One Nation has enlisted an auditor to verify its multi-million dollar fundraising campaign after coming under scrutiny from Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. The party claims it raised over $2.7 million in less than two days through its 'Fire The Liar' campaign targeting the PM.
Campaign Details and Initial Reactions
The party reported that 28,000 people donated within the first 24 hours. However, Albanese cast doubt on the fundraising figures, questioning whether party leader Pauline Hanson genuinely raised the money. 'Did she though? Did she?' he asked at a press conference in Sydney on Thursday.
Senator Hanson defended the campaign, asserting she would be 'destroyed' if found lying about it. 'What evidence is there? Why would I call out the liar, 'fire the liar', then go and do something like that myself? It would destroy me,' she said.
Background of the Fundraising Stoush
The campaign was launched in response to Albanese's call for Labor supporters to donate $10 to $27 to help counter the rise of One Nation. 'Albo thinks $27 buys him the right to silence us, we think Australians deserve a real choice,' the campaign states. One Nation later reported the average donation was $59.
Audit and Verification
Hanson took to social media on Thursday evening to declare the fundraising site and money were 'ridgy didge', posting an audit document reportedly produced by AI Strategy Consulting. Software engineer Daryl Monnink wrote in his audit report, 'I am satisfied that the fundraising total calculation currently includes only successfully received and validated donation payments.'
The audit involved reviewing the website's source code, inspecting live databases, and observing the end-to-end donation process alongside site builder Peter Arvoll, Monnink said.
Political Reactions
Health Minister Mark Butler downplayed the fundraiser's significance, suggesting it would 'probably pale in comparison to the money that One Nation receives from a billionaire like Gina Rinehart.' He argued on Sunrise that 'these online fundraising campaigns are pretty common' and highlighted the 'renegotiation of the anti-Labor coalition' into a new three-party arrangement comprising the Liberal Party, National Party, and One Nation. 'At the end of the day what we're seeing here is a remake of the Coalition with some new faces but the same agenda,' Butler said.
Deputy Liberal Leader Jane Hume noted that her colleagues also experienced a fundraising surge after Labor's federal budget last month, with one telling her he raised more money since the budget than in the entire previous year. 'No wonder Australians are angry. Anthony Albanese has lied to them, directly to their face,' Hume said. 'You are poorer now today than you were four years ago because of the decisions that this Labor government have made.'
Preference Deals and Polling
When asked whether the Coalition would preference One Nation, Senator Hume claimed it was 'not on the cards', stating her party never discusses preferences before an election is called. The latest Newspoll shows One Nation, now the party with the largest primary vote in the country, poses an existential threat to the Coalition, whose vote has collapsed to 18 per cent.
Broader Political Context
The political stoush comes as the Senate prepares for a two-day inquiry into the government's budget, criticized as insufficient time to hear from critics of what Albanese himself called 'the biggest changes to taxes in a generation.'
