Hanson pins hopes of a political revival on Sylvania Waters

Pauline Hanson, the Australian far-right firebrand who achieved notoriety with her opposition to Asian immigration, is seeking a political comeback after moving to Sylvania Waters, the nouveau riche Sydney suburb featured in a "fly on the wall" BBC documentary.

Ms Hanson, a former fish and chip shop owner from Queensland, sent shock waves through Australian politics after her One Nation party polled a million votes in the 1998 general election. But the party imploded amid in-fighting and allegations of electoral fraud, and last year Ms Hanson said she was retiring from politics. She dabbled in other careers, including fashion design, but clearly found it difficult to relinquish the limelight. Yesterday she ended weeks of speculation, confirming that she planned to run as an independent candidate in elections to the New South Wales upper house next month.

Hitherto associated with Queensland, a conservative state known as Australia's "Deep North", she has no links with New South Wales. Yesterday she looked blank when asked about Ken Moroney, the state's police commissioner. But she rejected criticism that she was ignorant of local politics, saying: "I'm not a boat person, right? I do live in this country."

She still has electoral fraud charges pending against her in Queensland. She is due to appear in court in Brisbane later this year, accused of fraudulently claiming $500,000 (£185,000) in electoral funding by falsely registering a political party. If convicted, she would have to surrender her seat.

Ms Hanson's move to Sylvania Waters seems peculiarly appropriate. A brash, larger-than-life character, she would feel at home in the waterfront neighbourhood that produced Noeline Donaher, star of the docu-soap that gripped viewers in Britain and Australia in the early 1990s.

Sylvania Waters, which was jointly produced by the BBC and its counterpart here, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, offered a warts-and-all portrait of an extended family headed by its hard-drinking matriarch, Noeline. The family detested the show, claiming it made them look racist and foolish. Other Australians were unhappy about the image of themselves projected abroad.