A right-wing populist political party in Australia that seeks to mirror former President Donald Trump’s deportation policies has secured its first seat in the nation’s lower house of parliament, promising to prioritize ending large-scale immigration.
Farmer David Farley claimed victory for the One Nation party in Saturday’s special election in the rural Farrer district, located approximately 340 miles south of Sydney. While this win doesn’t impact the parliamentary majority held by center-left Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, since the seat was previously occupied by a Liberal party member representing the main conservative bloc, it marks a notable milestone for One Nation.
The victory represents major progress for One Nation, which currently holds four Senate positions. Recent polling shows the party ranking second behind Albanese’s Labor Party, surpassing the traditional conservative coalition. Party leader Senator Pauline Hanson enjoys higher public approval than both Albanese and the Liberal party leader.
Following the electoral success, Hanson took to social media platform X on Saturday evening, declaring: “The people of Australia will not be forgotten. One Nation will fight for you on the floor of Parliament. We will fight to lower cost of living, end net-zero and stop mass migration.”
Immigration has emerged as an increasingly contentious topic across Australia, where approximately half of the nation’s 27 million residents were either born in other countries or have at least one foreign-born parent. Anti-immigration demonstrations drew thousands of participants in Australia’s major metropolitan areas during the previous year.
Liberal shadow treasurer Tim Wilson acknowledged that One Nation’s electoral success “showed there’s a lot of work we’ve got to do.” During Sunday television interviews, Wilson stated: “We need to outline very clearly a bold and confident vision for the country about where we want to take it.”
Albanese’s Labor Party, which has never controlled the Farrer seat and chose not to field a candidate in this special election, has characterized One Nation as harmful to Australia’s social cohesion.
