One Nation Secret Harbour candidate’s brutal response on campaign trail as by-election tests anti-Labor surge

One Nation’s Secret Harbour candidate claims an “anti-Labor” sentiment gives him a chance of making history by winning the minor party’s first Lower House seat in WA.

Luke Herdegen believes he can snare what was a safe Labor seat for One Nation despite receiving a mixed reception from voters when he hit the campaign trail with The West Australian in tow this week.

At the first home he called at he was met with a stern “you’ve got to be joking, see ya” before the door was closed.

But another man on the same road said he was “100 per cent” voting One Nation and he was stopped in the street by several people keen to chat.

The West also spent time with Labor’s Georgia Tree and Liberal candidate Ryan Robertson over two days, to gauge the reaction before the August 29 by-election triggered by Labor minister Paul Papalia’s resignation.

Early voting starts in two weeks.

Mr Herdegen said he hasn’t been doorknocking much, focusing his campaign on shops, pubs and meeting with local businesses rather than going house to house, arguing it is more efficient to get his name out there.

He said most people he meets want change.

“It’s been really supportive, it’s a lot of anti-Labor, not sort of too many people really are talking to us at all about the Liberal Party or any of the other candidates and it’s been overwhelmingly positive,” he said.

“Obviously there’s people that maybe are not supporters of us that don’t come and talk to us or whatever.

“We’ve been going to a lot of places that really would have been staunch Labor spots, watering holes like pubs and that, where it’s been 70, 80 per cent positive towards us.”

Mr Herdegen, a local gym franchisee, has been vocal about rising crime rates.

But he stopped short of proposing solutions.

“I‘m not going to go into policy on the fly,” he said.

“At the end of the day, we’re not going to form a government here, so we’re not going to be able to form legislation. We’re aware of that. The biggest thing that we can really help do is drive that change”.

On homelessness, he blamed the State’s rapid population growth.

“We need to stop the the mass immigration to begin with, there’s too many,” Mr Herdegen said. “We simply can’t have that many people coming in when we don’t have the infrastructure to support it.”

And he brushed off any further questions about his previous social media post, admitting to “doing large amounts of cocaine” and being “pretty close with some Albanian underworld figures” while living in London.

Mr Herdegen wouldn’t give any details about these figures.

“Well, there’s certainly no links to the Albanian mafia,” he said.

“When I’m talking to people in the electorate here, they’re not talking to me about a blog post from 10 years ago, and it’s actually been really supportive. You know, I think people see me as a real person they can relate to.”

He believes the by-election is a two-horse race between One Nation and Labor.

Labor’s Georgia Tree got a head start as the first candidate announced, but she’s been on the back foot after it was revealed by The West that she lives more than 60km away from the electorate in Perth’s inner-north.

She’s moved in with relatives in Port Kennedy for now, and was warmly received by locals while doorknocking in Lakelands on Friday — with Labor MPs Mark Folkard and Rhys Williams, and new Mines Minister Daniel Pastorelli among her campaign team.

Labor is sparing no expense to try to hold the seat with a $300,000 campaign fund, and estimates it had knocked on 10,000 doors since the campaign started — or about 370 per day.

The main complaint Ms Tree received was about a bad smell from a nearby piggery and composting facility.

Her pitch to those who opened their front door focused on the cost of living, and the Cook Government’s $100 fuel support payment and student assistant payments.

Ms Tree was confident the State’s economic success will help her fend-off One Nation.

“Some people are struggling, but compared to other places in the world where that kind of right-wing movement has really taken hold, our economy is not like that,” she said.

“People are doing quite well, and people are really happy to live here.”

Liberal candidate Ryan Robertson was flanked by MPs Liam Staltari and Anthony Spagnolo, and estimated he has knocked on about 250 doors each day.

He said people are lining up to get rid of Labor, but has his work cut out convincing them that the Liberals are the better alternative.

One man wished him good luck but added he would “put you second” after One Nation, despite having reservations.

“I don’t think they (One Nation) will be good in government, but it’s a nudge,” he said.

Mr Robertson admitted he’s the underdog, in a seat Labor retained in 2025 with an 11.5 per cent margin.

“They’re not actively saying that they’re going to vote Liberal, but they’re also not saying that they’re voting One Nation,” he said.

“They’re just saying how disappointed they are that they haven’t been receiving what they believe they should.

“I feel the frustration, I live here, so I’m not immune to that.”