great."

People power was very much on Hanson's mind. "People around the world are saying 'we've had enough with the major political parties, with the establishment, with the elites, with the chardonnay set'," she told Sky News, apparently unaware that Trump literally flies around in his own private gold-plated aeroplane, probably sipping the most expensive chardonnay on the market.

One Nation weren't actually the only politicians to celebrate Trump's victory. Liberal Senator Cory Bernardi got extremely excited, tweeting pictures of his favourite "Make Australia Great Again" hat, and using the #CrookedHillary hashtag beloved by Trump supporters everywhere.

Meanwhile, Malcolm Turnbull released a limp statement congratulating Trump on his win, saying "Americans understand that they have no stronger ally, no better friend than Australia."

"It's in our mutual interest to stand together and we'll continue to do so through the Trump presidency and the presidencies that follow it," he told the 7:30 Report on Wednesday night.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten released a slightly more fired up version of Turnbull's speech, saying in a Facebook status that while "Australians should… know that our alliance with the United States has grown and thrived for seven decades—no matter who's in charge, the friendship between our nations is strong enough for honesty.

"I will always call it as I see it," he wrote. "If I see women being disrespected… If I see people being discriminated against because of the colour of their skin or their religion, I'm going to call it out."

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