Pauline Hanson has officially launched One Nation’s campaign for the 2026 Victorian state election by unveiling the party’s first eight candidates and appointing Victorian president Warren Pickering to lead its statewide push ahead of the November poll.

The announcement marks One Nation’s most significant Victorian campaign since entering the state’s Parliament, with the party planning to contest almost every Legislative Assembly seat while seeking to expand its representation in the Legislative Council.

Introducing the team in Melbourne, Hanson described Pickering as the right person to lead the campaign and praised his work as Victorian state president.

“Warren has done a great job as state president of One Nation in Victoria,” Hanson said.

“We’ll have a talented team of people intent on restoring Victoria and removing a tired Labor government.”

Pickering, an Army veteran who has previously worked as a bricklayer and in the coal industry, will contest the lower house seat of Pakenham while overseeing One Nation’s statewide election strategy.

Speaking at the campaign launch, he said the party intended to compete as a genuine alternative government rather than simply increase its parliamentary representation.

“We intend for this to be a November to remember and we are contesting to govern,” Pickering told reporters.

The first group of candidates reflects a diverse range of professional backgrounds.

Among the most prominent is former Liberal Party member Colleen Harkin, who left the Liberal Party after publicly criticising its internal direction and later joined One Nation.

Also standing is Mark Nicholson, the Fitzroy-based animator behind One Nation’s widely viewed Please Explain political cartoon series, which has attracted millions of online views for its satirical commentary on Australian politics.

Another high-profile recruit is Geelong councillor and former police officer Chris Burson.

Burson has previously stated that he worked within the Victoria Police Close Personal Protection Team responsible for protecting former Premier Daniel Andrews and his family during parts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

He has since become an outspoken critic of the former government’s pandemic policies and policing priorities.

The ticket also includes incumbent Northern Victoria Legislative Council member Rikkie-Lee Tyrrell, who is seeking re-election after becoming One Nation’s first Victorian MP elected to the state Parliament in 2022.

Additional candidates announced include Fiona Lopez, Aaron Sandford and Natalie Adams, while the party indicated that further candidates would be revealed as the campaign expands across Victoria.

The launch was accompanied by strong political messaging aimed at differentiating One Nation from both Labor and the Liberal Party.

Party leaders argued that Victoria faces mounting challenges relating to cost-of-living pressures, crime, energy affordability, government debt and public confidence in political institutions.

They said detailed policy announcements covering agriculture, energy, crime, corruption, education and small business would be released progressively throughout the campaign.

The event also generated controversy after Hanson barred journalists from the ABC, The Guardian and several other major media organisations from attending the official press conference.

She defended the decision by accusing those outlets of unfair reporting and repeated “spin”, saying One Nation would no longer tolerate what it regarded as biased coverage.

The move attracted criticism from political opponents, while party supporters argued the full event was still made available through alternative media coverage.

Later the same day, Hanson attended a campaign function in Hawthorn where protesters gathered outside the venue.

Victoria Police deployed Public Order Response officers and mounted police to separate demonstrators from party supporters after several protesters reportedly breached police barriers.

Despite the demonstrations, the campaign event proceeded and Hanson said One Nation would continue campaigning extensively throughout Victoria in the lead-up to the election.

Political analysts have described the Victorian campaign as an important test for One Nation following recent polling suggesting increased support for the party among some voters concerned about housing affordability, crime, energy prices and the cost of living.

Although opinion polls do not determine election outcomes, the party believes the current political environment provides an opportunity to expand beyond its existing parliamentary representation.

Victoria’s proportional representation system in the Legislative Council has historically created opportunities for minor parties to secure representation with relatively modest statewide support.

At the same time, winning lower house seats remains considerably more challenging because of the state’s preferential voting system and the dominance of Labor and the Liberal–National Coalition in most electorates.

One Nation nevertheless says it intends to contest broadly across the state rather than concentrate only on upper house positions.

Pickering argued that the party’s objective is to present Victorians with what he described as a genuine conservative alternative focused on restoring public confidence in government, strengthening policing, improving regional communities and reducing pressure on households facing rising living costs.

Whether One Nation can convert growing public attention into additional parliamentary seats will ultimately be determined at the November election.

For now, the unveiling of its first eight candidates signals the beginning of the party’s largest and most ambitious Victorian state election campaign to date, with Warren Pickering leading a team that combines experienced political figures, local government representatives, former law enforcement officers and newcomers from outside traditional politics.