One Nation seeks audit over ‘fire the liar’ fundraiser
One Nation is seeking a forensic audit to prove the success of its $2 million fundraising drive as senior Liberals refuse to team up with the resurgent conservative party.
After Prime Minister Anthony Albanese raised questions about whether the amount raised was legitimate, a spokesman for One Nation leader Pauline Hanson said the party would call in analysts to confirm the legitimacy of its “banish the liar” campaign.
The spokesperson said commissioning an independent forensic audit would show that the fundraising effort was genuine.
“Why would I call out a liar and then go and do something like that myself? It would devastate me,” Senator Hanson later said at a media event in Western Australia.
Mr Albanese questioned what evidence there was that the party was actually raising funds, and Labor officials privately suggested One Nation’s online donation counter could be fake.
“What evidence is there? This is an example of the slogans being put forward, not the content,” he told reporters in Sydney.
On Thursday afternoon, One Nation announced it had raised more than $2 million through its campaign designed to counter Labour’s fundraiser targeting the populist minor party.
The fundraising effort comes at a time of growing concern within coalition ranks about One Nation’s growing popularity; One MP suggested the two parties should agree not to compete in key seats in the next election.
While polls show the One Nation, Liberal and National primary vote combined at almost 50 per cent, Liberal MP Tony Pasin told The Australian such an alliance would prevent a split of the Conservative vote and increase Labor’s chances of losing the next federal election.
But Opposition Leader Angus Taylor said there was no deal on the table.
“There will be no split seats and what we will do is split Labor,” Mr Taylor told reporters in Perth on Thursday.
“We will go toe-to-toe in every seat in this country to win every vote we can.”
Other Liberals have publicly and privately echoed Mr Taylor’s comments.
“It’s not our job to fight like hell, flip-flop and raise white flags… I haven’t spoken to any colleagues who are happy to stand with a Nation MP,” one Liberal insider told AAP.
Frontbenchers Tim Wilson and James Paterson warned in separate interviews against jumping on the Liberal wagon to One Nation, arguing such a move could lead to reputational risks.
“There will be no peace talks, no capitulation to Labor, One Nation or any other party,” Mr Wilson told ABC Radio.
The opposition leader said Mr Pasin would remain in the shadow cabinet despite what his colleagues described as a “freelance” in the seat swap with One Nation.
Mr Taylor had previously left the door open to choosing Senator Hanson’s party, but his colleagues are divided on that option.
Former prime minister Tony Abbott, who recently restarted his political career as leader of the Liberal Party, also backed the choice of One Nation.
The latest News Poll shows One Nation, currently the most voted party in the country, poses an existential threat to the coalition, whose vote has fallen to 18 per cent.
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