NSW Liberal defector Hollie Hughes refuses to rule out state, federal run for One Nation
Former Liberal Senator Hollie Hughes has refused to rule out running for a seat in the state or federal parliament after switching to One Nation in leader Pauline Hanson’s latest political coup.
Ms Hughes and former Liberal Deputy Leader Teena McQueen were revealed to have joined the right-wing populist party by Senator Hanson at a pub event at Rydal in the NSW Blue Mountains on Saturday.
Ms Hughes, who was defeated in the 2025 federal election, told Sky News on Sunday that her phone had “exploded” since the move.
But when asked whether she would run for a parliamentary seat a year after quitting politics, Ms Hughes said: “I’m not deciding anything and I’m not ruling anything out.”
“But there have been absolutely no decisions made about what this might look like in the future,” he said.
Pressed on a possible move by the state parliament, Ms Hughes said she was “not trying to play possum”.
“I haven’t made any decisions. I really don’t know what I’m doing,” he said.
“So, as far as what I do going forward, I may or may not be a candidate in the future, and it may or may not be state, or it may be federal, or it may not be.”
Ms Hughes, who resigned from the Liberal Party in November, said she no longer recognized the centre-right party.
“I don’t think they know what they stand for anymore,” he said.
Ms Hughes said One Nation had “advocated the same thing for decades”.
“(They) stood by their beliefs even when they were fired, openly abused, and incredibly mistreated, and that’s something I’ve talked about with Pauline for a long time.”
Ms Hughes supported the Coalition’s plan to cut off benefits to permanent residents and has repeatedly tried to draw attention to the closure of the Great Western Hwy.
“I think that’s the most surprising thing for a lot of Australians, and I certainly hear it on our front bar all the time… most Australians didn’t realize that non-citizens also had access to the volume of welfare that they did,” he said.
Australia “needs the right kind of immigrants… not people who just make up the numbers and increase GDP per capita to avoid looking like they are in recession.”
Opposition Leader Angus Taylor has previously ruled out splits.
“Oh, it’s their choice,” he told Sky News.
When pressed, he continued: “It’s their choice. So I can, you know, I love the fact that democracy in this country has choice. It’s a wonderful thing.”
Ms Hughes has publicly backed Sussan Ley and criticized Mr Taylor after he was booted out of a winnable NSW Senate seat.
Ms McQueen, meanwhile, is a strong supporter of US President Donald Trump.
The departure of both women is the latest political blow for Senator Hanson, following former Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce and former South Australian Senator Cory Bernardi joining One Nation.
