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One Nation launched its 2026 Victorian election campaign at Crown Casino, unveiling a 63-page policy booklet with law-and-order, treaty and transport pledges. Pauline Hanson attacked Labor's record as the party faces scrutiny over candidate fees.
One Nation has launched its campaign for the 2026 Victorian state election, vowing to legalise the personal use of pepper spray, abolish the state's treaty with Indigenous people and scrap payroll tax in regional Victoria.
One Nation Launches Victorian Campaign
The party used its official campaign launch at Crown Casino in Melbourne on Saturday to unveil candidates for the state's upper house and all 88 lower house electorates. Victorian leader Warren Pickering was joined by national leader Pauline Hanson and candidates. The ABC was not invited to the launch and was barred from entering. The Guardian, which has previously been excluded from One Nation media events along with the Age, did not attempt to attend.
Hanson's entrance was met with applause and cheers as attendees rushed to film on their phones. A 63-page policy booklet was circulated at the event, described as One Nation's policy platform and The Real Deal for Victoria, with a focus on restoring safety, prosperity and trust. It includes plans to gang up on gangs.
Law And Order Policy Platform
A social media post announcing its policy to make it cheaper and easier to set up new businesses in Victoria featured an AI-generated image of a taaditional fish n'chips shop. Law and order formed the centrepiece of the platform. One Nation promised to recruit Australian Defence Force veterans into the police force through an accelerated program targeting up to 10,000 suitably qualified contemporary veterans.
Pickering said the crime policy was the one he was most proud of and the most important to Victoria. The party said it would reduce the age of criminal responsibility to 10, charge young offenders of serious violent crimes as adults and hold parents liable for fines and property damage caused by their children.
It also pledged to introduce carefully governed AI to cut administrative burdens, provide sign-on bonuses and accommodation allowances, increase magistrates, fund a 24-hour bail court and build three new magistrates' courts in Melbourne's outer suburbs. One Nation promised UK-style self-defence in the home laws and a tightly controlled trial of legal access to capsicum spray.
Tax, Treaty And Energy Plans
It vowed to scrap payroll tax in regional Victoria and said it would make it cheaper and easier to set up new businesses in the state. To fund its measures, One Nation said it would scrap the Suburban Rail Loop and divert funds to the Airport Rail line and electrification of the Melton line. It would review state public entities and agencies and introduce expiry dates, abolish the First Peoples' representative body Gellung Warl and scrap the statewide Treaty.
The party pledged to scrap all net-zero targets and subsidies, cancel transmission projects including VNI West and Western Renewables Link, reverse the ban on gas connections in new homes and repeal the statewide ban on nuclear energy. It stopped short of committing to scrapping taxes, saying it would wind back land tax increases and raise the payroll tax threshold.
Hanson spent much of her speech attacking Labor's record on crime and Victoria's growing debt, saying Victorians had been treated like mugs. She said the rise of One Nation in Victoria terrified Premier Jacinta Allan. If you're listening, Ben, don't be scared of me. I tell you what mate, he should be scared of you, Hanson said, pointing to the crowd.
She also said Victorians had trust issues with the Liberal Party and that the opposition had not done its job. Opposition Leader Jess Wilson refused to mention One Nation by name when asked about Hanson's comments. I know that Victorians are looking for a change of government this year, and the only way to do that is to elect a Liberal and Nationals government, Wilson said.
Political Reactions To Campaign Launch
Government minister Nick Staikos dismissed the launch, saying One Nation was not a serious political party. We don't share anything in common with that party, we will not be making deals with that party, Staikos said. At the launch, Northern Metropolitan candidate Mark Nicholson vowed that if One Nation won the election, former premiers Daniel Andrews and Jacinta Allan would be in prison by Christmas, according to the Herald Sun. Nicholson is the creator of the party's Please Explain Cartoon.
The party's candidates include a former Liberal who has won support from alleged underworld figures, a naturopath who has endorsed Donald Trump's unfounded claim linking paracetamol to autism and a former shire councillor who lost his licence for drink-driving. One Nation claimed more than 1,000 people attended the launch, but other estimates put the crowd several hundred lower. About two dozen protesters rallied outside Crown, holding signs and banners claiming the party was racist.
Julie Monteiro said Hanson had called for an end to immigration and described mass immigration as a problem, which the protesters saw as scapegoating. Police monitored the smaller protest group. Pickering told radio 3AW Melbourne on Friday that crime and bail remained a top priority. He said people need to feel safe in their homes and places of work once more.
Candidate Fees And Party Controversies
You make that happen by taking a pragmatic approach, not an expensive one, to ensuring we get more police on the streets, get our empty stations manned and ensure bail laws and sentences are fitting with the crimes, he said. The party has also come under fire over practices that could see it collect as much as $633,000 from people who have nominated for the Victorian election, with some potential candidates questioning whether it is staging a cash grab.
While the party has fashioned itself as representing the working class, Hanson has faced a series of revelations about her links to billionaire Gina Rinehart, including exclusive use of a private jet. By Saturday afternoon, the party's website said an update was in progress regarding its crime policy. The campaign launch positions One Nation to challenge both Labor and the Coalition, with polling suggesting the party will seriously contest the upcoming election.
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GuardianAus:One Nation vows to abolish First Nations treaty and legalise pepper spray at Victorian campaign launchThis story was compiled and edited by the HeadTopics newsroom and HT AI from the reports above.
Warren Pickering Pauline Hanson Politics State Election Victorian State Election Law And Order Suburban Rail Loop Victorian Election Victoria Politics
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