Australia’s far-right party makes further gains, taking seat in western state

SYDNEY, Aug 30 (Reuters) – Australia’s far-right One Nation party won a seat in a state parliament long held by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s centre-left Labor Party, continuing a surge that had gained the populist group its first seat in the national lower house.

Gym owner Luke Herdegen scored One Nation’s first lower house seat in the Western Australia parliament, an official tally showed on Sunday, taking a seat in the state capital Perth that had been held by Labor for decades.

One Nation, led by Senator Pauline Hanson, overtook Labor in a national opinion poll ​for the first time in June, a month after winning its first elected seat in the federal House of Representatives.

Founded in 1997, One Nation long occupied the political fringe, but its hard line on immigration has drawn more support amid public frustration over housing shortages, high living costs and a general decline in support for Australia’s major parties.

The result underscores the challenge One Nation poses to Australia’s main centre-left and centre-right parties as it converts rising poll numbers into seats, raising the stakes ahead of an election in Victoria state later this year.

Tanya Plibersek, a senior federal Labor minister, said in televised remarks that Herdegen’s win meant her party should “think about what more we need to do to communicate the fact that the Labor Party is the only party focused on real delivery to take pressure off ordinary Australians”.

Herdegen said late on Saturday that his win in the Perth suburb of Secret Harbour represented a “huge message” to Labor in Western Australia and nationally.

“It sends a message that there are no safe Labor seats in this state or in this country,” he said in remarks broadcast by News24.

Herdegen beat a Labor newcomer with 57% of the vote in the by-election after longtime incumbent Paul Papalia resigned, citing a family medical issue. The constituency, which changed boundaries and names over the years, had been held by Labor since 1989.

(Reporting by Sam McKeith in Sydney; Editing by William Mallard)

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