One Nation – Queensland, sometimes referred to as One Nation Qld, and officially named Pauline Hanson's One Nation Queensland Division,[1] is the Queensland branch of Pauline Hanson's One Nation. As of 2024 it holds extra-parliamentary status within the state.
Background and history
1990s
The One Nation party was formally established on 11 April 1997 at the Civic Hall in Ipswich, South East Queensland.[15][16] Eight months later, in December, the party was officially registered in the state under the Electoral Act 1992.[2] Following registration polling figures began to surge for the party – being polled at 5% in the January/March 1998 poll and rising to 15% by the end of May.[17] In the following months (June) election, One Nation won over 22% of votes (439,121) and eleven seats in the Legislative Assembly.[18] With nearly 23% of the vote, One Nation gained a higher percentage of the vote than any other third party (i.e. not Labor or the Coalition) at the state or territory level since Federation. This was also the only election at which a third party gained more votes than both the Liberal Party and the National Party considered separately.
Just days prior to the close of electoral rolls for the 2001 state election, the party was re-registered.[22] In the shortest permissible election campaign (26 days), One Nation received 8.7% of the vote on election day, and retained three seats.[22][24] The 2001 election resulted in the biggest Labor landslide since 1935.[22] During the campaign Labor had depicted the National–Liberal Coalition as being beholden to, and secretively controlled by, One Nation.[22]
After losing two seats at the 2004 state election,[25] the party largely became dormant. It held onto one seat in the following election (2006),[26] having fielded a total of four candidates out of a possible eighty-nine across the state.[26] By the March 2009 state election the party fielded just two candidates and received less than 10,000 votes.[27] By the end of the year, One Nation had been de-registered by the Electoral Commission (ECQ) with the party not meeting the 500-member threshold to maintain its registration status.[7] State Secretary Rod Evans stated that the party would fight the decision in court, claiming the party had over 1,000 members.[7][8] The party's claim was dismissed in court in January 2010 and the ECQ decision was upheld.[28]
2010s
By August 2011 the party had again regained registration with the goal of running in the 2012 state election.[4][29]
In November 2014, Hanson announced that she had returned as One Nation leader, prior to the party's announcement, following support from One Nation party members. She announced that she would contest the seat of Lockyer in the 2015 Queensland state election.[30] One Nation held the Queensland seat of Lockyer from 1998 to 2004. In February 2015, Hanson lost the seat by a narrow margin.[31][32][33][34]
In January 2017 Liberal National MP for Buderim and former Newman cabinet (2012–2015) minister, Steve Dickson, defected to One Nation.[35][36] Dickson stated his joining to the party was out of "sheer frustration" because he did not want to be a "yes person" for the major parties and also cited an amnesty for medicinal cannabis users to save children's lives.[36] LNP Leader (and Leader of the Opposition) Tim Nicholls accused Dickson of acting out of self-interest.[36] Upon defection Dickson became the first One Nation MP in over eight years. The same month (January) Dickson was announced as the party's new leader.[37] Just a week later Dickson was joined by former LNP member for Logan, Michael Pucci.[38][39] The party began to soar in the polls. In the following month (February) One Nation hit 23% of primary vote polling, up from 16% in the previous poll three months earlier.[40][41] The polling suggested that One Nation could pick up more than 20 seats in the Legislative Assembly and hold the balance of power.[40] However the party's election polling steadily declined in the lead-up to the 2017 state election and dropped to 13% by election day.[42] At the 2017 state election the party achieved its biggest result since their first election campaign in 1997/98. Fielding sixty-one candidates at the election, One Nation won over 13% of the vote, including the Central Queensland seat of Mirani.[43]
At the 2020 state election One Nation fielded the most candidates in its history at a Queensland state election. The party put forward ninety candidates in total,[48] eleven more than the party's previous high in 1998 and was just three candidates short of contesting every seat at the election (93).[48] Much of the campaign and social media display, albeit restricted, was centred around the governments response to, and actions taken during, the COVID-19 pandemic.[49] Federal party leader Pauline Hanson threatened to take legal action over the state governments interstate border closure decision in May–June 2020[50][51] and received the backing of the Minister for Home AffairsPeter Dutton.[52] Hanson later proclaimed PremierAnnastacia Palaszczuk to be a dictator.[53] An Australia Institute survey published in late May of 2020 revealed that 78% of Queenslanders support state border closures,[54] with One Nation voters showing the least support at 70%.[54] At the state election One Nation recorded an almost 7% drop in support compared to the previous election,[55][56] garnering 204,316 votes.[57] One Nation comfortably held onto its seat of Mirani picked up at the previous election.[58]
