One Nation says reports that its Victorian state president, Warren Pickering, told a candidate to use his personal bank account for campaign finances contain \u201cfalse allegations\u201d.<\/p>\n
The rightwing party, which has surged in the polls<\/a> in recent months, said there was no personal bank account used but did not answer specific questions about whether the advice was given.<\/p>\n On Saturday, party leader Pauline Hanson<\/a> held a press conference with Nepean candidate Darren Hercus ahead of the 2 May byelection in the Mornington Peninsula seat.<\/p>\n The byelection was triggered by Sam Groth\u2019s resignation after a defamation battle and infighting in the Victorian Liberal party<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Nine newspapers reported<\/a> on Saturday that two former members of Hanson\u2019s party raised concerns about the advice to use a personal bank account for campaign donations, and both had since quit the party over the handling of donations.<\/p>\n Under Victoria\u2019s electoral laws at the time, all donations had to go into an account registered with the electoral commission.<\/p>\n On Wednesday the high court scrapped those laws<\/a>, removing critical safeguards ahead of the state\u2019s November election. The government has pledged to introduce new laws to ensure accountability, and says they will apply retrospectively.<\/p>\n Sign up for the Breaking News Australia email<\/a><\/p>\n On Saturday, when asked about the alleged advice, Hercus said the situation was \u201cin the hands of the lawyers at the moment\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not going to comment,\u201d he said, later adding that he was using his personal credit card to fund the campaign.<\/p>\n Hanson then said they were \u201cfalse allegations\u201d, that there was \u201cno separate bank account\u201d, just an \u201caccount that was set up purely for the campaign\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cSo these allegations are coming from disgruntled former members of the party,\u201d she said. \u201cThey\u2019ve had no involvement in it at all.\u201d<\/p>\n Hanson said she would sue the people who made the allegations, and that the electoral commission would audit the accounts.<\/p>\n Hanson was also asked whether Pickering had given the advice in the first place, and Pickering \u2013 speaking from the sidelines \u2013 said the state executive would have given \u201crational, logical advice\u201d.<\/p>\n Hercus said he had no visibility of the finances, and Hanson said candidates \u201creally are not across\u201d the finances because they were complicated.<\/p>\n Pressed further, Hanson said she wouldn\u2019t \u201ckeep going on this\u201d and wanted to talk about replacing the Rosebud hospital, where the press conference was being held. Pressed for details on that, she said she wouldn\u2019t \u201cmake policy on the run\u201d but that the hospital needed to be replaced.<\/p>\n Hercus was asked about his proposal to redevelop the hospital through a public-private partnership, which he claims would save taxpayers $340m. Asked to explain how it would work, he said: \u201cI don\u2019t know the numbers that great.\u201d<\/p>\n The press conference had a shambolic start after a member of the public said: \u201cPauline, why don\u2019t you go back to where you came from?\u201d When challenged, he clarified that he was referring to Queensland.<\/p>\n The man then had a short tussle with Pickering, who was trying to physically block him from the press conference. Hanson delayed the start of the press conference as the altercation continued, then called the man \u201cill informed\u201d for suggesting One Nation planned to cancel the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.<\/p>\n Under its \u201cslash government waste\u201d policy, One Nation says it would \u201creview $3bn worth of medications approved for the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) during the pandemic\u201d.<\/p>\n Asked about the scrapping of Victoria\u2019s political donation laws, Hanson said the party\u2019s donations come from \u201cordinary mums and dads\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t get the big donations by corporations or from unions like the other political parties do,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n One Nation MP and former Nationals deputy leader Barnaby Joyce has confirmed that Australia\u2019s richest woman, Gina Rinehart, is a \u201csubstantial supporter\u201d of the party. Hanson has made use of Rinehart\u2019s private plane multiple times<\/a>.<\/p>\n One Nation is facing growing scrutiny about how it spends the millions it receives in taxpayer dollars. In an investigation<\/a> published this week, former candidates told Guardian Australia they were yet to see their share of the more than $6m the party banked after the 2025 federal election.<\/p>\n