Former secretary and president of party in WA accuse it of ageism and unfairly sacking them in latest outbreak of dissent

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

Pauline Hanson insists One Nation is picking up ground with voters, despite fresh claims of party disunity in the lead-up to the West Australian election on Saturday.

“I think that we will probably win three seats in the upper house and maybe a couple of seats in the lower house,” she told the Seven Network on Thursday.



Hanson repeated her expectation that the WA Nationals leader, Brendan Grylls, will lose his Pilbara seat to One Nation, which also expects to pick up the Nationals-held Kalgoorlie.

'Come here, Red': Pauline Hanson feels the love while campaigning in WA Read more

“The feeling from people is very strong,” Hanson said. “It’s amazing, the support I receive going down the street. They’re actually coming up to say hello to me and shake my hand.”

But polls show support slipping as the election nears. Earlier polls put One Nation’s primary vote at 13% but Galaxy and ReachTel polls commissioned by Seven West Media and Fairfax Media predicted 9% and 8.5%, respectively.

Hanson has been in WA all week, with visits to regional centres on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.



On Wednesday, while she was in Kalgoorlie, two former supporters held a media conference to accuse her of ageism and unfairly sacking them.

Ron McLean, 87, and Marye Daniels, 79, were the party’s president and secretary in WA from 2008 until the senator sacked them in a 10-minute meeting on 22 February.

McLean was also told he would not be a candidate because he would be 91 when his term was over.

The One Nation veterans have hired the Perth lawyer John Hammond to argue the case against their dismissal.

Hammond said the couple had been told their sacking was related to their conduct but were not given any details.

The WA One Nation leader, Colin Tincknell, has told Sky News that ageism was not a factor in the decision to fire them.

“Ron and Marye were sacked weeks after the meeting with Pauline for disloyalty,” he said.

WA election: polling in key seats gives Labor hope, despite bigger picture Read more

He said McLean had not been considered for candidacy out of concerns for his health. “We advised Ron we had a younger, more virile candidate who could take the position,” Sky reported him saying.

“His health’s not good, he has trouble hearing, we had another younger candidate who could step forward.”

Daniels said Hanson, her adviser, James Ashby, the WA candidate liaison officer, Aidan Nagle and Tincknell “came in like an army”. “They sat down and I knew something was the matter and I offered them a cup of tea,” she said.

“She said, ‘Well, Marye, I’m here to say you have been good for the party and we are taking the work away from you now and giving it to Colin Tincknell and Aidan Nagle.’”

Hammond has written to Hanson asking her to please explain, saying the sacking was unlawful. “They’ve just been peremptorily terminated,” he said.

WA election: five things you need to know Read more

“We’re saying that’s not good enough and they’re going to continue going [working as officials] until you show them the basis on which you’ve terminated them and why.”

The pair had vetted and recruited candidates for Saturday’s election, he added, and had supported the party since 2000, including forking out nearly $100,000 of their own money.

“We saved the party from annihilation,” McLean said.

Hammond later said other former One Nation supporters had come forward with similar stories since Wednesday’s announcement.

“It would seem to me that the party’s imploding,” he told the Perth radio station 6PR. “I’ve been contacted by other One Nation members who are saying the same trouble is breaking out around Australia.

“I think Ron and Maryanne are just part of One Nation’s inability to have a political party and run it.”

One Nation has lost four candidates in the course of the election campaign.

The WA Electoral Commission said the name of the secretary of Pauline Hanson’s One Nation was updated on its website on 1 February – three weeks before Daniels was told of her sacking.

Meanwhile, Western Australian Labor leader Mark McGowan says the Liberal-One Nation preference deal in the state would be replicated nation-wide if the Liberals manage to hold on to power.

“If we lose, One Nation will be at the centre of political activity, certainly in regards to the Liberal Party, across Australia,” he told ABC radio on Thursday.

McGowan said he would deal with One Nation representatives in the upper house by presenting good legislation and arguing the case for its passage.

He insisted Labor was still the underdog because it needed to win 10 seats to form government.

“The Liberal Party is doing everything it can to try and hold onto office, including its deal with One Nation,” he said.