Party official James Ashby was appointed party leader in September ahead of the 2024 state election.[59]Ashby was involved in the party for years, having been Pauline Hanson's Chief of Staff since at least 2019.[60] The party's historic high candidate nomination for 2020 was eclipsed for 2024, fielding a candidate in every seat (93), alongside Labor, the Liberal Nationals and the Greens.[61] The party's main campaign policy was tackling youth crime, particularly in Townsville in the state's far north,[61] and health.[62] Despite an increase in vote share at the 2024 state election One Nation failed to win any seats.[63]
One Nation, like it's federal branch, is a conservative,[13][64][65]right-wing,[13][9]populist political party.[9] Although active in a state that is notably more conservative than the rest of the country,[66][67][68] One Nation holds a distinct position on the left–right political spectrum.[13] During the party's early years most of its support came from rural, conservative, blue-collar male voters that typically aligned with the state's National Party,[9] as well as voters displeased with the two major parties. That support was largely due to the vacuum created by the National Party's incremental abandonment of there supposed ideological principles of agrarianism, populism and conservatism.[20][13] One Nation has advocated for more provision to regional Queensland, which it views as being neglected, and even promised 'independence' for the state, without specifying any details.[13] The party also holds protectionist beliefs:[10] in the late 1990s One Nation opposed any privatisation of state assets that were income-producing, specifically the possible privatisation of Queensland TAB and electricity company Energex.[69]
Policies
Aboriginal Affairs
The party is opposed to renaming proposals of Queensland places into an Aboriginal language name and supports repealing the Path to Treaty Act 2023, declaring it "divisive."[70]
Crime
On crime the party supports reviewing and amending bail laws; establishing a victim support program with counselling, legal and financial assistance; requiring young offenders to make restitution to victims as part of their rehabilitation, which may also involve the offender's family if the offender is a minor and parental neglect is demonstrated to be a contributing factor; and establishing facilities where intervention programs for at-risk youth can be based, starting with a re-purposed education facility on North Keppel Island.[71]
Firearms
The party supports reforming Queensland firearm laws to be more supportive to firearm owners.[72][73]
One Nation is against subsidising renewable energy projects and infrastructure, stating that it would “rehabilitate prime agricultural land heavily impacted by renewable energy infrastructure, and protect this land from further intrusions.”[75] Former One Nation candidate for Gympie, Katy McCallum, campaigned against renewable energy projects ahead of the 2024 state election.[76][77]
^Ireland, Judith; Koslowski, Max (14 February 2019). "James Ashby banned from Parliament House, Brian Burston admits to smearing blood on door". The Sydney Morning Herald. Nine Entertainment. Senate president Scott Ryan told the Senate on Thursday that the pass of Pauline Hanson's chief of staff had been revoked, which will prevent the staffer from entering Parliament House "for the time being".
^Wyeth, Grant (12 July 2022). "Queensland: A Political Conundrum". The Diplomat. Archived from the original on 17 June 2024. This could be easily dismissed as Queensland being a "conservative" state, where a social democratic party like Labor cannot gain traction. Yet this would overlook the critical – and astonishing – fact that the Labor Party has governed Queensland itself for 28 of the last 33 years. Queenslanders are more than comfortable voting for the Labor Party in state elections, yet are reluctant to do so at the federal level. Clearly something more complex is occurring...
Queensland's contribution to this was to confound expectations of the state by electing three Greens MPs — making Australia's most conservative state now the center of gravity for the country's most progressive party. Yet given how crucial both agriculture and nature-focused tourism are to the state, environmental concerns should be considered a vital regional interests. Rather than being strange, Queensland might instead just be cunning.
^Smee, Ben (1 October 2024). "Five things you should know about the Queensland election". Guardian Australia. Guardian Media Group. Archived from the original on 8 October 2024. It's often said that Queensland is Australia's most conservative state. But Labor has won 11 of the last 12 Queensland elections and has been in power in the sunshine state for almost a decade.
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