An obscure Ipswich fish 'n' chip shop owner, she wrong-footed the Howard government. No one knew how to cope with this '50s relic.

Initially a Liberal candidate until she was banished, Mrs Hanson horrified some sections of the community with her warnings about Australia being swamped by Asian immigration.

Others adopted her as a throw-back to the future. A nationalist time warp from our golden past.

Her One Nation party attracted support among regional and rural Australians who were stuck in racist inertia or simply could not cope with multicultural change.

Eventually the media fascination turned sour once it became evident through interviews that she did not do her homework and many of her jingoistic views proved to be inaccurate.

This was the case even though she had access to the best research in Australia, at Parliament House.

She also had controlling minders.

Her clumsy, star-struck, backwater style appealed to many Australians who felt alienated by political correctness and multiculturalism.

Senator Jacqui Lambie is Pauline Hanson in style if not in all of One Nation's beliefs. She shoots from the lip and seems right at home in the national spotlight.

To some she is an embarrassing joke. To others she is a rough diamond with down-to-earth views. She also has controlling minders.

Senator Lambie doesn't need to team up with One Nation. She just needs to be her own person and moderate her views.

She should do her homework. While it's a sure headline to be an outrageous loose cannon, she would have broader appeal if she showed that she is a senator with whom governments can negotiate.

The alternative is the way of Pauline Hanson A firework that soars to great heights, but then fizzles to nothing.