One Nation has disendorsed a candidate for the Queensland state election for not paying a $2,400 upfront fee to cover, in part, campaign materials.
Elise Cottam, the candidate for Callide, told Guardian Australia she had intended to have her son provide marketing material for “next to nothing” but the party had disendorsed her for failing to meet a Monday deadline to pay.
On Thursday One Nation’s state director, Greg Smith, wrote to Cottam explaining that the Queensland executive had decided to remove her endorsement, effective immediately.
“Elise, you have been notified on several occasions to provide the required documentation and payment for candidate endorsement and materials,” he said.
Smith wrote the party had “no alternative” because Cottam had “yet to finalise the required documentation” and had made “no payments that are necessary for you to be an endorsed candidate of Pauline Hanson’s One Nation”.
Cottam said she had provided candidate registration forms in hard copy last year and again by email to three separate responsible people this year.
She said the party had asked for $2,400 upfront and a further $1,500 by 1 March. Cottam said she was prepared to pay a $250 registration fee for the party to send to the Electoral Commission of Queensland.
But she refused to pay a $150 administration fee, since she had run as a federal election candidate in 2016, and the $3,500 balance of the fees which she said was “for all campaign and marketing material”.
A memo seen by Guardian Australia signed by Smith and party official, Jim Savage, sets out that the $3,500 package pays for 1,000 business cards, 10,000 flyers, 200 corflutes showing the candidate with Pauline Hanson, three three-metre by one-metre banners, 10 T-shirts and two button-up shirts.
Cottam said party rules allowed candidates to use other suppliers, provided correct One Nation branding was used, as she intended to do with her son. “I’m not upset with their decision but I am disappointed for the people of Callide, who I won’t be representing any more,” she said, adding: “There are a lot of good souls and damn fine people in One Nation ... But there are so many parties these days you can’t keep up.
”People need to consider who they’re voting for, look at the person, and go with your gut.”
Michael Pucci, a former Liberal National party MP who runs One Nation’s Queensland campaign, confirmed Cottam had been disendorsed for failure to submit paperwork and pay after she was given “several chances” to do so. “It’s a candidacy fee,” he told Guardian Australia. “It’s a fee they have to pay to be a candidate.”
James Ashby, a senior adviser to the federal leader, Pauline Hanson, said the fees “go to office administration costs and ECQ nomination costs”. Neither denied the fees also paid for marketing materials.
Ashby said his firm provided the banners for $110 each but corflutes, flyers and other materials were provided by other commercial suppliers.
“That’s my free-market rate. [The candidates] are welcome to buy their materials anywhere else.”
One Nation has been on a push to improve its standard of candidates after two were disendorsed for controversial web posts promoting anti-gay messages and Port Arthur conspiracy theories.
Peter Rogers, who was dumped as the party’s candidate for the seat of Mulgrave after posts on his campaign website claimed that drowned Syrian toddler Alan Kurdi was “alive and well” but who denied authoring the posts, has complained he was not afforded due process before being disendorsed.
Guardian Australia has seen the letter of 31 January informing Rogers he had been disendorsed, and his reply on 3 February in which he complained he had never been given a show cause letter nor minutes of the meeting that resolved to throw him out.
Financial difficulties claimed the seat of the former federal senator Rodney Culleton, who quit the party before being declared bankrupt, triggering a vacancy. He was then ruled ineligible by the high court for a larceny conviction, since annulled.
In Western Australia, One Nation reportedly floated but then abandoned an idea to charge successful candidates $250,000 if they quit the party after being elected.
