United Australia Party’s Craig Kelly to Join Pauline Hanson’s One Nation Party

While the defection may boost One Nation’s chances of winning seats in NSW, in the meantime it could lose its only MP as a result.

Member for Hughes Craig Kelly looks on during Question Time in the House of Representatives at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, on Feb. 2, 2021. Sam Mooy/Getty Images

One Nation political party’s New South Wales division, formerly led by Mark Latham until his resignation last year, has recruited Craig Kelly as state director.

Mr. Kelly entered the federal parliament in the 2010 federal election, then resigned and sat as an independent in 2021. Later that year he announced that he was joining the United Australia Party (UAP), and was appointed as the party’s leader.

At the 2022 election, Mr. Kelly lost his seat of Hughes, and the UAP failed to win any seats in the House of Representatives, despite an estimated $100 million (US$65.2 million) advertising campaign. It did manage to win a single seat in the Senate, however.

Despite that, sources say One Nation’s Leader Pauline Hanson and her chief of staff, James Ashby, see Mr. Kelly as being able to craft a campaign that will win it more seats in Macquarie Street at the 2027 state election.

However, the appointment may lead to the departure of the party’s one remaining NSW MP and state leader, Tania Mihailuk.

Sources say that she is concerned that Mr. Kelly will engineer a run for the Legislative Council in 2027, putting himself at the top of the ticket ahead of her.

Resignation Could Come on March 12

She has threatened to use the first available sitting day, which would be March 12, to announce her resignation from One Nation if Mr. Kelly were appointed.

Aside from the loss of political visibility which would come with having no MPs for the next three years, her resignation would pose a significant financial hurdle, as all remaining electoral funding cease and with it, possibly, the means to pay Mr. Kelly’s wages, rumoured to be $200,000 a year.

The closure of the One Nation party’s Cessnock head office has already been announced, as the organisation feels the loss of electoral funding from the departure of Mr. Latham and and Rod Roberts, who left with him.

Ms. Hanson hopes that Mr. Kelly’s social media influence will translate to success at the polling booth. He regularly had hundreds of thousands of views on UAP’s YouTube channel, and achieved 1.33 million interactions on his Facebook page in six months, before Meta permanently banned his account in 2021 for repeated breaches of its misinformation policy.

Wide-ranging Role

In his new role, Mr. Kelly will be responsible for fielding candidates, raising funds, and making public appearances.

Following the announcement, he said the party was planning to focus on immigration and the cost of living, as well as increasing defence spending, and cutting taxes.

“Immigration is a huge issue here in western Sydney, rents in Sydney since Anthony Albanese came to power have gone up by over 30 percent,” Mr. Kelly said.

“Taxation and the cost of living also have to be addressed, giving people more money in their back pocket.”

Ms. Hanson stated that the party plans to field “a full suite of candidates across the country” at the next election, which she said was “a big job that requires experience.”

She praised Mr. Kelly’s credibility and his strong stance against COVID-19 vaccine mandates, stating that “he believes in what is best for his country.”