Queensland election results: One Nation on the outer as its vote nosedives
Boss Pauline Hanson remained defiant last night as her One Nation Party recorded little more than half its 2017 tally as the count progressed, even taking a swipe at Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk in the process.
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Pauline Hanson’s One Nation Party lost steam in yesterday’s poll with the vote down 9.6 per cent across the state on the early returns.
With nearly 600,000 votes counted, One Nation had recorded just 7.75 per cent of the tally, down from nearly 14 per cent in 2017.
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Strong swings against the party were recorded in many north and central Queensland seats.
But party boss, Senator Hanson remained defiant even as the numbers dropped away, insisting it might be a long while before counts were finalised.
“I am not really that concerned,’ Senator Hanson said.
“A lot of these polling booths, if you look at Rockhampton … many won’t be counted for days.
“I think it is going to be too close to call tonight.’’
Senator Hanson also took a swipe at Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, saying that people were saying she would be voted back in, but she did not think that would be the case.
Senator Hanson’s lone MP, Stephen Andrew, was confident early last night of holding the seat of Mirani which takes in mining communities behind Mackay.
One Nation, whose resurgence impacted on a host of seats in the 2017 election by way of preferences, was recording a plummeting vote in seats right across the state in early counting.
Yet Mr Andrew, the sole One Nation MP in the State Parliament, remained confident of getting over the line after a grassroots campaign which highlighted Labor’s lukewarm approach to the mining industry, especially regarding the development of the Adana Mine.
“I have done well in booths like Sarina and Koumala and I am reasonably confident,’’ Mr Andrew said.
“I think it shows voters out here are sick of Labor’s debt, and sick of Labor’s double standards.’’
One Nation changed the electoral landscape in 1998 when 11 One Nation MPs stormed into the Queensland Parliament in the state election.
That followed on from Senator Hanson’s surprise win in the federal seat of Oxley in the 1996 election.
In the 2017 Queensland election, the revamped and resurgent One Nation Party had serious preference impacts on more than 16 seats.
That election also produced a new One Nation state MP in the form of Mr Andrew.
Senator Hanson’s One Nation party has strong links to Katter’s Australian Party and shares many of the same values.
Senator Hanson and Bob Katter even spent time together on the campaign trail earlier this year.
But the two parties do not agree on everything, one point of difference being the KAPs desire to form a new state in the north.