Pauline’s ON in polls but can’t PHON a friend… at the AEC

Pauline Hanson’s One Nation (PHON) claimed last October that it would drop the PH part of its name. A lot has happened to the party since then, but not this. Investigations editor Ross Jones reports.

IN OCTOBER Pauline Hanson claimed her name would be removed from her party: Pauline Hanson’s One Nation (PHON).

It was featured in all media, on Channel Nine News. SkyABC — a lot!

At the time, Barnaby was about to defect to One Nation, and the name change seemed to reflect the bright horizons the party was ready to embrace.

‘Pauline Hanson drops her name from the brand and rebrands the party as ‘One Nation’ amid Barnaby Joyce rumors’, PHON’s website bugle:

‘With this announcement, Senator Pauline Hanson once again reminds the country that One Nation is stronger than ever: one voice, one people, one nation.’

Although major news outlets picked up the story and ran it, none of them asked When There will be a name change.

And as of this writing, mid-February 2026, it still hasn’t happened. AEC still lists party name is as follows ‘Pauline Hanson’s One Nation’.

One Nation is listed as the registered abbreviation, but that’s the abbreviation; ‘also known as’ – not the party name.

PHON’s intrigues are deep, so who knows why they failed to formalize the entry into society of a party that could come to power?

It’s not like AEC is slow. It may not be the fastest department in Australia, but they can certainly carry out an official name change within three months of application.

Changing the name of a political party simple process.

Three officers of the party sign an AEC form and wire $500 to the AEC. The AEC then publishes newspaper notices informing the public of the proposed change and asking for any objections to be forwarded to it.

If there are no objections within 30 days from the publication of the advertisements, the green light is given to the name change.

The entire process is transparent and published on the AEC website in near real-time.

The only thing causing the AEC’s long delay is waiting for the election writs to return. The last AEC election was held on 3 May 2025 and, as the old Coalition will attest, that is over. The articles arrived.

It is clear that PHON has not applied for a name change to the AEC since the media announcement in October.

PHON has offered no explanation for its failure to communicate the name change, but incompetence is a strong contender.

CORY, BARNABY AND OTHER NEURONS

He’s a strong contender for other things too, like not declaring a gift or hiring Cory Bernadi as No. 1 on the Legislative Council list for the March 2026 South Australian Election.

Bernadi is a grenade with the pin half out.

It would be a bold bet for Bernadi to serve out his full term as a member of PHON in case he secures a seat in the South Australian Legislative Council at the 2026 State Election.

For starters, he has a history of biting the hand that feeds him.

In February 2017, just seven months after his re-election as Liberal senator, Cory pointed the finger at his friends: quit the party and sat on the bench as the sole member of his newly formed Australian Conservatives.

Needless to say, his friends were not happy.

Christopher Pyne called for him to resign, for God’s sake!

Barnaby Joyce was dark, reported ABC:

Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce said volunteers who worked for Senator Bernardi during the election campaign should be upset by his decision to leave the party.

Everyone in the Liberal Party who distributes how-to-vote cards will call him and say, “I distributed them for the Liberal Party, but not for the Cory Bernardi party.” “This isn’t actually a ticket for you to hand over, it’s kind of ours.”

Asked what advice he had for Senator Bernardi, Mr Joyce said he “should pray a lot”.

according to Sydney Morning HeraldBarnaby knows all about praying:

‘He has been a devout Catholic all his life, but admits he was not at all happy when his parents sent him to the Jesuits in Riverview.’

Although he is clearly a devout Catholic, Barnaby thinks the Vatican is a shithole.

In a puff piece video friend “storyteller” Karl Stefanovic, where both gravitated towards the authentic hayseed look and neither succeeded. barnaby in question:

And I don’t care if you come from the Vatican, Central America, Central Africa, or the middle of Europe, if you’re going to show up… and cause trouble… then you stay where you are.

If you’re nostalgic for where you came from and you’re like, “I really want Australia to be like the shithole I’m from,” you go back there.

While maintaining this view Most of the world is just shitholes, Joyce seems to have overcome her disgust for Bernadi and his betrayal.

So PHON now boasts two spin skins as its main drawcards.

Naturally, Pauline’s party – whatever its name – is apparently on the rise in the polls. It makes perfect sense, but only in one country.

Ross Jones is the author of the two-year investigation Ashbygate: The plot to destroy the Australian Spokesperson, published by IA in 2015 and available HERE .