WA election 2017: Pauline Hanson unveils One Nation candidates, tells them to 'speak up'
Updated
Pauline Hanson has massed One Nation candidates for the West Australian election on the steps of State Parliament, saying the party would be a real threat to the major parties in March.
Key points:
- One Nation says it will field 60 candidates at the March 11 state election
- Pauline Hanson urges voters to back her judgement in selecting candidates
- It is One Nation's largest number of candidates in WA since 2001
One Nation is planning to contest 45 of the state's 59 Lower House seats and run candidates in each Upper House region, saying it will field 60 candidates in total.
Senator Hanson told those gathered at Parliament she had risen from the ashes to once again become a political force.
"Every candidate that gets elected onto the floor of Parliament, I expect you to work hard for the people. I expect you to be there with honesty and integrity," she said.
"If you see something wrong, then please speak up. We are not going to be a party that is going to be controlled by political correctness."
Senator Hanson was emotional as she recounted her long path to the launch of One Nation in WA, and speaking about her stint in prison which she still blames on the major parties.
"The major political parties had to be rid of me because I was a threat to them," she said.
"And even to this very day, I will be and I am a threat to their power, their corruption, their lies, and treating people in this country like mushrooms."
One Nation later released a list of 27 Legislative Assembly candidates in seats ranging from the Kimberley in the north to Albany in the south, and metropolitan electorates like Belmont, as well as 13 Legislative Council candidates across five of the six regions.
Hanson promises local campaign
Ms Hanson said the WA One Nation team would have the power to set their own policy priorities in the lead up to the state election.
She has already flagged that the party's candidates would oppose the partial sale of Western Power and the WA Nationals' mining tax. The party also wants to see a reduction in payroll tax.
But she said those priorities had been set by the party locally.
"You are very parochial in the state and I understand that and I get it," Ms Hanson said.
"The fact is you don't want to see me fly in here and tell you what you need here. The people here will tell you. The candidates will."
Ms Hanson acknowledged most of her candidates would be unknown to the public, and in the wake of the controversy surrounding former One Nation Senator Rod Culleton, she urged WA voters to back her judgement in selecting them.
"I am asking people to trust me," she said.
"I came here before Christmas, I spent two days interviewing the candidates that came forward at that time, I was very happy with the calibre of candidates in this state."
We will be a 'change agent': WA leader
One Nation's leader in WA Colin Tincknell said the candidates would seek to tap into the concerns of West Australians.
"We are here as a change agent. We are here to make sure the left side of politics, the right side of politics, starts working together for the people of WA," he said.
"Pauline has done that in the houses of Parliament in Canberra and we intend to do that here."
It is the largest number of candidates fielded by One Nation in WA since the 2001 election, when the party secured three seats in Parliament.
Ms Hanson believes the party could win as many as six seats in the election on March 11.
A poll published by The West Australian at the weekend suggested One Nation might secure 11 per cent of the vote.
Topics: elections, government-and-politics, one-nation, wa, perth-6000
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