{"id":780887,"date":"2026-07-05T16:15:24","date_gmt":"2026-07-05T16:15:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/780887\/"},"modified":"2026-07-05T16:15:24","modified_gmt":"2026-07-05T16:15:24","slug":"rich-pickings-for-pauline-hanson-wealthy-donors-abandon-liberals-for-one-nation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/780887\/","title":{"rendered":"Rich pickings for Pauline Hanson: Wealthy donors abandon Liberals for One Nation"},"content":{"rendered":"

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One Nation is scooping up donations from wealthy business people who have previously only donated to the Liberal Party ahead of the Victorian state election, but concerns remain about whether the challenger party\u2019s disorganisation could put a dampener on its fundraising efforts.<\/p>\n

Melbourne\u2019s private property developers are leading the charge, promising huge sums to One Nation in return for advocacy on key policy areas including some of the controversial property taxes brought in by the Allan government.<\/p>\n

\"OneOne Nation candidate in the Nepean, Darren Hercus (in blue), with senior party figures, including Rikkie-Lee Tyrrell and Bernie Finn, and supporters during the May byelection.Wayne Taylor<\/p>\n

Entrepreneurs tied to successful small-to-medium sized businesses are also throwing cash at the party in return for One Nation advocating strongly against small business red tape and the government\u2019s work from home policy in the lead up to the November election.<\/p>\n

The shift in support from major wealthy donors has been confirmed by five sources familiar with the Liberal Party\u2019s fundraising activities in the state, who all spoke on the condition of anonymity.<\/p>\n

A similar trend has been recorded federally, where the Pauline Hanson-led party has, most notably, picked up the support of billionaire mining magnate Gina Rinehart and stockbroker Angus Aitken. One Nation\u2019s federal Fire the Liar campaign targeting Anthony Albanese has already raised $5 million.<\/p>\n

Another perspective\"Gif<\/a><\/p>\n

There are concerns about how One Nation could book any donations in the hundreds of thousands of dollars without running up against donation laws.<\/p>\n

Only two donations to One Nation\u2019s Victorian arm, together totalling $6239, have been disclosed on the Victorian Electoral Commission\u2019s live database \u2013 raising questions about how and where One Nation is receiving its donations for the state campaign.<\/p>\n

There have already been questions about its management of campaign finances after The Age revealed Nepean by-election candidate Darren Hercus was instructed<\/a> to use his personal bank account to receive donations \u2013 allegations the party strongly denied<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It is also unclear whether the donations from well-heeled Victorians have formally been received and if they have been directed to the state or federal arm of the party.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Pauline<\/a><\/p>\n

The delays to the disclosures could also be due to the donations being pledged to yet-to-be-endorsed candidates or held back until reforms to state donation caps were thrashed out in early June<\/a>.<\/p>\n

There are also ways that donations can be funnelled through various structures to limit the level of disclosure.<\/p>\n

One Nation is planning to run up to 100 candidates in the state election, but there are fears from within its own ranks that it will lose some of its pledged donations and support due to its disorganisation.<\/p>\n

The party is currently without a state leader, any state-based fundraising foundation and continues to operate out of a small warehouse in Pakenham. Liberal Party state executive member Colleen Harkin, who recently quit the party<\/a> and signed up for One Nation, is seen as a strong prospect.<\/p>\n

It is also yet to officially endorse its candidates for the November election as it sifts through 1200 applications from prospective candidates using their ability to pull in donations as a key selling point for their selection.<\/p>\n

\"OneOne Nation Member for the Northern Victoria Region, Rikkie-Lee Tyrrell.<\/p>\n

One Nation\u2019s only current Victorian representative, Rikkie-Lee Tyrrell, told this masthead the increased support for the party was likely to see it move towards a new model that relies more heavily on donations from supporters and the public funding the party expects to receive from the number of votes it gets at the election.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of my campaigns in the past have been self funded, but I think moving into the future we\u2019ll use a new model,\u201d said Tyrrell, who represents the Northern Victoria region.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hard for me to say right now exactly what that model is. I haven\u2019t been officially endorsed. No one has.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tyrrell said growing support for the party in regional Victoria was likely to underpin a new financial approach where donations were used to fund campaigns \u2013 either fully or in part.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have constituents who want to donate, and I would like to help them do that. That\u2019s exciting,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"OneOne Nation\u2019s Darren Hercus is a successful small businessman who, like many of the party\u2019s donors, believes the Allan government over taxes Victorians. Simon Schluter<\/p>\n

