One Nation Victoria election campaign: Warren Pickering and Pauline Hanson unveil policies at Melbourne launch
One Nation is ramping up its Victorian election campaign with a major policy pitch as protesters prepare to descend on its launch.
One Nation’s Victorian leader will kick off the party’s state election campaign by unveiling a raft of policy commitments at its campaign launch.
Activists are preparing to protest outside the event on Saturday at Melbourne’s Crown conference centre, with a major rally also planned later in October.
State leader Warren Pickering will be joined by party leader Pauline Hanson along with more than 750 supporters.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.A number of policies are expected to be announced at the launch, including a harsher stance on bail and additional police members on the beat.
“We should launch 95 per cent of our candidates and we will launch a full policy platform for a better Victoria,” Mr Pickering told 3AW on Friday.
One in three Victorians rate crime as a top issue, higher than in any other state, according to the latest Mood of the Nation report released by public affairs and strategic communications consultancy SEC Newgate on Monday.
The polling found voters nominated the coalition as being best placed to manage crime and community safety, compared with 16 per cent for Labor, with 19 per cent selecting One Nation.
Crime and bail remained a top priority for One Nation, Mr Pickering said on Friday.
“(It) is the key issue in the state right now and people need to feel safe in their homes and places of work once more,” he said.
“You make that happen by taking a pragmatic approach, not an expensive one, to ensuring we get more police on the streets, get our empty stations manned and ensure bail laws and sentences are fitting with the crimes.”
A rally is expected to kick off outside the campaign launch on Saturday, organised by Unite Against Racism - a coalition of anti-racist, pro-refugee and pro-Palestinian groups.
A major rally against the party will be held at the State Library later in October.
“We’ll be there on Saturday to let One Nation supporters know that their racist party will be challenged wherever it appears,” spokesperson Julie Monteiro said.
“Migrants are welcome, racists are not.”
The launch on Saturday will mark the first major test for Mr Pickering, who faced intense scrutiny after admitting to taking speed, ecstasy and marijuana before joining the Australian Defence Force at the age of 28.
During a heated press conference on September 8, the state leader said he had a past littered with “mistakes,” but insisted he was the right person for the top job.
His admissions came after the Australian newspaper published a series of allegations raised by his former partner.
Mr Pickering, who is standing for the lower house seat of Pakenham in the November state election, previously ran in the 2022 state election and for the federal Senate in 2025 without success.
The latest Resolve Political Monitor, conducted in September and published by Nine Newspapers, shows Labor’s primary vote was steady at 25 per cent, the coalition’s pushed up one point to 27 per cent and One Nation is still at 23 per cent.
