‘Paddock of despair’: MP blasts One Nation defectors

Two former Liberals have been accused of fleeing to the “orange pastures of despair” after defecting to Pauline Hanson’s One Nation.

The right-wing party has expanded its ranks with the addition of former Liberal senator Hollie Hughes and the party’s former deputy leader Teena McQueen.

Senator Hanson announced the pair had jumped ship during an event at Ms Hughes’ bar in regional NSW, a week after the minor party’s breakthrough victory in the Farrer byelection.

Opposition Leader Angus Taylor shrugged off the news but Liberal Tim Wilson condemned the departures.

“If someone wants to follow others into the orange pastures of despair, that’s their choice,” he told reporters in Sydney.

“They are not the ones looking to the horizon with optimism, confidence and the spirit of what we can build in this country.”

Ms Hughes, who resigned live from the Liberal Party after being placed in an unwinnable position on the Senate ticket, said she had not decided whether to run for parliament again under the One Nation banner.

“I’m not ruling anything out and I’m not ruling anything out,” he told Sky News.

Ms Hughes owns a pub in Rydal, near Lithgow in the Blue Mountains, and said she was enjoying her new career in hospitality.

He suggested more Liberal rank-and-file members could join Senator Hanson’s party in the coming months.

Mr Taylor refused to take part in the draw when asked about the former Liberal duo’s moves.

“It’s their choice,” he said, before attacking Labour’s tax policy.

One Nation has been growing its ranks since former national leader Barnaby Joyce defected to the right-wing party in December.

The party achieved its first lower house victory in early May when it won the seat of Farrer, which had been held by the coalition since its founding in 1949.

That clear victory prompted Mr Joyce to declare that One Nation could pick up seats in regions such as western Sydney when Australians next go to the polls in 2028.