Pauline Hanson’s One Nation aiming to win multiple seats in 2018 South Australian state election

PAULINE Hanson’s One Nation party plans to use South Australia’s electricity crisis and economic challenges to short-circuit the state’s political system at the 2018 election.

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PAULINE Hanson’s One Nation party plans to use South Australia’s electricity crisis and economic challenges to short-circuit the state’s political system at the 2018 election.

The resurgent minor party is preparing to re-register at the state level so that it can run candidates for the upper and lower houses of Parliament.

One Nation is likely to campaign strongly on boosting electricity generation within SA so that the state doesn’t have to rely on power from interstate.

Senator Hanson on Thursday urged One Nation supporters in SA to sign up so that the party would have the minimum 200 members needed to register with the Electoral Commission.

“I will be targeting the next South Australian state election and in order to do it under Pauline Hanson’s One Nation, I’m encouraging people to become members so we can register the party,’’ she told The Advertiser.

Senator Hanson also said she was hopeful a High Court challenge to former Family First senator Bob Day’s election would lead to One Nation candidate Steve Burgess taking the vacant SA Senate seat.

“There is a very real chance that One Nation may pick up a Senate seat in South Australia, depending on the outcome of Bob Day’s High Court challenge,’’ she said. “We’ll wait and see how that pans out.’’

Pauline Hanson’s resurgent One Nation party is preparing to run candidates for the upper and lower houses of State Parliament.

Mr Burgess, who headed One Nation’s SA Senate ticket at the July federal election, said he was regularly taking calls from people who wanted to stand as candidates at the next state poll.

He planned to prepare a shortlist to be considered by the party. “Every candidate I put up will be interviewed by Pauline Hanson,’’ he said.

Addressing the power crisis and creating jobs after Holden closes are among One Nation’s top priorities for SA.

“Electricity would be the number one issue. Unemployment in South Australia also needs to be more of a priority,’’ Mr Burgess said.

“There’s also the rates of taxes and fines in SA — unfortunately, all of these add up as imposts on businesses.’’

Mr Burgess is highly critical of the Weatherill Government’s handling of energy policy and of the former Liberal government’s decision to privatise ETSA.

He said the state’s only option was to expand power production using gas.

The challenge from One Nation is a further complication for the minority state Labor Government and Liberal Opposition, which are preparing to compete for the first time against Nick Xenophon Team candidates for the Legislative Assembly, or Lower House.

Strategists from the major parties believe One Nation has a chance of winning a seat in the Upper House, but less likely to capture a Legislative Assembly position.

The party is expected to pick up votes from Family First and one senior politician predicted NXT could also be at risk of losing votes to One Nation, which received almost 3 per cent of the SA Senate vote at the federal election and more “above the line” votes than Family First, which won the final Senate seat.

It recorded its strongest SA results in regional areas and in suburbs around the Holden factory in Elizabeth. The suburbs fall within the Labor seat of Little Para, which will be renamed Elizabeth at the next state election.

Since the federal election, One Nation has consistently recorded support of about 6 per cent in national polls.

One Nation last ran at an SA state election in 2010, when it won about 2.7 per cent of the statewide vote for the Legislative Council.

Mr Burgess is a mechanic who runs his own business and is a former soldier and foster carer.

He shares his party leader’s controversial views about Islam and said the public was right to be concerned about terrorism and practices such as female genital mutilation. “I think that people’s concerns are well justified and it’s not racist to raise concerns about what’s happening,’’ he said.

“The reform of Islam must come from within. The protection of the community until that reform occurs is the responsibility of government.”

The current High Court challenge to former Family First senator Bob Day’s election could theoretically see Mr Burgess join Senator Hanson in the Senate after a “countback” of ballot papers.

However, it is more likely that Family First will keep the seat or Labor’s Anne McEwen will win a countback.

One Nation is tipped to hold the balance of power in Queensland after the next state election there and Ms Hanson this week personally interviewed potential candidates for the March 2017 West Australian election.

One Nation was rocked this week by the resignation from the party of WA Senator Rod Culleton.

Meanwhile, senior Liberals on Thursday reacted to rumours that SA Senator Cory Bernardi might form a breakaway conservative party by urging him to remain in the Liberal Party.