One Nation announces Victorian state election candidates ahead of November poll
Consensus Summary
One Nation has announced its slate of candidates for Victoria’s upcoming state election in November, with Warren Pickering leading the party and running for the lower house seat of Pakenham. The party unveiled eight upper house candidates, including former Liberal defector Colleen Harkin, animator Mark Nicholson, and Geelong councillor Chris Burson, alongside incumbent MP Rikkie-Lee Tyrrell. All three sources confirm One Nation will contest every Victorian seat and exclude major media outlets like ABC, The Age, and The Guardian from its press conferences. Pickering, who previously ran the party’s 2022 campaign, emphasized One Nation’s goal to govern independently without relying on the Liberals. The party’s surge in polls—ranging from 19-27% support—has alarmed Labor, with new premier Ben Carroll citing concerns about a potential Liberal-One Nation government. Key issues highlighted include crime, corruption, immigration, and Labor’s net-zero policies, while internal party shifts saw Hanson’s chief of staff promoted to national director. The Guardian adds context on Harkin’s past Liberal candidacy and Burson’s alleged ties to Daniel Andrews’ security detail, though these details are not confirmed by the other sources.
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Key details reported by multiple sources:
- One Nation will contest the Victorian state election in November
- Warren Pickering will lead One Nation in Victoria and run for the lower house seat of Pakenham
- Pickering previously ran One Nation’s campaign in the 2022 election and unsuccessfully contested a Victorian Senate seat at the 2022 federal election
- Colleen Harkin, a former Liberal Party member and director of education at the Institute of Public Affairs, will contest the South-Eastern Metropolitan upper house region
- Harkin resigned from the Liberal Party in June and joined One Nation
- Mark Nicholson, co-founder of Stepmates Studios (creator of *Please Explain* and *A Super Progressive Movie*), will run in the Northern Metropolitan upper house region
- Chris Burson, a Geelong councillor and former police officer, will contest the Western Victoria upper house seat
- Rikkie-Lee Tyrrell, One Nation’s only current Victorian MP, will recontest her Northern Victoria upper house seat
- One Nation will field candidates in every Victorian seat (lower and upper house)
- Pauline Hanson held a press conference on Monday to announce the candidates, excluding major media outlets (ABC, The Age, The Guardian)
- One Nation’s 2022 federal election performance: 0.22% lower house, 2% upper house
- Harkin led a Supreme Court challenge against the Liberals’ decision to grant John Pesutto a $1.55m loan after his defamation loss
Points of Difference
Details reported by only one source:
- Pickering ran One Nation’s 2022 campaign and was state president before the 2022 federal election
- Harkin resigned from the Liberal Party’s administrative council in June
- Tyrrell gave a maiden speech in 2023 arguing One Nation’s net zero immigration policy was not racist
- Burson previously ran for the Angry Victorians Party in the 2022 state election
- Hanson mentioned ‘violent crime, corruption, immigration rates, high taxes, and Labor’s net-zero rollout’ as key issues
- James Ashby (Hanson’s former chief of staff) was promoted to national director, with Chris Taylor replacing him as chief of staff
- Hanson said Victorians are ‘crying out for change’ and accused Labor of running the state ‘into the ground’
- Hanson denied entry to The Age, ABC, and The Guardian at the press conference
- Pickering stated One Nation intends to ‘govern in Victoria’ without a coalition with the Liberals
- Victorian Labor’s Ben Carroll became premier after challenging Jacinta Allan for leadership on Tuesday
- Carroll cited polling showing Victoria ‘on track for Australia’s first Liberal-One Nation government’
- Some polls show One Nation attracting 19-27% of Victorian voters
- Pickering will reveal policies ‘within a month,’ focusing on farmers, crime, and corruption
- Hanson blamed ‘weak Liberal opposition’ for Labor’s ability to govern
- ABC was denied access to the press conference, with Hanson calling them ‘rubbish’ and ‘spin’
- Editor’s note corrected Warren Pickering’s name (previously misreported as Wayne Pickering)
- Hanson claimed she denied ABC access in 1996 ‘for eight months’ and repeated the exclusion for The Guardian
- Hanson cited ‘spin, gotcha moments’ and differential treatment compared to major parties as reasons for excluding media
- Hanson referenced Rebel News Australia (run by Avi Yemini) as an acceptable alternative to ABC/Guardian
- Burson claimed to have worked on Daniel Andrews’ personal protection team during the pandemic
- Harkin was a Liberal candidate for Macnamara in the 2022 federal election and sought preselection for Goldstein in 2024
- Harkin described climate emergency rhetoric as ‘almost’ child abuse during the 2022 federal election campaign
- New Victorian premier Ben Carroll introduced legislation to scrap group voting tickets, which could affect One Nation’s upper house prospects
Contradictions
Conflicting information between sources:
- The Guardian states Harkin was a Liberal candidate for Macnamara in the 2022 federal election, but The Age does not mention this specific seat
- The Guardian claims Burson worked on Daniel Andrews’ personal protection team during the pandemic, while The Age and ABC do not reference this detail
- The Guardian says Hanson denied ABC access in 1996 for ‘eight months,’ but ABC and The Age do not confirm this timeline or context
- The Guardian notes Harkin sought Liberal preselection for Goldstein in 2024, but The Age and ABC do not mention this
Source Articles
One Nation unveils Victorian candidates ahead of state election
The move comes amid a shake-up of Pauline Hanson’s national leadership, with her long time chief-of-staff promoted to the role of the party’s national director.
One Nation reveals Victorian state leader ahead of November election
One Nation reveals its upper house candidates for Victoria, with army veteran and party state president Warren Pickering set to lead the party to the upcoming state election.
One Nation unveils eight Victorian election candidates including former Liberal and anti-woke film animator
Local councillor who says he used to work on Daniel Andrews’ security team also part of upper house lineup for November’s state poll A former Liberal party candidate, the animator behind Pauline Hanson’s anti-woke film and a local councillor who says he worked on former premier Daniel Andrews’ personal protection team have been unveiled as One Nation candidates for the Victorian election. Pauline Hanson held a press conference on Monday to announce the eight candidates who will lead One Nation’s