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.
With most ballots counted, One Nation candidate David Farley has won a two-candidate preferred vote share of 57% in Farrer, a vast regional constituency in New South Wales. Independent candidate Michelle Milthorpe is far behind.
The contest was triggered by the resignation of Sussan Ley, who quit when she was ousted as leader of the opposition conservative Liberal Party.
While the result will not affect the Labor government’s large majority, it is a clear sign that voters are moving away from traditional political parties in Australia.
Saturday’s poll was the 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.
As news of the party’s victory emerged, One Nation leader Pauline Hanson told supporters this was not just a win for Farrer, but a win for Australia, and said the party was “coming after those other seats”.
Farley – whose background is in agribusiness – told supporters One Nation had “reached the end of its beginning, we’re going through the ceiling”.
“What are we doing tonight? We’re like a mason, with a chisel, and a hammer and we’re re-carving the letters into the Australian democracy.”
Australia has a preferential voting system where voters rank candidates from their most to least preferred. The final tally is calculated as a challenge between two candidates after preferences are distributed to ensure that the winner is supported by a majority.
Credit: bbc.com
