{"id":884806,"date":"2026-09-08T19:50:30","date_gmt":"2026-09-08T19:50:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/884806\/"},"modified":"2026-09-08T19:50:30","modified_gmt":"2026-09-08T19:50:30","slug":"warren-pickering-one-nations-victorian-leader-admits-to-drug-use-drink-driving","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/884806\/","title":{"rendered":"Warren Pickering: One Nation\u2019s Victorian leader admits to drug use, drink-driving"},"content":{"rendered":"

September 8, 2026 \u2014 7:30pm<\/p>\n

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One Nation\u2019s Victorian leader Warren Pickering has admitted using illicit drugs including methamphetamines as a young man, a day after denying allegations about his drug use made by his former partner.<\/p>\n

Pickering, who is contesting the marginal seat of Pakenham at November\u2019s state election, acknowledged on Tuesday that he had used marijuana and methamphetamines after initially rejecting his former partner\u2019s claims and threatening legal action over their publication.<\/p>\n

\"OneOne Nation Victoria leader Warren Pickering at press conference on Tuesday. Ruby Alexander <\/p>\n

He maintained that he had never used drugs while their children were in the house and denied he had been a \u201cdrug addict\u201d, saying he had not used illicit drugs for at least 16 years.<\/p>\n

He also said he had lost his license three times for drink-driving and had made mistakes when he was in his 20s.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve never made the suggestion that I\u2019m any type of angel,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was a young man in my 20s, not unlike everybody else that has ever been a young man in their 20s. I made mistakes.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I did since then was change my life dramatically for the benefit of not only my children, but for myself and those around me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pickering\u2019s former partner of almost two decades, Jo Scott, made the explosive claims in an interview with The Australian published on Monday.<\/p>\n

Initially, Pickering denied Scott\u2019s claims on Monday. One Nation founder Pauline Hanson also described the allegations as \u201cfalse\u201d and said that she backed Pickering as a candidate on Monday.<\/p>\n

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

On Tuesday, Pickering addressed the media flanked by his daughter and stepson at a press conference, which was held in a rented event room on the 29th floor of Crown Towers.<\/p>\n

There, Pickering admitted he had used methamphetamines. He denied using crystal meth or ice, which are types of methamphetamines, but also said he was \u201cnot as familiar with the terms as you would like me to be\u201d.<\/p>\n

Pickering\u2019s step-son, Johnny Scott, said his mother had \u201ca vendetta against Warren and has for many years\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy mother has a past and she\u2019s stuck in that past,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

In response, Jo Scott said Pickering\u2019s press conference was a \u201clost opportunity for him to come clean with Victorians about his past\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWarren\u2019s claim that he simply \u2018dabbled\u2019 in drugs as a young man, and that he was a \u2018casual drug user\u2019 was a masterclass in deceit and dishonesty,\u201d she said in a written statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis claims were false, and he knows them to be false,\u201d she said. \u201cThe greatest contribution Warren Pickering could make to One Nation, and to the people of Victoria, would be to resign immediately.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scott confirmed she has been estranged \u201cfor many years\u201d from her son and Pickering\u2019s stepson.<\/p>\n

At the press conference, Johnny confirmed he had messaged Jo in recent days to tell her to \u201cget back to Queensland\u201d.<\/p>\n

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

Pickering\u2019s admissions of drug use and drink-driving leaves One Nation open to claims of political hypocrisy, with the party also using the media conference to release the details of its Victorian election crime platform.<\/p>\n

One Nation\u2019s upper house candidate Mark Nicholson said the party would introduce a hardline criminal law regime to make Victoria \u201cthe toughest state on crime\u201d \u2013 including on drug use.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe judiciary system is letting our front line down drastically. They pat them on the head. They focus on rehabilitation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

However, when asked if Pickering\u2019s would have been treated as a criminal under a One Nation government, Nicholson said his party leader would have been treated with \u201ctherapeutic jurisprudence\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe would try and intervene before crime ever happens to someone like Warren,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Pickering said he had disclosed his previous drug use during security vetting when he joined the Australian Army when he was 28. The last time he used drugs would have been when he was \u201c26, maybe 27\u201d, he said.<\/p>\n

\"WarrenWarren Pickering\u2019s daughter Jhett during the press conference.Ruby Alexander<\/p>\n

Pickering, who is now 42, admitted that when he initially applied to run for the party, he disclosed potential issues with his ex-partner but concealed his own illicit drug history. He later disclosed that history when it became clear Jo wanted to make that information public, he said, but could not say when.<\/p>\n

Pickering said that a note he wrote apologising for \u201csexual deviance\u201d related to him cheating on his former partner.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cWe\u2019d opened our relationship, but that hadn\u2019t given me permission to do some of the things I\u2019d done with respect to exploring sexuality,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Pickering was named as One Nation\u2019s Victorian leader early last month and is standing for the marginal lower house seat of Pakenham in the November state election.<\/p>\n

He previously ran unsuccessfully as a candidate in the 2022 state election and for the Senate in 2025.<\/p>\n

Journalists from the ABC and The Guardian were kicked out of the press conference just before it started, which Pickering said was the decision of the One Nation\u2019s national party leadership.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not going to impede on the parties\u2019 judgment. I\u2019m still learning with respect to campaigning,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Reporters from those outlets, as well as The Age, have recently been barred from a number of the party\u2019s press conferences, including when One Nation\u2019s Victorian state candidates were announced.<\/p>\n

Pickering said on Tuesday he was considering legal action against The Australian.<\/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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\"PatrickPatrick Hatch<\/a> is state politics reporter at The Age. Contact him at patrick.hatch@theage.com.au, or via Signal at @pwhatch.61Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.\"ClayClay Lucas<\/a> is an investigative reporter at The Age who has covered urban affairs, state and federal politics, industrial relations, transport, health and aged care. Email him at clucas@theage.com.au or claylucas@protonmail.com, or via Signal +61439828128.Connect via X<\/a>, Facebook<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"September 8, 2026 \u2014 7:30pm Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":884807,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-884806","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\/884806","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=884806"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/884806\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/884807"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=884806"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=884806"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=884806"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}