Advocacy group GetUp has raised more than $400k for an anti-Pauline Hanson campaign in the battleground electorate of Farrer.
The campaign centres on the populist leader’s affinity for Donald Trump and links her to the rising costs that rural voters are most vulnerable to, including fuel and fertiliser.
The May 9 Farrer by-election was triggered by the resignation of former opposition leader Sussan Ley. It has set up a four-way contest between candidates from One Nation, the Liberals and Nationals, and Climate 200-backed independent Michelle Milthorpe for the NSW seat.
An Australia Institute poll found in early March that Ms Milthorpe and One Nation were leading the race. Voters were surveyed before the announcement of One Nation candidate David Farley.
The populist party has now staked its ambitions on Mr Farley’s campaign in Farrer to win its first federal lower house contest – and establish the party’s second MP – after a rapid surge in popularity over the summer.
But GetUp’s ads – plastered across billboards, television, radio and digital media – aim to dash these hopes by highlighting Senator Hanson’s links to Mr Trump and billionaire Gina Rinehart, Nine Newspapers reports.
The campaign also purportedly seeks to debunk the One Nation leader’s claim of “standing with everyday Australians” by pointing to her voting record on health care, age pensions, child care and corporate tax cuts.
“ … her political support comes from some of the wealthiest and most powerful interests in the country. And her record in power tells a different story,” the campaign website WhoisHanson.com reads.
GetUp aims to spend at least $600,000 on the anti-Hanson campaign by the time the polls close on May 9.
“Our research shows that when soft One Nation voters are shown the actual record of the party and its MPs – voting to cut benefits like the aged pension and let the biggest corporations pay less tax – her support drops significantly,” GetUp interim chief executive Paul Ferris said in a statement.
“Similarly, voters strongly dislike her links to Trump, her billionaire backers and her lavish lifestyle at the public expense.”
Senator Hanson has publicly endorsed Mr Trump and described him as a “re-energised, strong, and patriotic leader who has the best interests of his people at heart”.
She also lavished praises on his hard-line approach to immigration, economic, and climate policy while attending a conservative conference at the US leader’s Mar-A-Lago resort in November.
Senator Hanson has also called on Australia to have deeper involvement in the US-Israel war on Iran to support American efforts in the region.
