Australia’s far-right One Nation party won a key by-election on Saturday in a rural seat that had been held by traditional conservatives for more than half a century.
Preliminary results showed its candidate, David Farley, was on track to win 59.1%, defeating the incumbent center-right Liberal Party by a wide margin.
It marks the first time One Nation has won a lower house seat in the federal parliament.
Farley, a former agribusiness executive, was the clear favorite heading into the contest for Farrer, a large agricultural electorate some 550 kilometers (340 miles) south of Sydney.
«We’re like a mason with a chisel and a hammer, and we’re carving the letters into the Australian democracy,» Farley told cheering supporters.
«One Nation is at the end of its beginning – we are going through the ceiling,» he said, pledging to bring down the cost of living.
Why was a by-election held?
The seat was left vacant when former Liberal leader Sussan Ley resigned in February as her party slumped in the polls behind One Nation.
Farley’s main rival, popular independent Michelle Milthorpe, was trailing in second place with around 40%, while the Liberal candidate Raissa Butkowski had around 11%, according to the ABC.
The ruling Labor Party did not contest the seat, which is considered unwinnable for a left-leaning candidate.
The One Nation win does not affect the parliamentary majority of Labor, which still holds 94 of 150 seats in the lower house.
What is One Nation?
One Nation was founded nearly 30 years ago by Pauline Hanson, who has long advocated for cuts to immigration. She is one of four senators from One Nation in the upper house.
Hanson said the result was «a win for Farrer but a bigger win for the nation.»
Liberal leader Angus Taylor said the outcome of the by-election brought some «hard lessons» for his party, which has been battling for second place with One Nation in national polls.
The result in Farrer comes amid a surge of support for far-right parties globally. Britain’s ruling Labour Party this week suffered a significant loss of seats at council elections.
Meanwhile in Germany, the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) is polling at 41% ahead of elections in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt that could potentially see it win an absolute majority in a regional parliament for the first time.
Edited by: Karl Sexton
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