Pauline Hanson claims Australia is in danger of being swamp by Chinese

Twenty years after Pauline Hanson gave her maiden speech in parliament, she is back in the spotlight and reiterating one of her most controversial lines.

On the 20th anniversary of her maiden speech in parliament, One Nation Senator Pauline Hanson has hit out at Chinese buyers, saying we are in danger of being “swamped”.

“If we keep heading down the path of selling our land and our houses and everything, we will be swamped by the Chinese,” she she today.

When Pauline made her speech, she found a whole lot of support from voters who felt the same way and had the same worries and fears.

Others though, accused her of promoting fear and hate and of starting a hateful dialogue.

In 1996 she said in her now famous speech, “I believe we are in danger of being swamped by Asians”.

It was a line that defined her moment in the spotlight and stirred up plenty of controversy.

So how much of her speech actually stacks up today?

Census data from 1996 shows 4.78 percent of the Australian population was born in South-East Asia, north-east Asia or southern and central Asia.

The most recent census data from 2011 shows this number had almost doubled, to 8.08 percent, but the rest of the population has also grown and English ancestry is still the largest portion of Australia’s population.

The UK is also Australia’s largest foreign investor, having the biggest stake in land holding across the country.

China is the fifth in the biggest owner of agricultural land in Australia and own less than half a percent of Australian farmland with about 85 percent owned by Australians.

So is Pauline wrong on this one and was she wrong all along?

There is still a lot of fear around Chinese ownership in Australia, with many people saying the government needs to stop allowing them to buy up so much business and land.

What do you think?

Is Pauline Hanson right here? Or is she just creating fear and controversy?