{"id":787045,"date":"2026-05-10T18:06:23","date_gmt":"2026-05-10T18:06:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/787045\/"},"modified":"2026-05-10T18:06:23","modified_gmt":"2026-05-10T18:06:23","slug":"waking-up-in-one-nation-country-after-the-coalition-demolition-voters-wait-to-see-if-pauline-hansons-party-can-deliver-farrer-byelection-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/787045\/","title":{"rendered":"Waking up in One Nation country: after the Coalition demolition, voters wait to see if Pauline Hanson\u2019s party can deliver | Farrer byelection 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pauline Hanson was a long way from home when she finally achieved the victory she has waited nearly three decades for<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In the sprawling rural electorate of Farrer, which covers vast swathes of land in south-western NSW, the Queensland firebrand\u2019s One Nation<\/a> party secured its first ever lower-house seat win.<\/p>\n

Farrer had elected either a National or Liberal member for 76 years, until Saturday night.<\/p>\n

But its voters are waking up in One Nation country on Sunday.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a hard day today,\u201d says Nellie, a 74-year-old volunteer for Michelle Milthorpe, as she picked up the weekend\u2019s newspapers.<\/p>\n

Nellie, who campaigned for Michelle Milthorpe, says she wasn\u2019t surprised by David Fairley\u2019s win. Photograph: Sarah Basford Canales<\/p>\n

\u201cWe knew that it would be hard yards because Pauline\u2019s profile is, and always has been, phenomenal.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn fairness to Pauline, she\u2019s worked hard for decades, and she thoroughly believes what she thinks \u2013 it just happens to be the antithesis of what I think.\u201d<\/p>\n

Across the road, Billie, 64, and Mark, 69, were on a morning coffee stroll. The two are very happy with One Nation\u2019s victory.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always been Labor but I\u2019ve always believed in Pauline,\u201d Billie says.<\/p>\n

One Nation supporters celebrate as their party wins the byelection. Photograph: Jesse Thompson\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Mark says he once voted for the Liberals, but now, with One Nation in the lower house, \u201cwe\u2019ll see whether they can deliver \u2026 we\u2019re hoping that they\u2019ll keep the government honest\u201d.<\/p>\n

The theme across the campaigns of both frontrunners \u2013 One Nation\u2019s David Farley and independent candidate Michelle Milthorpe<\/a> \u2013 leading up to the historic byelection was almost identical.<\/p>\n

Sign up for the Breaking News Australia email<\/a><\/p>\n

The border electorate \u2013 long considered a safe Coalition seat \u2013 had been an afterthought in cabinet discussions and budget considerations for too long, according to many voters at the booths on Saturday.<\/p>\n

Milthorpe had closed the gap on Ley\u2019s lead in the May federal election and looked to become triumphant when she threw her hat in the ring for a second time in February.<\/p>\n

But a disaffected constituency fed up with undelivered political promises, and captivated by One Nation\u2019s alluring messaging, hit Milthorpe\u2019s chances.<\/p>\n

Hanson-mania had already taken a sizeable hold of Farrer.<\/p>\n

\u2018We\u2019re hoping that they\u2019ll keep the government honest\u2019: Billie, 64, and Mark, 69, in Albury after One Nation candidate David Farley won the Farrer byelection. Photograph: Sarah Basford Canales\/The Guardian\u2018We\u2019re bloody lucky\u2019<\/p>\n

The residents of Farrer are far from a homogeneous voting bloc.<\/p>\n

Early results indicate Farley will receive almost 40% of the primary vote, surpassing Milthorpe, who sits at about 28% at the time of writing. It means nearly 30,000 voted for the latter.<\/p>\n

But with Labor\u2019s decision not to field a candidate, and the Coalition\u2019s primary vote plummeting once more to a combined total just over 20%, the preference flows were never in Milthorpe\u2019s favour.<\/p>\n

These factors appeared likely, even before the Coalition\u2019s decision to preference One Nation above the independent.<\/p>\n

On Saturday in Howlong, a 25-minute drive from Albury\u2019s centre, Paige, 33, says she feels nervous about what a One Nation member will mean for Farrer because of \u201cwhat is happening on an international stage with radicalised ideas\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u2018The next two years will be a test for One Nation,\u2019 Michelle Milthorpe says. Photograph: Jesse Thompson\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Liz, 69, a Milthorpe supporter, says she wanted a sensible MP that didn\u2019t complain \u201cabout other people coming from other countries and shit like that\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re bloody lucky here that we have roofs over our heads and food and we\u2019re not being bombed,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Plenty of others in Farrer, like John Lacovich, now expect One Nation to deliver.<\/p>\n

The 76-year-old rolled into the Thurgoona Community Centre accompanied by Patch, a nine-year-old jack russell on Saturday. He says he loves Hanson because \u201cshe\u2019s honest\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe knows what we need, and she makes sense when she speaks,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u2018A test for One Nation\u2019<\/p>\n

In a teary concession speech to a room of adoring but heartbroken supporters, Milthorpe sums up a conundrum.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe next two years will be a test for One Nation,\u201d she says. \u201cThey will successfully reflect the anger we feel out here.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut that is the easy part. The hard part is doing something about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Farley\u2019s test until the next federal election will be to deliver on Farrer\u2019s main priorities. For many locals, that means sorting out what to do with the local hospital and healthcare.<\/p>\n

It also means appeasing farmers and irrigators about the ongoing issues and disagreements with the Murray-Darling Basin Plan while also dealing with the flow-on impacts.<\/p>\n

South Australia\u2019s newly elected state politicians will surely have something to say if more water is allocated to Farrer before it reaches the lower Murray.<\/p>\n

One Nation is also plagued by a history of inside turmoil. Many of its elected senators over the years have left to become independent \u2013 an issue questioned of Farley too, given his recent political journeys before settling on One Nation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pauline Hanson was a long way from home when she finally achieved the victory she has waited nearly…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":787046,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4740,50],"class_list":{"0":"post-787045","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-australia","9":"tag-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116551615306391379","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/787045","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=787045"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/787045\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/787046"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=787045"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=787045"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=787045"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}