One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has said she is “on eggshells” with the far-right populist party on the verge of making history, as its candidate comes under more fire on election day.
David Farley is widely expected to win the seat against his main opponent, independent Michelle Milthorpe, wresting the seat from the coalition, which has been held by the Liberals and Nationals for 77 years.
But he has been at the centre of a number of controversies, including revelations he had flirted with joining the Labor Party and sledging a popular local GP who had been outspoken about the Albury Wodonga Hospital – a major issue at the by-election.
Then there was the issue of a local ABC crew being kicked out of a press conference with Senator Hanson on the eve of the Farrer by-election it is expected to win.
Senator Hanson wasn’t alongside her candidate when he voted in Albury on Saturday morning, instead flying around to other towns in the sprawling rural NSW electorate to meet voters.
On Saturday, Mr Farley told reporters that “I’ll be seeing Pauline later on.”
Nationals leader Matt Canavan and Ms Milthorpe both called on Mr Farley to apologise for the “disrespectful remarks” made about Dr Lachlan McKenna who resigned from Albury Wodonga Health over his criticism of the hospital redevelopment.
“If that’s the approach One Nation takes for regional Australia, they’re not going to be able to stand up for regional Australia because our doctors and nurses work so hard with so limited resources from their capital city masters,” Senator Canavan said.
ABC crew kicked out of press conference
On Friday, footage captured by Nine News showed a One Nation volunteer telling two ABC journalists from the organisation’s Goulburn-Murray division to leave before the media conference was due to start.
One of the reporters asked whether candidate Mr Farley had ordered their removal, before the volunteer replied: “That doesn’t matter, come on … sweetheart, please,” as they led them to the exit.
Senator Hanson’s chief of staff James Ashby also directed the reporters out of the building.
“We are a tax-funded organisation,” one of the reporters said in response.
“We serve the local community.”
Shortly after, Senator Hanson appeared frustrated and questioned Mr Ashby as to why the journalists were removed.
Mr Ashby said they “reporting back to ABC Canberra”.
“Why, if they’re local ABC? Rural and regional?” she asked.
“They shouldn’t have gone.”
It follows an earlier incident this week where a One Nation volunteer confronted Liberal frontbencher James Paterson.
‘On eggshells’: Hanson nerves ahead of by-election
The by-election is seen as a test for One Nation to turn its recent surge in opinion polls into seats.
Mr Farley is widely tipped to win Saturday’s by-election, brought by Ms Ley’s hasty departure from politics after being ousted from the Liberal leadership.
“Can I do it? Yes, I can. I want our country back,” Senator Hanson told the Karl Stefanovic Show on Friday night.
But she admitted to some nerves.
Senator Hanson told Karl Stefanovic on his podcast on Friday night, that she wasn’t taking a win for granted.
The populist party has never won a federal Lower House seat.
Barnaby Joyce, who now represents One Nation in the House of Representatives, won his seat of New England for the Nationals.
The contest comes as the Liberals and Nationals aim to re-establish themselves among Australian conservatives after a summer of leadership uncertainty and toxic infighting between the Coalition partners led to a dismal run in the polls.
“Karl, I’ve been through so many elections where I thought, ‘Right, we’re looking really good here’,” she said.
“Until that last vote is cast tomorrow night and the counting starts, I’m on eggshells, I really am because it’s up to the people out there, the voters, what they want.
“So many people have come up to me and say ‘You’re our last hope.’
“This election is going to be a turning point for Australia because this will the first One Nation seat that’s won in the lower house.
“That means we’re going to be sending a message to many other Australians that a vote for One Nation is not a lost vote.”
Coalition expected to lose hold on seat
If either Mr Farley or Ms Milthorpe wins, it would take the seat out of the Coalition’s hands for the first time in its 77-year history.
Liberal candidate Raissa Butkowski and Nationals hopeful Brad Robertson are given little chance of a shock win.
Opposition Leader Angus Taylor acknowledged it would be difficult for the Liberals to retain the seat.
“We’re going to be fighting hard until 6pm tonight, and I said from the start this would be a big mountain to climb with a long-term candidate who has left, but Raissa is an absolutely brilliant candidate,” he said.
But he was confident the Liberal Party’s decision to preference One Nation third was not a major issue.
“Preferences are chosen by voters, that’s how democracy works,” he said.
“Our second preference is to the National Party, and what you have seen over the last couple of months is a National Party and a Liberal Party working together in a way that we weren’t before.
“That is a big change, it’s an important change and you’re going to continue to see it.”
Speaking to reporters in Albury on Saturday, Ms Butkowski said she had spoken to Ms Ley since she had been preselected but had not made contact in the last few days.
“I do think we need to recognise that 25 years of service to this country is an amazing feat, she’s laid a really firm foundation for me as the next candidate and I’m thankful for that,” she said.
“But she is a private citizen and she’s deserved a very well-earned break.”
One Nation ‘struggles to stay together’
As he travelled around Farrer on Saturday, Nationals leader Matt Canavan said he and Mr Robertson hoped to sway the minds of voters disillusioned by the current government.
“I’m in this to win it, I’m in this to hear the feedback from people,” he said.
“I’m willing to take the medicine, I don’t think people are happy with politics (or) the government.”
Senator Canavan, who has spent several days camping in the electorate while campaigning, has branded One Nation a party that “struggles to stay together”.
“Twenty-seven of the 37 members elected to parliament (on the One Nation ticket) have left within a year of being elected. This time, they seem to be splitting up before the election.”
Mr Farley’s loyalty to One Nation had come under scrutiny by senior party figures, after he failed to inform Senator Hanson and Mr Ashby of his previous support for Labor.
However, both the Liberals and The Nationals are preferencing One Nation ahead of Ms Milthorpe, while Labor is not fielding a candidate at all.
Ms Milthorpe, who is backed by Climate 200, clinched a 20 per cent swing on a two-party preferred system at last year’s election against Ms Ley, the long-time MP.
She said it was “disappointing but not surprising” the Coalition was preferencing One Nation.
“I was the major threat last election and I went into this one as a credible candidate,” she said.
“I just find it interesting that they would preference against me, but then still have a smear campaign against One Nation going at the same time.”
As for Labor, their decision not to field a candidate “just shows their ignorance” of the electorate, she said.
“You need a different voice,” she said.
Asked about support for One Nation, Ms Milthorpe said people were “generally cranky at the moment”.
“But, I would argue that the One Nation opponent, the policies that they have, are not really fit for us here in Farrer.
“Their health policies are very basic and we have health crisis across the whole electorate … The water policy is very similar if not the same as mine.
“The immigration policy is very rigid and in our electorate we need workers in our community.”
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