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A Tasmanian man jailed for a decade for abducting and raping a woman in 2015 has been sentenced over an "arrogant and violent" rape committed 22 years earlier.

Heath Lance Chatters, 46, was aged 17 when he forced a 17-year-old woman to the ground at a party in 1993, kicked her and violently raped her.

Chatters lured her outside a unit by holding on to her car keys and told her he wanted to have sex.

Chatters then said "no one says no to me", Justice Michael Brett said during sentencing in the Supreme Court of Tasmania in Hobart on Wednesday.

Justice Brett said Chatters, who was earlier found guilty of one count of rape by a jury, has shown no remorse.

"Your arrogant and violent assertion of power and deep degradation (of your victim) .... are particularly concerning aspects of your conduct," Justice Brett said.

The woman went to police shortly afterwards and made a formal complaint but a prosecution wasn't finalised because she couldn't go through the ordeal of testifying.

Justice Brett said the woman was convinced Chatters would find and kill her.

Chatters was in 2017 jailed for 10 years with a non-parole period of six years for abducting a 25-year-old woman at knifepoint from a service station in Tasmania and raping her at a caravan park.

He threatened to slit her throat if she made too much noise, and said he would shoot her parents and find her children and partner.

Justice Brett said Chatters has an ongoing propensity for criminal violence, including sexual violence against women.

He was sentenced to jail in Tasmania in 2002 for trying to force a teenage girl and a young woman into a car he had stolen. Chatters has also spent time behind bars in Queensland for violent robbery and assault.

Justice Brett said the rape in 1993 was an early manifestation of Chatters' subsequent criminal conduct.

He was sentenced to four years and six months' jail, to be served cumulatively with the 10-year prison term.

Justice Brett said Chatters could not be granted parole until he had served three years of the sentence.

© AAP 2022

Rogue former Liberal National Party MP George Christensen is joining One Nation's election campaign for the Senate - a move that could earn him a six-figure taxpayer-funded payout.

The MP for the safe LNP Queensland seat of Dawson - whose controversial views on COVID-19 vaccines and other response to the pandemic attracted widespread criticism, even from his own coalition colleagues - had planned to retire from federal politics.

But at a surprise announcement on Wednesday, Mr Christensen joined leader Pauline Hanson and candidate Raj Guruswamy on the party's Queensland ticket for the May 21 election.

According to parliamentary guidelines, if Mr Christensen is defeated, he will be eligible for a payment of $105,600, or six months' salary as a resettlement allowance, just for his name appearing on the ballot.

Mr Christensen conceded it would be difficult for him to win a Senate seat but insisted there was a prospect.

"It's difficult. I will admit that it's difficult, you know, but as I said, if the job that I do is to ensure that Pauline gets across the line ... that's the job done," he told reporters in Brisbane.

Senator Hanson insisted One Nation could not be underestimated at the election.

"Everybody knows who George Christensen is. He is a fighter for Queensland and has done so in parliament for many years," she said.

"I am proud to actually see that George now has joined One Nation's team."

The outspoken social conservative expressed his disenchantment with the LNP's direction, its net-zero climate pledge and "destructive pandemic policies".

"The push for net zero, I think is going to mean net-zero jobs in regions like central Queensland and north Queensland," Mr Christensen said.

"I'm passionate about vaccine mandates, the response to governments around COVID, which was a complete and utter overreach, blowing up freedoms and rights and all the rest of it, jobs in the economy - for a virus with a 0.27 per cent infection fatality rate."

Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce accused his former colleague, who sat in the federal Nationals' party room, of disrespecting his community.

"Of course we are disappointed, any party would be disappointed, that goes without saying. That's life," Mr Joyce said on Wednesday.

He said the many party members in Mackay had shown "incredible loyalty" but had been disrespected by Mr Christensen.

"It's really important you respect people. When they voted for you they saw your name on the ticket and they saw your brand LNP ... you've got to respect it."

LNP senator Matt Canavan joined the chorus of criticism, saying that while he understood Mr Christensen might have been upset with some party room decisions, change had to be fought for.

"It is a desertion," the fellow Queenslander told Nine Network.

"You don't go off and speak to a minor party."

Asked if Mr Christensen could threaten his Queensland upper house seat, Senator Canavan said he took nothing for granted.

"Ultimately you don't have job security ... It's up to the voters," he said.

"But I love a fight, I don't shirk from a fight."

Mr Christensen rejected the criticism.

"I see that other people have been out there saying it's traitorous," he said.

"That's nonsense. The only thing that I was perhaps a bit traitorous to was my own conscience, knowing that some of these policies that the government was pushing that I vehemently disagreed with."

One Nation said it would field candidates in 151 lower house electorates across the country.

It said its membership had grown since the start of the pandemic, which resulted in lockdowns at various times across the country.

© AAP 2022

Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews is off the federal election campaign trail for at least a week after contracting COVID-19.

Ms Andrews tested positive on Tuesday afternoon after experiencing mild symptoms.

"I'll be working from home and will be back on the campaign trail in person as soon as I can," the Liberal MP for the Queensland seat of McPherson posted on Twitter on Wednesday.

The news comes a day after Labor's home affairs spokeswoman and candidate for the NSW lower house seat of Fowler, Kristina Keneally, tested positive and went into isolation for seven days.

The federal election will be held on May 21.

Meanwhile, concerns have been raised that the level of coronavirus community transmission could be a lot higher than official numbers show due to the incorrect use of rapid antigen tests.

The head of Pathology Technology Australia says RATs are particularly accurate during a person's infectious phase but he remains worried that people aren't properly administering the tests.

"This is unsurprising given the public was told for months these tests weren't accurate enough for Australia, only for them to suddenly become a crucial diagnostic tool," Dean Whiting said.

"There hasn't been sufficient time to adequately inform (the public)."

A negative result shouldn't be interpreted as being COVID-free, the CEO said, with repeat tests needed to ensure accuracy.

Epidemiologist and public health emergency management specialist Henning Liljeqvist often sees people failing to correctly extract samples or apply drops as per the test instructions.

"I think it would be good to address the importance of not eating, drinking, brushing teeth or rinsing mouth before oral swabs also," he said.

It comes as daily case numbers in Australia had a slight uptick despite appearing to be on a downward trend.

There were almost 48,000 new cases on Tuesday, bucking a four-day consecutive drop in numbers which culminated with 41,806 new infections on Monday.

But there was a significant spike in deaths on Tuesday, with the death toll rising by 40, compared to five on Monday.

LATEST 24-HOUR COVID-19 DATA FROM ACROSS AUSTRALIA:

NSW: 18,265 cases, eight deaths, 1583 in hospital, 71 in ICU

Queensland: 9176 cases, 10 deaths, 597 in hospital, 16 in ICU

Tasmania: 1839 cases, three deaths, 48 in hospital, one in ICU

Victoria: 10,907 cases, 14 deaths, 391 in hospital, 19 in ICU

Western Australia: 7426 cases, two historical deaths, 215 in hospital, four in ICU

South Australia: 4986 cases, two deaths, 220 in hospital, 11 in ICU

Northern Territory: 513 cases, 32 in hospital, two in ICU

© AAP 2022