One Nation Wins First Federal Lower-House Seat in Farrer By-Election

Australia’s far-right One Nation won its first-ever federal lower-house seat in the NSW electorate of Farrer in a by-election triggered by the resignation of Sussan Ley, with One Nation candidate David Farley winning a two-candidate preferred vote share of 57% as most ballots were counted.

“Australia’s far-right One Nation party has captured a seat in the country’s House of Representatives for the first time, according to preliminary election results”

Al Jazeera

The BBC said the contest was a “clear sign that voters are moving away from traditional political parties in Australia,” while the ABC projected Farley’s victory and described it as the first time in Farrer’s history the southern NSW electorate would not be represented by a Coalition MP.

Al Jazeera

BBC coverage also said the result would not affect the Labor government’s large majority, with Labor holding 94 of 150 lower-house seats, and it framed the win as a first federal test of One Nation’s support after the party recorded the second-highest number of votes out of any political party in the South Australian state election in March.

In the same by-election, Al Jazeera reported Farley was on course for a decisive victory with a projected 59.1 percent of the vote compared with 40.8 percent for independent opponent Michelle Milthorpe, and it said the centre-left Labor Party did not run a candidate for the seat.

Hanson told supporters it was “not just a win for Farrer, but a win for Australia,” and Farley said One Nation had “reached the end of its beginning, we're going through the ceiling.”

The Guardian reported Pauline Hanson declared One Nation is “here for the long haul” after the Farrer byelection win, saying “What I’m looking at is the win for Australia,” and it described the result as igniting internal rumblings about Angus Taylor’s leadership just three months into his tenure.

In the BBC’s account, Hanson told supporters this was not just a win for Farrer but a win for Australia, and it quoted Farley saying “we're going through the ceiling” as he celebrated the first lower-house seat for One Nation in its 30-year history.

Australian Broadcasting Corporation

The Guardian said the Liberals suffered a swing of more than 30% and that their primary vote sank below 13%, while the Nationals polled just under 10%, and it quoted an opposition leader’s framing of the result as an “existential situation for the Coalition”.

The Age live coverage said Liberal frontbenchers refused to rule out a move toward a One Nation coalition in a minority government, with shadow treasurer Tim Wilson saying “we traditionally form a coalition with the National Party, but it’s up to the Australian people to decide who they want to vote for”.

In parallel, the ABC live updates said Taylor backed the decision to preference One Nation ahead of independent candidate Michelle Milthorpe, and it quoted Taylor saying it was “the right call” to preference One Nation.

The BBC said the by-election also marked tests for the new leaders of the Liberal and National parties, respectively Angus Taylor, who ousted Ley in February, and Matt Canavan, who replaced David Littleproud in March, while it noted the seat has always been held by either the Liberal or National parties.

“- Published Australia's One Nation party has won its first-ever lower-house seat in what is being seen as an important test for the right-wing populist party”

BBC

The Guardian reported that the defeat renewed doubts among moderate MPs about Taylor and the direction of the party under his leadership, and it said Liberals fear the party has become “reactive” to One Nation’s agenda, including on immigration.

In the same Guardian account, the opposition leader said the Liberals would take “hard lessons” from the result, which he attributed in part to the chaos of the two Coalition splits and a “shift away” from traditional values, and it quoted one Liberal MP calling the Farrer result the “price of undermining and destroying the leadership of Sussan Ley”.

The Age live coverage added that Treasurer Jim Chalmers labelled the Farrer by-election a “bloodbath” for the Coalition, and it said he announced $2 billion in funding for infrastructure to help boost housing supply while pitching reforms in Tuesday’s budget as an antidote to rising populism.

Al Jazeera said the victory does little to affect the balance in the lower house where Labor holds 94 of 150 seats, but it emphasized the “hard part” for One Nation is translating popular anger into concrete results, quoting Michelle Milthorpe saying “The hard part is doing something about it.”