One Nation preference deal could set national precedent
Nick Wilson and Eleanor Wilson |
The Victorian coalition will largely put One Nation ahead of Labor on its how-to-vote cards at the state election.
Opposition Leader Jess Wilson said decisions would be made on a seat-by-seat basis but the default would be to put Labor, the Greens and Victorian Socialists last.
“Every seat will be determined based off the due diligence we do on candidates,” she told reporters on Tuesday.
“But, as a general principle, my job is to change the government here in Victoria, and Labor, the Greens and the (Victorian Socialists), they will be at the bottom of the ticket.”
Ms Wilson’s priority remained encouraging voters to put the coalition first and whether they followed the how-to-vote guidance was up to them, she said.
But the move risks bolstering Labor’s efforts to tie the coalition to One Nation, having long claimed the opposition would need the latter’s support to form government.
Labor minister Anthony Carbines accused the coalition of being “in bed” with One Nation, adding the government would rank the minor party last.
“The principled decision that Victorian Labor is taking is that One Nation is down the bottom,” he told reporters.
Polls increasingly suggest the coalition might be able to form government in its own right and Ms Wilson has ruled out a formal deal.
The preference deal could set a precedent for how the Liberals deal with One Nation outside of Victoria, Monash University senior politics lecturer Benjamin Moffitt said.
“This is going to set the stage for NSW and the federal election to come in terms of how that party will approach One Nation and preferences, I suspect,” he told AAP.
But it risked a backlash in areas where teal independents had polled strongly such as Ms Wilson’s own Kew, he said.
She made the preference announcement while standing alongside her federal counterpart Angus Taylor at a South Yarra pub, in Melbourne’s inner southeast.
After pulling a beer, she revealed a suite of reforms designed to reduce red tape on licensed venues and boost live entertainment.
The reforms include a dedicated advocate to oversee the changes, multi-year licences for trusted venues and incentives for venues hosting live performances.
“We’ve said before that Melbourne was the place that people wanted to come to experience the nightlife, the culture,” she said.
“I know that we can be that again.”
Premier Ben Carroll has made similar pledges, including giving pubs the automatic right to trade beyond 3am and allowing dogs inside at an owner’s discretion.
The Labor leader spent the day campaigning on promised protections for domestic abuse victim-survivors and a ban on smart glasses in sensitive settings.
Convicted domestic abusers and sex criminals would also be banned from using dating apps while police would make information about a person’s history of domestic violence more readily available to their partners and their family.
Similar legislation was voted down by Labor in November 2024 when it was introduced as a private member’s bill by the coalition.
“You deserve to know if your partner has a secret violent past,” Mr Carroll said.
Victorians will go to the polls on November 28, in what the electoral commission expects to be the state’s most complicated count.
Labor’s primary support crashed seven points to 18 per cent according to recent polling by DemosAU/PremierNational.
The figures showed a continued surge in support for the coalition with its primary vote rising to 33 per cent, while support for One Nation climbed to 21 per cent.
That poll was significantly bleaker for the government than other recent surveys.
A Resolve Political Monitor published by The Age on Tuesday put Labor’s primary support at 22 per cent to the coalition’s 30 per cent and One Nation’s 23 per cent.
No longer on the ballot is former Preston One Nation candidate Franco Guardiani, who was dumped by the party on Tuesday over concerning social media posts, including one where he appeared to praise Adolf Hitler, the ABC reports.
He is no longer listed as a candidate on the party’s website.
One Nation and Mr Guardiani were contacted for comment.
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AAP