Two MPs in the New South Wales (NSW) Parliament have quit the right-wing One Nation party, claiming the federal leadership had moved to improperly acquire funds for its headquarters.
On Aug. 22, upper house members Rod Roberts and Mark Latham revealed they would sit as independent MPs going forward. Fellow One Nation MP, Tania Mihailuk, will remain in the party.
The move from Mr. Latham comes after Senator Pauline Hanson dissolved the NSW state executive. It followed concerns about the branch’s performance at the March 2023 state election.
Mr. Roberts used the parliamentary sitting period as an opportunity to outline his version of events.
“Can I say this whole sordid saga is not about election results but a pure grab for money in something that I will not be part of,” Mr. Roberts told Parliament.
The upper house MP said he was aware that sitting as an independent was “political suicide” but felt it was necessary because he felt strongly about “integrity and accountability.”
He said former members of the NSW executive had acted properly but criticised Senator Hanson’s chief of staff, James Ashby.
“I will not stand by and allow this to occur, nor can I be associated with a political party that acts unlawfully and without morals,” Mr. Roberts said.
“This action has the grubby fingers and fingerprints of James Ashby all over it.”
Meanwhile, Mr. Latham said he could no longer represent the party since the recent “Queensland One Nation takeover.”
“I cannot remain as a One Nation MP due to past attempts at defrauding NSW electoral funds and the appointment of a new state executive orchestrated to repeat these rorts.”
Mr. Latham outlined his concerns about state election funding being channelled to the party’s federal branch in a letter to NSW Special Minister of State John Graham.
Dumped Latham Accuses Hanson of One Nation Takeover
The party’s federal executive, led by Senator Hanson, installed a new state executive last week, citing One Nation’s failure to replicate its 2019 NSW election successes at the most recent poll.A spokesman for the senator said the fresh leadership, which includes Ms. Hanson, would examine the structure and campaign abilities of the state party.
He said the federal party had also declared Mr. Latham’s position as state parliamentary leader vacant.
“Nobody has been sacked from the party as such,” the spokesman said in comments obtained by AAP.
The party would also conduct a review of the new executive of the NSW branch.
“When Senator Hanson is confident the organisation and parliamentary wings of the party have established an effective, strong and collaborative working relationship under her leadership, she will consider opening the position of NSW parliamentary leader for nominations,” her spokesman said.
“She has installed her own new state executive with people from Queensland and Tasmania who did not lift a finger to help us during the March election campaign,” he wrote on Facebook on Aug. 14.
“The Queensland takeover is not about performance. It is about money. As NSW’s One Nation Leader, I have stood in the way of attempts to misuse our funds, especially the administration money contributed by NSW taxpayers through the Electoral Commission. I will continue to fight for the proper, ethical use of this money,” Mr. Latham said.Tensions Between Latham and Hanson
While One Nation’s statewide upper house vote fell from 6.9 percent to 5.9 percent in March, Mr Latham said the figure was well ahead of the Senate result for NSW at the 2022 federal election after a campaign Senator Hanson headed.“In Queensland, Senator Hanson’s Senate vote fell by three percent, and she only just scraped in for re-election,” he said.
“If she is worried about under-performance, her best solution is to buy a mirror.”
The move to oust Mr. Latham is an escalation of already-fraught relations with the federal leader Hanson and comes after a homophobic slur towards a fellow state parliamentarian in March landed him in a defamation lawsuit.
