Former United Australia Party (UAP) leader Craig Kelly has joined Pauline Hanson’s One Nation.
Ms Hanson last night confirmed rumours that Mr Kelly has been recruited to head up her party’s next federal campaign effort, and Mr Kelly did the same on Wednesday.
In an X post linking an article from The Daily Telegraph, Ms Hanson hinted at immigration being a key issue for One Nation’s upcoming federal election campaign.
Mr Kelly did the same on Thursday in a statement on X which linked to the same article and read: “It’s game on. I’ve officially joined Pauline Hanson One Nation to provide real opposition to the Labor/Liberal cartel.
“If you follow the science and understand the nonsense of Net Zero and if you are concerned how extreme migration is pushing up rents and mortgages and fundamentally changing the Australian way of life for the worse – come and join the fight.”
It is unclear whether One Nation will focus on immigration from an economic or cultural angle, or if the party’s messaging will endeavour to strike a balance for voters.
Ms Hanson has been criticised in recent weeks for failing to speak out as strongly on immigration as she did in the past, and just days before Mr Kelly’s appointment, Noticer News contributor Peter Johnson wrote that Ms Hanson had “betrayed her supporters on immigration“.
Recent Institute of Public Affairs research indicated a record-high intake of over 1 million long-term arrivals last year, while Australia Bureau of Statistics data confirmed that 737,000 immigrants of all types arrived in the last financial year, putting pressure on the housing market.
Mr Kelly has a long history in politics that includes 12 years as the Liberal member for Hughes, and he has managed to accumulate a large audience on X, boasting over 121,000 followers – only 30,000 behind Opposition Leader Dutton.
But in late 2022 Clive Palmer’s deregistration of the United Australia Party rendered his post-election role of UAP National Director redundant.
Leaked texts published last week suggested Prime Minister Albanese intends to hold an early election this year, which may have affected the timing of Ms Hanson’s surprise appointment.
Political consultant John Macgowan gave a scathing assessment of the move on X, saying “One Nation just aren’t serious about winning”.
“Kelly got 7% in the seat he’d held for 12 years, in the same election PHON got 4.9%. There is a double digit campaign for the right out there but these guys can’t do it.”
