A shame for Lachlan Connor that he isn’t dating a third-rate country singer like Pauline Hanson, then he too could have his own nifty campaign jingle:

Ms Hanson yesterday launched her theme song with … Callaghan on the Gold Coast. Entitled Australian Way of Life, Ms Hanson joined guitar-playing Mr Callaghan as the crowd clapped. “For our freedom, for the future of our children, for this nation . . . the Australian way of life,” the duo sang.

Bonza. Later, Pauline cheerily endorsed immigration minister Kevin Andrews’ recent diatribe about Sudanese refugees. She went on to demand testing of immigrants for AIDS, HIV, TB and any other unhealthy acronyms. Oh, and lepers too. “There is a case of leprosy which has been recorded in South Australia”, she added.

Apart from the singing and gee-tar playing, boyfriend Chris Callaghan (shown here wearing black hat at oblique angle to obscure eyes) was noticeably silent. His musical credentials are indeed impressive, in stark contrast to Pauline’s record as a legislator:

Support act for Gloria Loring (Liz from Days of our Lives) in the mid 80’s.
Selected as Australian representative at the Bourail Festival in New Caledonia. Wrote and recorded “The Curse of the Rivers” for NSW phosphorous campaign.

Chris is seven years younger than Pauline, 52, proving that James Blundell doesn’t hold a monopoly on C&W cradle-snatching. But Chris isn’t just after Pauline’s electoral funding; his love is true. He’s even dedicated a song to her, a three-chord strum called “How Proud Are We?” (MP3 via news.com, three-minutes-of-your-life-gone warning). Admittedly, it was originally intended for Keiran Perkins, whom I hope received Chris’ admiration for different reasons.