Climate 200 co-convenor Kate Hook says the Liberal Party needs to take responsibility for One Nation’s win. Photo: Kate Hook Facebook.
Crowdfunding lobby group Climate 200 has accused the Liberal Party of “accelerating” the rise of the far right in Australia after the Coalition directed preferences to One Nation and helped it secure the first federal Lower House seat for the party in 30 years.
The criticism comes as international media likened One Nation’s landslide Farrer by-election victory to the same populist wave that propelled Donald Trump in the United States and Reform UK in Britain.
Claims Liberals ‘crowned’ Pauline Hanson
One Nation candidate David Farley secured just under 40 per cent of the primary vote at the recent Farrer by-election. The Liberal and National parties recommended supporters place him ahead of his main rival, independent Michelle Milthorpe, on their how-to-vote cards, helping him comfortably win the seat after preferences were distributed.
Climate 200 co-convenor Kate Hook said the decision could have long-term consequences for Australian democracy.
“By preferencing One Nation, the Coalition acted as kingmaker and crowned Pauline Hanson, choosing the far right over the centre,” she said.
“Angus Taylor and Tim Wilson must explain why the Coalition hasn’t just enabled One Nation’s rise but accelerated it, even as their own campaigning warned voters, ‘One Nation, No Solutions.’”
In addition to preferencing One Nation, the Liberals and Nationals also ran a number of attack ads against Ms Milthorpe, calling her a teal and criticising her for accepting funding from Climate 200.
Ms Hook claimed the election result showed a vote for the Liberal Party was effectively a vote for One Nation.
“A vote for One Nation changes nothing about the power of wealthy individuals and corporations over our democracy. It hands more political influence to billionaire mining magnates, like Gina Rinehart,” she said.
David Farley claims victory on Saturday night. Photo: NSW One Nation.
When asked whether he agreed with the criticism, a campaign spokesman for Liberal candidate Raissa Butowski said the issue was a matter for the federal party. He also questioned why Ms Milthorpe had repeatedly distanced herself from Climate 200. The Liberal Party did not respond to our questions.
Ms Butkowski secured just 12 per cent of the primary vote, a massive fall in support after her predecessor Sussan Ley won 43 per cent last year.
Problems ahead for the Liberals and Nationals
Before the election, Charles Sturt University political scientist Dominic O’Sullivan warned the Coalition’s preference deal with One Nation could prove self-defeating.
“I think the Liberals and the Nationals have made a strategic error,” he said.
“It gives them another person in parliament for a party whose sole mission is to destroy the Liberal and National parties.”
One Nation polled very strongly in rural areas that bordered the federal seat of Riverina, which is held by the Nationals’ Michael McCormack.
Election analyst Antony Green said the Farrer result should put his party on notice.
“If repeated elsewhere, the Farrer result will come close to destroying the National Party and reduce its representation in the House of Representatives to a rump. The same existential threat applies to rural and regional Liberals,” he said.
International reaction to Farrer result
International media portrayed the result as a landmark moment for Australia’s far right and likened it to populist uprisings in Britain and the United States.
The New York Times reported that “a far-right party in Australia on Saturday won a seat in the country’s Lower House of parliament for the first time”, describing One Nation as “an anti-immigration party founded by firebrand politician Pauline Hanson”.
Reuters framed the Farrer result as part of a broader global populist surge, likening it to the MAGA political movement behind Donald Trump in the United States.
Britain’s Financial Times said the result mirrored recent local election outcomes in the United Kingdom, where “Nigel Farage’s anti-immigration Reform UK ate into the Conservative Party vote share”.
