One Nation\u2019s rapid expansion of local branches across the country is in disarray, with the party being forced to dissolve and re-establish its new network less than eight months after the ambitious roll out began.<\/p>\n
Documents seen by Guardian Australia show the party\u2019s new general manager, Kelvin Morton, issued a directive to the party\u2019s branches in April ordering committee members to properly reconstitute their branches after an internal review uncovered \u201csignificant risks\u201d.<\/p>\n
The correspondence also shows that the party\u2019s new branches and members will be subject to strict gag orders: all committee members and nominees must sign non-disclosure agreements (NDAs), while branches must agree to a \u201cmedia silence\u201d policy and a social media ban.<\/p>\n
The requirement is understood to have upset some party members, given One Nation has frequently billed itself as the party of free speech. Its policy platform<\/a> states that the right to free speech should be enshrined in the constitution, saying: \u201cOne Nation will always stand for your right to speak, debate, and express your views.\u201d<\/p>\n One Nation announced it would begin rolling out new branches<\/a> in every federal electorate in August last year as \u201cthe engine room of our grassroots movement\u201d, however, branches have since been told that the review uncovered \u201cinconsistencies\u201d in their structure that could leave them vulnerable to legal challenge.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are finding discrepancies and inconstancies [sic] including that formal establishment minutes do not exist, were recorded incorrectly, or the processes for establishing a branch and\/or electing formal committee roles (Co-ordinators, Secretaries, and Treasurers) were non-compliant or unvetted,\u201d the directive dated 17 April says.<\/p>\n \u201cI fully accept that this may not be true for all branches, however the amount of time and resources involved in thoroughly identifying all is more than significant in circumstances where we have an election to win outright.\u201d<\/p>\n Sign up for the Breaking News Australia email<\/a><\/p>\n The letter states that if the party\u2019s documentation was flawed, \u201cthe very existence of a branch can be legally challenged\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cDecisions, appointments, and policy contributions made by a committee can be overturned, leaving the party in a position of legal and operational jeopardy.<\/p>\n \u201cGiven the threat that One Nation presents to the other partes [sic], the risk of this occurring is very real. We cannot \u2013 and will not \u2013 allow administrative oversights to compromise our movement as we approach the single most critical moment in Australian political history.\u201d<\/p>\n Morton says that he has been instructed by the party\u2019s national executive to build a \u201cprofessional, scalable, and legally robust organisation capable of outright victory at the next general election\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cI understand that this requirement will cause some frustration, but it is a non-negotiable step toward ensuring that when we win, our victory cannot be taken away from us on an administrative technicality.\u201d<\/p>\n Pauline Hanson at a press conference in Canberra. Photograph: Mick Tsikas\/AAP<\/p>\n The directive emphasises that all committee members must complete the party\u2019s vetting process and agree to the \u201cstandard NDA terms and conditions\u201d, including sitting members. \u201cIt is a mandatory process. Please do not request an exemption as we value our members and refusal often offends.\u201d<\/p>\n An \u201curgent\u201d communication from the office of the general manager sent on 14 May shows that some branches failed to comply with the April directive and have since been forcibly dissolved and instructed to cease all branch activities.<\/p>\n \u201cThe operational review identified significant risks where historical establishment processes were unvetted or lacked formal minutes. We cannot \u2013 and will not \u2013 allow administrative oversights to leave the party in a position of legal jeopardy as we approach the most critical moment in Australian political history.\u201d<\/p>\n Another document called \u201cOne Nation Guide: How to Establish and Operate a Branch\u201d provides more details on the vetting process and the financial and media rules for new branches, demonstrating the tight control the party\u2019s head office will retain as it rapidly expands ahead of the next election.<\/p>\n Concerns have previously been raised about the \u201cchaos\u201d in the party\u2019s head office, with Guardian Australia reporting<\/a> on high staff turnover, a \u201cdysfunctional\u201d culture and concerns about its management of public funding.<\/p>\n Under its vetting process, committee members are subject to a 10-year \u201cclean record\u201d test using the party\u2019s ONTRACE method (One Nation Thorough Record Analysis & Character Evaluation). It is unclear what this process entails, but the document states that test results are final and cannot be discussed.<\/p>\n The financial and media rules state that branches cannot maintain independent bank accounts and \u201call funds are managed centrally by One Nation HQ\u201d.<\/p>\n Branches must agree to a \u201cmedia silence\u201d with all media inquiries to be referred to One Nation HQ or \u201cthe Federal Leader\u201d, while branches are \u201cstrictly prohibited\u201d from operating independent social media pages.<\/p>\n \u201cMembers should share content from official Party channels instead,\u201d the guidelines state.<\/p>\n Another message to members suggests that branches can use \u201csupporter pages\u201d, but \u201cmust not present themselves as official branch communications or misrepresent Pauline Hanson\u2019s One Nation\u201d.<\/p>\n One Nation has faced criticism<\/a> for its attempts to control media coverage of its rise after it banned the ABC and Guardian Australia from campaign events linked to the Farrer byelection<\/a>.<\/p>\n In a sign of the iron grip the party\u2019s headquarters intends to keep on the new branch network, correspondence also shows that branch communications to members must take place through the \u201capproved membership portal\u201d that is centrally controlled.<\/p>\n Branch meetings \u201cmust not be advertised online or on social media\u201d, and any request for members to meet must be submitted to the party\u2019s headquarters which then issues the invitation through the party\u2019s system.<\/p>\n The guidelines issued to branches also include a general message that states \u201call branch decisions and actions are subject to review and may be overturned by the Federal Executive to protect the best interests of the Party\u201d.<\/p>\n One Nation was contacted for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"One Nation\u2019s rapid expansion of local branches across the country is in disarray, with the party being forced…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":685507,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-685506","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/685506","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=685506"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/685506\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/685507"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=685506"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=685506"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=685506"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}