One Nation could have received up to $633,000 from individuals who applied to stand for election in the Australian state of Victoria, Guardian Australia has reported. Potential candidates have questioned whether the party conducted what they described as a 'money grab'.
Guardian Australia spoke to several former councillors, mayors and deputy mayors who had expressed interest in the party. They said they had gone through an application process that one described as 'pay to play', after which they were rejected. Those who applied were required to pay a $150 'non-refundable application fee', as shown in the invoices seen by Guardian.
One Nation told Guardian that 1,209 people expressed interest in the state election in November and that approximately 220 candidates advanced to the final stage. This resulted in an estimated $33,000 inflow to the party's coffers if all candidates in the final stage paid that fee. Candidates were also expected to be members of the party, which translated to an additional $72,000 based on a $60 annual membership fee.
Candidates were told during the process that if selected, they would have to pay $5,500 of their own money to stand. The majority of electoral divisions in the lower house are not considered safe seats. Although it is not uncommon for major parties to require candidates to pay application fees, they do not impose campaign fees like those charged by One Nation. The candidate fee would bring $528,000 into the party's coffers, based on 88 candidates standing for the lower house and eight for the upper house.
A political consultant who worked with One Nation in Victoria last year said that many potential candidates were frustrated by what appeared to be a 'money grab exercise'. One Nation, he said in an interview for the third episode of the Populist programme, 'is disproportionately focused on profit rather than politics'. Based on polling, One Nation is also on track to receive $10 million in public funding for elections through the Victorian system.
Candidates who spoke to Guardian were questioning whether the application process was genuine. The party conducted 15-minute video interviews with each candidate before making a decision, and all potential candidates were required to sign confidentiality agreements regarding the process. There is also concern among candidates that those for the upper house were 'captains' chosen by the state leader of the party, Warren Pickering. One Nation overlooked candidates with significant experience in local government and professional experience.
A letter of complaint sent to the party by a former Victorian mayor states that the process left many candidates feeling 'that we were being used, that we were being lied to, that we were being deceived and manipulated'. In a letter seen by Guardian, it states: 'The problem is that the process increasingly looks like a cover for decisions that have already been made, while creating the public impression of an open search for candidates based on merit.' The letter adds: 'Candidates should not be encouraged to invest their time, energy, reputation and personal details in an elaborate exercise simply to provide legitimacy, numbers or cover for what is now seen as a biased and self-serving process by the leadership.'
Another local government member who applied was questioning whether the process was a 'money grab'. One candidate said: 'People are being asked for $5,500, which is a lot of money, from ordinary people, from mums and dads.' Another stated: 'I think it is a money grab for the federal election. My feeling is that they are using all the states to raise funds for the federal election where they want to take power.' Another candidate said they believed that, according to the party constitution, all funds would be transferred to the One Nation headquarters in Brisbane. 'They will receive $800,000 in the treasury without having done much,' one of them said.
A spokesperson for One Nation said the party uses a 'nominal cost model to conduct police and other checks on candidates'. The spokesperson added: 'All fees paid by candidates were transferred to the Victorian campaign account in accordance with the rules of the Victorian Electoral Commission.'
