(Keane Bourke’s article from THE ABC NEWS AUSTRALIA on 30 August 2026.)
One
Nation secures historic victory in Secret Harbour by-election, taking first WA
lower house seat; One Nation has scored a historic win in Western Australia,
securing its first lower house seat in the state.
The
ABC's chief elections and data analyst Casey Briggs called the outer suburban
seat of Secret Harbour for One Nation's Luke Herdegen a little over four hours
after votes began to be counted. One Nation's WA leader Rod Caddies claimed
victory at 9.30pm local time, although Labor had yet to concede.
Labor's candidate was political staffer-turned-Woodside lobbyist Georgia Tree. The area was traditionally safe Labor territory, having been held in different shapes and under different names since 1989, including most recently by Paul Papalia on an 11.5 per cent margin. 'Fight of our lives'; WA Labor Premier Roger Cook had repeatedly described the by-election as a "fight for our lives", given the threat posed by One Nation.
That
the minor party was able to achieve such a large swing in Labor heartland will
be watched closely around the country, both as an indication of the support
behind One Nation and to learn lessons in how it can be campaigned against.
Mr
Herdegen said his victory sent a loud message. "There are no safe Labor
seats in this state or in this country anymore," he said. "The people
have spoken today. A message that will send shock waves across the entire
country ... and put every MP in this entire country on notice. None of these
MPs are safe from the orange tsunami."
Mr Caddies said Australia's two-party political system was "dead". "You're witnessing a result they said was impossible," he said. "Labor owned this part of Perth. The working families out here would always vote Labor. But a safe seat does not stay safe if you ignore it long enough."
The
area is home to a mix of older West Australians and young families, with new
housing developments dotted along the coast, and shares many similarities with
areas in other states where One Nation has performed well in recent elections.
Mr
Herdegen is a gym owner who said he moved to Western Australia three years ago
because there were better business opportunities. He campaigned on a wide array
of issues including how often red bins were being collected in the area, local
housing pressures and migration.
After
being pre-selected, an old social media post emerged in which he spoke about
heavy cocaine use and being connected to the Albanian mafia while living in
London a decade ago. "That's a
story I put out there to try and help inspire people to live happier and
healthier lives and I think it really did help a lot of people," Mr
Herdegen said at the time.
Secret Harbour fast facts: The beachside outer suburban seat south of Perth is very safe Labor territory with the party holding it with a 11.5% swing. It's been vacant since the resignation of Labor's Paul Papalia in July who held the seat and its predecessors since 2007. 16 candidates have nominated for election. Secret Harbour is home to many young, working families and ranks fourth out of WA's 59 electorates for residents who nominate British or Australian as their ancestry
Voters
wanted change: Many voters the ABC spoke to before the election highlighted a
desire for change and a frustration with local, state and federal governments. Many
voters have said that they are disappointed in Labor in what was once a safe
seat for the party.
Labor
will be able to take some heart from the fact that by-elections can often
produce results which differ from general elections, because the government of
the day won't change no matter the outcome. But the result remains a
significant blow for the party which has been dominant in WA for nearly a
decade.
Leader
of the WA opposition Basil Zempilas had claimed a win for One Nation would be a
win for his party, because it would show falling support for Labor. It prompted
a fierce rebuke from federal MP Andrew Hastie who accused Mr Zempilas of
accepting defeat.
His
seat of Canning overlaps with Secret Harbour and is expected to be targeted by
One Nation at the next federal election, making any lessons from this
by-election particularly pertinent for him.
