Pauline Hanson’s One Nation has held the second meeting of its newly formed Macquarie branch, attracting more than 60 people to the Clarendon Hotel function room on Tuesday night, as the party continues building its organisation across the Hawkesbury and Blue Mountains.
More than 60 people attend the second meeting of Hawkesbury Macquarie One Nation branch held Tuesday night. This follows the branch’s inaugural meeting in July.
Further office bearers were elected, including a campaign coordinator, as the group continued building the organisational structure required to contest future elections.
Those attending were reportedly told the Macquarie branch now has more than 400 members, with a target of reaching 1,000 members by the end of the year. These figures would be envy of all political parties.
The Gazette has not independently verified those membership figures.
Hawkesbury preselection closed
Applications for One Nation preselection for the NSW State seat of Hawkesbury closed on July 31.
While branches can suggest and support potential candidates, the meeting was told the final decision on who is endorsed to stand for election is made by the party’s head office.
One Nation operates under a company directorship with Senator Hanson calling the shots. That means the rapidly growing local branch may influence the process, but does not have the final say over who appears on the ballot paper under the One Nation banner.
Slide line talk turns to a Council ticket
The meeting came on the same evening Hawkesbury City Council announced the appointment of former Director of Infrastructure Services Will Barton as its new General Manager.
The announcement inevitably became part of the informal discussion around the room.
Mr Barton has served as Acting General Manager since April and had previously been Council’s Director of Infrastructure Services from November 2021.
Some members questioned Mr Barton’s infrastructure management record during the period in which the once profitable Council sewer scheme became one of Council’s most expensive financial and operational issues causing the significant rise in Council debt and charges to some ratepayers.
Those conversations were informal and do not represent an adopted position of the One Nation branch.
That, reportedly prompted recollections of the Hawkesbury Ratepayers Association and the local government elections of the 1990s, when a Ratepayers Association ticket succeeded in electing six councillors.
For those in the room, the memory was a reminder that organised community groups have previously been capable of reshaping the composition of Hawkesbury.
The conversation is said to reflect a broader theme running through the evening: a belief that residents dissatisfied with existing political structures and government should become involved rather than simply complain from the sidelines.
Blue Mountains expansion discussed
The meeting reportedly discussed establishing a sub-branch in the Blue Mountains, the other major part of the federal electorate of Macquarie.
Building an organisation on both sides of the electorate would give One Nation a broader base and reduce the risk of the branch becoming primarily Hawkesbury-focused.
A familiar mob
Despite One Nation’s recent efforts to attract new supporters, the demographics of Tuesday night’s meeting looked surprisingly familiar.
As with most political party meetings in the Hawkesbury, the overwhelming majority of participants appeared to be of retirement age, with only a light sprinkling of younger members.
That creates the same challenge facing Labor, Liberal, National and Greens: how to convince younger residents that branch politics is worth their time.
The conversations around the room were not dominated by anger or exclusion.
According to one participant, there was talk about better functioning government, improved housing, education and employment opportunities, and making everyday life easier for local families.
There was also understood to be a strong view that everybody has something to contribute to the community.
Apparently the mood was more inclined towards participation and inclusion than exclusion.
Standard warning about the media
There was, however, one part of the meeting that sounded very much like the mainstream political parties One Nation regularly criticises.
Members were advised of the party’s strict media policy and warned about speaking to journalists because of the risk of being misrepresented.
It is a familiar approach across modern politics, where parties increasingly centralise control over who can speak publicly and what can be said.
For an organisation presenting itself as an alternative to the political establishment, the similarity is noteworthy.
Political parties have legitimate reasons for wanting candidates and office bearers to communicate accurately.
But tight media control can also make it more difficult for voters to hear directly from the ordinary people who make up local branches.
Gazette seeks younger voices
The Gazette has requested interviews with two of the youngest members of the Macquarie branch.
One is Harry, a younger family man who has taken on a leadership role in the organisation as branch co-ordinator. The other is Stephanie who also has a young family and is involved with organising the branch. Both live in Hawkesbury.
The Gazette wants to hear what brought them into politics and, more importantly, what their vision is for the Hawkesbury.
Their answers may prove more useful in understanding One Nation’s future in the Hawkesbury than the speeches of national political figures Senator Pauline Hanson and Barnaby Joyce MP.
From protest vote to organisation
The significance of Tuesday night is about the organisation.
One Nation now has a functioning branch, office bearers, campaign structures and discussions about expansion into the Blue Mountains.
It is also beginning to engage with the same questions that confront every political organisation: candidate selection, media management, membership growth and whether dissatisfaction with government can be converted into organised political action.
On the same night Hawkesbury Council announced another General Manager, conversations at Clarendon moved naturally from state and federal politics to the performance of local government.
But the reported underlying message from the room was clear enough. Many of the people turning up to One Nation meetings are not simply looking for someone to blame.
They want government to work better and an increasing number appear willing to become directly involved in trying to change it.
