A fierce political clash has erupted between Australia’s ruling Labor Party and center-right Liberal opposition over a blockbuster anti-government fundraising campaign by far-right populist party One Nation, which has pulled in more than $2.5 million in less than 48 hours to oust sitting Labor MPs. Titled “FIRE THE LIAR!”, the campaign accuses Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of breaking campaign promises on three high-profile issues: the stage 3 income tax cuts, national energy prices, and the Indigenous Voice to Parliament referendum. Unlike most mainstream political fundraising platforms, the campaign does not publish public records of donor identities or individual contribution amounts, a lack of transparency that prompted Albanese to question the veracity of the posted fundraising totals just days after the campaign launched. To address these doubts, One Nation leader Pauline Hanson took to social media Wednesday to share what she called a “forensic audit” conducted by independent software developer Daryl Monnink, which she claimed confirmed the legitimacy of the fundraising haul. One Nation says more than 28,000 individual donors contributed to the campaign in its first 24 hours, with the largest single donation topping $15,000. The party plans to direct the full war chest to unseating Labor incumbents, starting with key seats in Western Australia – which Hanson called a top “hit list” target – and electorates held by high-profile Labor cabinet ministers including Tony Burke, Clare O’Neil and Madeleine King. Appearing on Seven Network’s morning current affairs program Sunrise Friday, federal Health Minister Mark Butler, a senior Labor figure, sought to downplay the significance of the large fundraising haul. He argued the amount raised would be far smaller than the six- and seven-figure donations One Nation has previously received from billionaire mining magnate Gina Rinehart. Butler framed the campaign as little more than a targeted personal attack on Albanese, which would quickly fade from public attention. “It’s not a big story beyond this week and maybe next week,” he said. Butler also pushed back against claims of a hidden ideological alignment between the Liberals and One Nation, arguing the partnership between the two right-wing parties represents a rebranded Coalition with the same conservative policy platform. “At the end of the day, what we’re seeing here is a remaking of the Coalition with some different faces but the same agenda,” Butler said. “Opposed to wage increases, we’ve heard that from the Liberal Party and One Nation, hostile to Medicare, determined to sow the politics of division and talk this country down.” Those remarks drew an immediate sharp response from Deputy Liberal Leader Jane Hume, who appeared alongside Butler on the same program. Hume accused the Labor government of panicking over the strong grassroots response to One Nation’s campaign, telling Butler: “You are rattled, aren’t you Mark? You are rattled.” She argued the massive donation total reflects widespread public anger at the current government’s performance, pointing out that a single Liberal colleague had raised more in donations in the month following Labor’s 2024 federal budget than he had in the entire preceding year. “Australians are angry, and that is playing out in our politics now,” she said. When pressed on whether the Liberals would negotiate a formal preference-sharing or non-compete agreement with One Nation ahead of the next federal election, scheduled for 2025, Hume ruled out any such deal for the immediate future. “That’s not on the cards. And an election is now 18 months to two years away,” she said. “To begin with, we never ever talk about preferences before an election is actually called because you don’t know what policies they have, you don’t know what candidates they have, you don’t know what One Nation are going to be doing in two years time.” The response from the junior Coalition partner, the National Party, was far more welcoming of One Nation’s anti-Labor campaign. Nationals leader Matt Canavan told Sky News that only a full Liberal-National government can deliver the stable economic plan Australian voters are demanding, but he praised One Nation’s efforts to target Labor incumbents. “I welcome everybody trying to take down this government, because that is the first step,” Canavan said. “So, good on One Nation for doing this. They’re saying that funding, now over $2 million, is going to be used to root out Labor members of parliament.” Canavan added that any efforts by One Nation to challenge sitting Nationals MPs would not help achieve the shared goal of removing the current Labor government, but emphasized that all anti-Labor forces are aligned on the immediate priority of defeating the ruling party. “We’re all on the same page here of getting rid of this government, it’ll be then up to the Australia people about what form of government they want,” he said.
‘Personal sledge’: Health Minister Mark Butler dismisses One Nation’s anti-Labor fundraiser
