Hello and welcome to this Sunday 10 May. And welcome, too, to an upturned political order in Australia, after One Nation won its first ever lower house seat at the Farrer byelection.Pauline Hanson says her rightwing populist party is coming after Coalition and Labor seats around Australia, declaring her supporters want to “take the country back” after winning an emphatic victory on Saturday.
The result is stunning for a number of reasons: One Nation candidate David Farley finished in a two-party contest with independent Michelle Milthorpe. It was a jarring visual for political watchers used to seeing elections as red vs blue contests.
The loss will further weaken Angus Taylor’s depleted opposition, and is the latest evidence of a move away from the traditional forces in Australian politics.
Sussan Ley – the former opposition leader, whose resignation set the byelection in motion – has urged the Liberals to accept the result with “humility”, saying “voters never get it wrong”.
There is a lot to unpick today, and we’ll be bringing you coverage of reactions and news stories as they come in. The shadow treasurer, Tim Wilson, is due to be interviewed on the ABC’s Insiders program shortly.
