Pauline Hanson's One Nation party scored tickets to Donald Trump's inauguration only after continued pestering from its Queensland senator Malcolm Roberts, it has been revealed.
One Nation senators gloated about the supposed invitation earlier this week, which they said had come from a Republican congressman in the US state of Illinois, Adam Kinzinger.
Brian Burston, who will fly to Washington to attend the ceremony on the party's behalf, had told Fairfax Media the tickets were organised through an adviser to Senator Roberts, Darren Brady Nelson, who formerly worked for the Trump campaign.
But a spokesperson for Mr Kinzinger told Buzzfeed News the congressman had accommodated a request for an invitation from the Australian embassy in Washington, and granted them the tickets "to use as they wish".
In a statement, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed Senator Roberts had repeatedly sought an invitation to the ceremony through Australian officials.
"Following multiple requests from Senator Roberts, the embassy in Washington asked a number of congressional offices if they had any spare tickets available," DFAT said.
"On 13 January, Congressman Kinzinger's office advised they had two tickets available. The tickets are not yet available for collection."
Senator Hanson, One Nation's leader, had labelled the invitation a "gift" and "an honour" on social media, before publicly announcing that she would not attend due to domestic commitments. Within hours, she announced Senator Burston would attend instead.
On Monday, Senator Roberts had boasted to his Twitter followers: "Pauline and I received an invitation but not the Prime Minister. OUCH."
Fairfax Media phoned Senator Roberts on Wednesday, but he said he was in a meeting and too busy to talk.
However, he took to Twitter to disparage Buzzfeed's report as "fake news", and claimed that One Nation had never bragged about being invited to the ceremony.
"Never said we were invited, just that we had 'invitations' and 'were gifted tickets'," he told followers. "'Received' an invite and 'invited' are very different things."
Mr Trump's inauguration ceremony takes place on January 20 in Washington. Senator Burston has promised he will pay for his own flights and accommodation.