Pauline Hanson has declared One Nation is "here for the long haul" after a historic byelection victory in the New South Wales seat of Farrer, a result that has intensified internal pressure on opposition leader Angus Taylor just three months into his tenure.
One Nation's Historic Win
The right-wing populist party secured its first federal lower house seat on Saturday night, with candidate David Farley defeating independent Michelle Milthorpe. The result was a catastrophic blow to the Coalition, which had held Farrer for its entire 76-year history. The Liberal Party suffered a swing of more than 30%, with its primary vote falling below 13%. The Nationals polled just under 10%.
Speaking to Sky News on Sunday, Hanson said the victory was not just for her party but for Australia. "We are now taking on the major political parties. They have been so arrogant for too long, disregarding, disrespecting, taking the voters out there for granted and knowing that they run this country into the ground. I want my country back. I want to bring back prosperity," she said.
Addressing critics who point to her party's historically dysfunctional nature, Hanson added: "People say, you know, they won't last long. I'm telling you now, we're going to be here for the long haul."
Coalition in Crisis
The Liberals had anticipated losing Farrer due to One Nation's rising popularity and local backlash over the ousting of former MP Sussan Ley, who held the seat for 25 years. However, the scale of the primary vote collapse shocked many MPs, prompting private questions about Taylor's leadership as the party began its postmortem.
Taylor said the Liberals would take "hard lessons" from the result, attributing it partly to the chaos of two Coalition splits and a "shift away" from traditional values. His comments appeared to blame Ley, who oversaw two splits with the Nationals during her nine months as leader.
Ley issued a pointed statement on Saturday night, suggesting the Coalition was in a worse position than when Taylor unseated her. "On the day the leadership spilled in February, the new leader said the Liberal Party needed to 'change or die'. Three months later, the result in Farrer demonstrates that statement to be far truer today than it ever was then," her statement read.
Internal Divisions
One Liberal MP described the Farrer result as the "price of undermining and destroying the leadership of Sussan Ley." The same MP criticized the party's decision to preference Farley ahead of Milthorpe on how-to-vote cards, calling it a "betrayal of Liberal values" that encouraged supporters to switch to One Nation. Taylor defended the decision, saying it reflected the wishes of Liberals in Farrer.
The defeat has renewed doubts among moderate MPs about Taylor's direction, which appears focused on stemming the exodus to One Nation rather than repositioning the Liberals in the political centre. Two MPs said while there was no immediate threat to Taylor's leadership, colleagues—especially those in the lower house—would become "agitated" if the situation did not improve. "The loss will fire the starter's gun on more leadership speculation with the Coalition," one MP said.
Former Liberal senator Hollie Hughes, a Ley supporter and vocal Taylor critic, mocked the opposition leader on social media. "Guess when you knife someone, country people don't reward you …," she posted on Facebook.
Shadow treasurer Tim Wilson, considered a potential future leadership contender, said the Liberals needed to be "bigger, better, bolder" in response to a "serious situation." Speaking on ABC's Insiders program, Wilson did not rule out working with One Nation in a minority government after the next election.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers called the Farrer result a "bloodbath" for the Coalition, casting doubt on Taylor's future. "Angus Taylor went big on division and lost really badly," he told Sky News. Chalmers said the result showed the Coalition would need to join forces with One Nation to return to government, leaving Labor as the only party in the "sensible centre of Australian politics."
