One Nation reveals Victorian state leader and upper house candidates

One Nation has announced army veteran and former senate candidate Warren Pickering will lead the party at the upcoming Victorian state election, being the party’s leader and candidate for lower house seat of Pakenham.

At a media event which the ABC was denied access to, Pickering told reporters One Nation intended to govern in Victoria. “It’s also not lost on us that this is the biggest state campaign in the party’s history,” he said, calling Victoria “the most fiscally and morally bankrupt state in Australian history”. He also clarified that he did not intend to “share” government in Victoria as part of a coalition with the Liberals, as has been warned by state Labor figures.

One Nation also confirmed six more candidates who will run in Victoria’s upper house regions, including Liberal Party defector Colleen Harkin, and the creator of One Nation’s “Please Explain” cartoon series Mark Nicholson.

The party is yet to reveal its state-based agenda, with Pickering telling reporters today that One Nation would make its policies clear “within a month” and that a focus on farmers, crime and corruption were to be expected.

Hanson was also asked about her decision not to allow the ABC or The Guardian to attend the press conference., stating that she’s not putting up with their ‘rubbish’ or their ‘spin’.