Opposition leader Angus Taylor rules out carving up seats with One Nation as party raises $2m
Thu 11 Jun 2026 at 9:27am
Angus Taylor has ruled out sharing the seats the Coalition targets with One Nation. (ABC News: Marcus Stimson)
In short:
Opposition leader Angus Taylor says the Coalition has no plan to share the seats the party targets at the next federal election with One Nation
Liberal MP Tony Pasin has floated the idea in comments to The Australian newspaper as One Nation supports have raised $2 million since launching.
Labor issued a fundraising email to supporters as Pauline Hanson raised an "unprecedented" $600,000 in a few hours
Opposition leader Angus Taylor has ruled out an MP's suggestion the Coalition should carve up the seats it contests with One Nation at the next federal election.
It comes as Pauline Hanson's party says its "Fire the Liar" fundraiser has brought in $2 million since its launch.
Liberal frontbencher Tony Pasin has told The Australian newspaper the party could work "hand in glove" with One Nation to target seats each party had a chance of winning from Labor.
Mr Pasin's proposal comes amid One Nation's rapid fundraising effort and multiple polls finding that voters were more likely to vote for One Nation than any other party.
Hanson adviser says One Nation 'stole' donation slogan from Sky News host — as it happenedMr Taylor has previously indicated he is open to working with any party to remove Labor from government, but on Thursday said there was no plan for a non-compete agreement with Senator Hanson's party.
"No, there's no plan to carve up seats," Mr Taylor told the ABC.
"We won't be doing that."
Tony Pasin (left) says the Liberal Party could work "hand in glove" with One Nation. (ABC News: Matt Roberts)
He said the Coalition would focus its efforts on fighting against the Labor government, adding that "every dollar being raised right now should be focused on beating Labor".
Liberal senator James Paterson also rejected the South Australian MP's proposal, saying it was unclear which candidates and policies One Nation would take to an election in 2028.
He said it was also too early to discuss preference deals with the party.
"I am not interested in dividing the spoils with another political party two years out from the election and frankly hitching our wagon to their brand, with all the risks that that entails," Senator Paterson said.
It could be some time before One Nation candidates are preselected. (ABC News: Matt Roberts)
"Who knows how many of their MPs are going to defect or be found to be invalidly elected between now and then.
"I think the Liberal Party needs to focus on earning back the trust and support of our traditional voters who we've lost, before we contemplate any arrangement with any other party."
Moderate NSW senator Maria Kovacic said her party should focus on defeating Labor and stopping One Nation.
"There is a lot of work ahead of us, but the answer is not to stop contesting seats," she told ABC News.
Nationals senator Bridget Mckenzie also said it was too early to form any agreement.
"I think any talk like that is very, very premature. I'm not aware of any such discussions,"she said.
PM seizes on Pasin comments, questions ON fundraiser
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Mr Pasin's comments were extraordinary because they suggested the Liberal Party should give up on trying to win certain seats.
"That says it all about the way the once mainstream Liberal Party has become just a fringe party almost giving up two years before an election is held," Mr Albanese said.
Anthony Albanese has questioned how much money One Nation has raised. (ABC News: Stuart Carnegie)
He also questioned the legitimacy of One Nation's fundraising figure when asked about Ms Hanson's fundraising efforts.
"Did she though? What evidence is there?" Mr Albanese said.
One Nation chief of staff James Ashby told 2GB that 28,000 people had contributed to the campaign and that the fundraising website would be independently audited to provide a statutory declaration to say it was legitimate.
Meanwhile, Senator Hanson said her party had no reason to make up the figure.
"Why would I call out the liar, then do something like that myself? It would destroy me," she said.
"[Mr Albanese is] grabbing at straws to justify why we've got so much support from the Australian people."
Last night, Senator Hanson told a rally in Western Australia that the party would target the seats of Labor ministers, including Tony Burke's electorate of Watson and Chris Bowen's McMahon.
In response, Mr Burke said Senator Hanson "hates my part of Sydney", which is centred around the multicultural area of Bankstown and includes the suburbs of Belmore, Lakemba, Greenacre.
"She hates my part of Sydney and she said so. This is where I'm really conscious, people shouldn't pretend to be patriotic if they hate modern Australia," Mr Burke said.
"I love Australia for who we are and not for some fake idea of a nation that we have never been."
'Never seen anything like this'
One Nation's website said today that supporters had raised more than $2 million as part of a campaign targeting Labor titled "Fire the Liar".
The party said the fundraising would go towards advertising to "reach Australians that [Prime Minister Anthony] Albanese ignores".
The website highlights 10 issues that the party said Mr Albanese had lied about including immigration levels, the so-called "ISIS brides" and stage 3 tax cuts.
As One Nation was only halfway to that fundraising figure when Labor's deputy campaign director Jett Fogarty sent an urgent email to supporters calling for $20 donations for its "Victorian Election Fighting Fund".
"I've never seen anything like this," he said.
Penny Wong says she was more worried about One Nation's policies. (ABC News: Ian Cutmore)
Mr Fogarty's email said the $600,000 raised in a matter of hours was "on top of the $2 million dollars she has bragged about receiving from wealthy backers".
"It's unprecedented,"he said.
Despite the emails, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said she was more worried about the populist party's policies.
"I'm interested in what One Nation's policies are," Ms Wong told the ABC.
"What I do know, and what we all can see is that they are very good at provoking anger, but they have very little to say about what is their solutions."