One Nation has divided its support between the major parties on how-to-vote cards, directing supporters to preference Labor in at least five seats while helping the Coalition in the north Queensland seat of Leichhardt and Braddon in Tasmania.
The One Nation leader, Pauline Hanson, revealed the plan on Thursday, confirming retaliation against select moderate MPs for the Liberals’ decision to preference the minor party behind the Jacqui Lambie Network in Tasmania.
But One Nation will benefit from Liberal-National Senate preferences in Queensland, where the major party has advised its supporters to put Hanson second.
A furious Lambie rejected any suggestions her party had done a deal with the Liberals, although it is unclear how she will direct her voters in the key northern Tasmanian marginals of Bass and Braddon.
Hanson confirmed she will preference against the Liberal MP Bridget Archer, who holds Bass on 0.4%, but in favour of the Liberal MP Gavin Pearce in Braddon, on 3.1%.
Others on Hanson’s hit list include the Liberals Tim Wilson in Goldstein (Victoria), Trent Zimmerman in North Sydney, James Stevens in Sturt (SA) and the independent Helen Haines in Indi (Victoria), four seats in which One Nation did not field candidates at the 2019 election.
Hanson told Sky News on Thursday she was “shocked and disgusted” with the Liberal party for supporting the Lambie network “without even debating and negotiating” with Lambie and also criticised the decision to preference Derryn Hinch’s Justice Party ahead of One Nation in Victoria.
Hanson said she would “balance out” assistance for Labor by helping the Nationals in other seats, but failed to name any, explaining that she was “exhausted” and couldn’t remember them.
“I am doing Scott Morrison’s job for him – of getting rid of left-leaning Liberals destroying the conservative party,” she said.
Despite reports on Wednesday suggesting One Nation could tip the scales against the Liberal MP Warren Entsch in Leichhardt, he was omitted from the list of moderates. But One Nation will also help Labor in Longman by suggesting voters put the Liberal MP, Terry Young, last.
Ross Taylor, the One Nation candidate in Longman, told Guardian Australia the decision to put Labor sixth ahead of the Greens and LNP was “his call – and it’s done”.
Lambie accused One Nation of “standing for nothing” and offering “insincere” support for Labor in some seats.
“For all her talk about sticking up for freedom, Pauline’s spat the dummy because she wants to control what the Liberal party puts on its how-to-vote cards,” Lambie said in a statement.
“Tasmanian voters decide their own preferences. Queenslanders like One Nation don’t get to decide for anybody here.”
Earlier on Thursday, Morrison said preferences would be decided by “different arrangements in different states and territories” but acknowledged Hanson’s anger about Tasmania. “I know that there’s a view about what’s occurring in Tasmania, but you know what, that’s just all politics.”
Morrison later told Sky News the “[Liberal] party organisation” was responsible for preferences.
Other beneficiaries of Liberal Senate preferences include the Liberal Democrats and United Australia party in New South Wales, the UAP in Victoria, Bob Day in South Australia and the Australian Christians in Western Australia. Labor is committed to put One Nation last or near-last around the country.
Paul Williams, a political scientist at Griffith University, said One Nation preferences were “enormously” important in Queensland as it could win up to a third of the primary vote in some regional seats, including Flynn, another Labor target.
Williams said in Longman, One Nation preferences were “very significant” as it was the “lowest-hanging fruit” in Queensland, on a margin of 3.3%.
But Williams warned that One Nation voters were “among the least disciplined in their preference distributions”.
“It speaks to the whole ethos of One Nation to stick two fingers up to authority, to stick it up elites, they are not even going to listen to their own party … They tend to spray preferences everywhere.”
