One Nation's $633,000 Candidate Bill for the Victorian Election, Explained
One Nation could collect up to $633,000 from people seeking to run for it at Victoria's November state election.
The party told Guardian Australia 1,209 people lodged expressions of interest, with about 220 proceeding to the final stage of selection Guardian Australia. Expressions of interest are formal hands up. Preselection is the final pick of who runs.
The money came in three layers. First, access. Applicants seeking consideration paid a $150 non-refundable application fee. On the party's numbers, if all 220 final-stage applicants paid, that stage alone would total an estimated $33,000.
Second, membership. Applicants were expected to be party members. Minimum membership costs $60 per year.
Third, candidacy itself. Those preselected were advised they would have to pay $5,500 of their own money to run. On a full ticket of 88 lower-house candidates and eight upper-house candidates, those fees would total $528,000.
Applicants were required to sign non-disclosure agreements about selection, a legal promise not to discuss the process. Each applicant went through a 15-minute video interview.
Warren Pickering is the state leader in Victoria. Aidan McLindon worked with One Nation in Victoria as a political consultant last year.
Pickering was formally announced as lead candidate by Pauline Hanson in early August. Major media outlets were banned from that announcement The Conversation. On 10 September, ABC News reported that Pickering's past raised questions about the party's candidate vetting process ABC News. Vetting means background checks before endorsement.
In April, One Nation rejected allegations that a Victorian candidate was told to use a personal bank account for campaign donations Guardian Australia. Hanson addressed the claims at a press conference in Victoria and said the reports contained 'false allegations'. Separately, a South Australian magistrate ordered Pauline Hanson's One Nation to pay $15,000 to former candidate Jennifer Game AFR.
Based on its polling numbers, One Nation is in line to receive as much as $10 million through Victoria's public electoral funding scheme, which pays parties public money based on votes won.
The broader context here will be familiar to campaign operatives. Candidate payments help defray campaign costs. They also filter the field. Anyone who can find $150, plus membership, plus $5,500, plus months of unpaid work, is a particular type of candidate.
Looking to November, two risks sit side by side. The first is legal and administrative. Preselection levies, NDAs and donation handling invite scrutiny from electoral commissions and the press. The party has already seen both. The second is political. A large EOI pool looks like momentum. It does not guarantee 96 campaign-ready candidates, clean vetting, or disciplined marginal-seat campaigns.
In my view, the figures do the talking. The government says nothing here. $33,000 in application fees. $528,000 in candidate payments. Up to $10 million in public money if the vote lands. For a party pitching itself as the outsider, that is a very insider business model.