Liberal Party sources confirmed that One Nation has been mopping up donors at events around the city that bring together like-minded business people to hear discussions on state taxes or other state policy issues.<\/p>\n

These events are not party specific, the sources said. Instead, party operatives from the Liberals and One Nation attend the events in the hope of garnering support for their upcoming campaigns.<\/p>\n

Some of the donors are planning to move all their donations to One Nation\u2019s state election campaign, while others intend to split their pledges between the Liberals and One Nation.<\/p>\n

\"VictorianVictorian Opposition Leader Jess Wilson is seen as a strong leader, but some voters want an even stronger voice in parliament. Getty Images<\/p>\n

Two sources confirmed that at least one high net worth Melbourne property developer has pledged hundreds of thousands to One Nation\u2019s state election campaign in return for the party agreeing to repeal the vacant property tax.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere has been a real leaching of donors. I attended a non-Liberal industry function and there were wealthy donors that in the past had donated to the Liberals there who were quite openly saying they would be donating to One Nation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another recounted: \u201cI was at a recent event and a property developer secured oral assurances that particular policy settings would be changed if One Nation was in parliament.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOne Nation had no policy on this particular tax beforehand and now One Nation hates the [vacant property] tax. There was nothing in writing, no public policy position, but he\u2019s written them a large pledge in the hundreds of thousands of dollars,\u201d the source said.<\/p>\n

Along with property developers in Victoria, local business is also shifting donations for increased advocacy on IR-related issues and on reducing red tape.<\/p>\n

\"StockbrokerStockbroker Angus Aitken is among recent high-profile donors to One Nation. Janie Barrett<\/p>\n

\u201cJess [Wilson] has been soft on [Jacinta] Allan\u2019s work from home policy and these smaller and medium businesses are horrified. These are the people who are the backbone of the party,\u201d a Liberal Party source said.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

The Allan government\u2019s work from home policy applies only to work that can reasonably be done remotely, and exempts small businesses that employ fewer than 15 people.<\/p>\n

A Liberal spokesperson said the party was continuing to announce key policies in the lead up to November.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur 10-year economic plan, including land tax and payroll tax relief, has been very well received across industry.<\/p>\n

\u201cVictorians want change, and we\u2019re working every day to share our solutions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite this, money continues to be directed towards One Nation.<\/p>\n

A source close to One Nation said another donor, possibly from outside of Victoria, has matched Aitken\u2019s $1 million donation to the federal arm of the party.<\/p>\n

Aitken, who has previously donated to the Liberal Party and Advance Australia, told this masthead from his family holiday in Greece that he expected donations to continue to flow from traditional Liberal donors \u2013 both wealthy and the less well-off.<\/p>\n

\"AlbertAlbert Park hairdresser and former Liberal candidate turned One Nation supporter Michael Piastrino with Pauline Hanson at a One Nation fundraising event in South Melbourne last month. Instagram<\/p>\n

\u201cI donated $1 million to One Nation because I admire Pauline and her common-sense approach and I worry about the Australia the Labor Party is creating for my kids both economically and socially,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe people donating to One Nation across the board want zero from the government. They simply want less red tape, green tape and want to employ more Australians and get more things out of the ground across a range of industries.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beyond industry events, One Nation is also drawing in support from people outside its traditional \u201cbattler\u201d base at its own events, including its shindig in South Melbourne last month.<\/p>\n

One attendee said the fundraiser drew in those that included traditional Liberal Party donors and long-standing supporters of the party.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a real spread, there was everyone there from high net worths with high-end clothes and high-end handbags to people without teeth and everyone in between.\u201d<\/p>\n

Start the day with a summary of the day\u2019s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\"SarahSarah Danckert<\/a> is a senior reporter who specialises in investigations and corporate wrongdoing. She is a two-time Walkley Award winner, and has won six Quill Awards and two Kennedy Awards.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":780888,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-780887","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\/780887","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=780887"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/780887\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/780888"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=780887"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=780887"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=780887"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}