One Nation leader Pauline Hanson is hoping to build on western Sydney’s past support for the party ahead of future elections.
Hanson visited Penrith late last month as part of a range of meet and greets across the country, chatting with party members and prospective voters.
“As a Member of Parliament… my job entails that responsibility of doing everything that I can for all the states, and for all Australians, so it’s important to actually come down and talk to them and answer their questions on many issues,” she told the Weekender.
“Some of the things that are of concern to them, which I speak about, is immigration, the NDIS, the Welcome to Country and having to say that, the cost-of-living and climate change – people don’t believe in it so they want a change in that – the rising cost of electricity, and small businesses are doing it tough.”
Despite the party running candidates in some western Sydney seats in the last State Election, including Belinda McWilliams for Penrith, who was present at the August 31 event at Leonay Golf Club, as well as a ‘ghost candidate’ for Lindsay in the 2022 Federal Election who reportedly resided in Tasmania at the time, Hanson said she’s determined to field worthy candidates in every electorate moving forward, blaming former NSW party leader Mark Latham for past blunders.
“Under Mark Latham… he didn’t do the right thing by the party or the people of New South Wales, and he didn’t stand candidates across the whole state when people were screaming out to vote for One Nation,” she said.
Hanson said that One Nation has an important place in western Sydney, citing a potential comparison closer to home.
“I would actually say it’s a lot like Queensland – the southeast corner gets looked after like those in the inner city, and the people on the outskirts, rural and regional areas, are completely forgotten, and they don’t get the services that are needed,” she said.
Hanson added that she has high hopes for the party moving forward locally, with people turning against the major parties and ‘career politicians’.
“I’ve been around that long, they’re now looking at what I’ve said years ago and [seeing that] it’s actually happened, they see that I’m a person with credibility, I don’t talk through my hat, I’m passionate about my country, and they see me as a person they trust, and is upfront, and that’s why they’re turning to One Nation,” she said.
Hanson’s claims may have some merit. At the 2022 Federal Election, One Nation grabbed 5.92 per cent of the vote in Lindsay, while McWilliams secured 8.18 per cent of first preference votes at the State Election in the seat of Penrith.
In light of this, Hanson said that the most vital thing she hopes to get across to the people of Penrith is the importance of the preference system – whether you’re a One Nation voter or not.
“[Lots of people] don’t understand how the preference system works, and they think that they have to vote for one of the major political parties, and I say, ‘No you don’t’. I explain the preference system not in the benefit of One Nation, but in their benefit, to empower the people,” she said.
“These people have been dumbed down by the major political parties. We don’t teach them in the education system about our parliament, we don’t teach them about the voting system, they don’t want them to understand.”
Cassidy Pearce
Cassidy Pearce is a news and entertainment journalist with The Western Weekender. A graduate of the University of Technology Sydney, she has previously worked with Good Morning Macarthur and joined the Weekender in 2022.