Extract from ABC News
Jennifer Game says One Nation is run "more like a small business". (Four Corners: Ryan Sheridan)
Jennifer Game considered herself a "true believer" in One Nation. Not anymore.
"They use people," she said.
"It's not a democratic party in the way that other parties are.
"They've got no checks and balances on them."
Ms Game was One Nation's party leader in South Australia, and policy adviser to Pauline Hanson for eight years.
But after having a front row seat to its operations, Ms Game said she would not vote for One Nation at the next election.
"It's not a party, in truth," she said.
"It's more like a small business."
Once a fringe political party, Pauline Hanson's One Nation has emerged as a third force in Australian politics, appealing to voters fed up with the two major parties.
Its popularity, evidenced by six months of strong polling, threatens the Coalition's hold on regional Australia and has given Pauline Hanson unprecedented influence over the national debate.
Ms Game said at first she was impressed by Senator Hanson's work ethic and direct communication style.
"She was, in the beginning, very hard-working and very straightforward," she said.
Pauline Hanson and Jennifer Game used to work closely together. (Supplied: Jennifer Game)
But over time, Ms Game said she saw a different side of Senator Hanson.
Ms Game said the growing influence of Senator Hanson's then-chief of staff, James Ashby, undermined her authority.
"She had become a weak character," she said.
"She was dominated by her [then] chief of staff, James Ashby, and … she was just unable to break free of that.
"She became highly dependent on him. He was running everything."
James Ashby is One Nation's national director. (AAP: Darren England)
Ms Game ran as a One Nation Senate candidate at last year's federal election.
When she failed to win a seat, she received a text from Mr Ashby criticising her ability to sell One Nation's "message", followed by what she described as an angry phone call from Senator Hanson.
"She used a voice that I've not heard before," Ms Game said.
"The first thing she said to me was, 'What happened to your personal vote?'
"I think she thought I was going to easily get in, and that I'd done something, that it was my fault.
"She demands enormous loyalty from people, but she doesn't give it."
One Nation leader Pauline Hanson and Jennifer Game worked together for years. (ABC News: Ian Cutmore)
After Ms Game quit the party, One Nation failed to repay her $2,000 nomination deposit, and more than $14,000 in claimable expenses from last year's election.
Eventually, her deposit was returned after a debt recovery process.
In June, a magistrate ordered One Nation to pay her more than $14,000 in electoral expenses.
"[For them] not to pay me the money I was entitled to, when I'd spent it and they'd been reimbursed for it, that crossed a line for me," Ms Game said.
One Nation's influence faces test in Victoria
One Nation's rise has this year delivered a by-election victory in the federal seat of Farrer, as well as four lower house and three upper house seats in South Australia's state parliament and a by-election victory in Western Australia.
Attention is now turning to Victoria.
Experienced political candidates who wanted to run for One Nation in the upcoming Victorian state election have told Four Corners the party's preselection process was slow, chaotic, not merit-based and a money-making exercise for the party.
Six would-be candidates, including former mayors, local councillors and one ex-MP, say they witnessed a shambolic process that could undermine the party's chances of success in the November 28 poll.
"[It was] very sloppy, ad hoc, probably pre-determined and dishonest," former Liberal National MP Aidan McLindon told Four Corners.
Aidan McLindon has previously run for multiple political parties. (Four Corners: Ryan Sheridan )
Mr McLindon defeated Pauline Hanson in the Queensland state seat of Beaudesert in 2009.
He said he was approached to be part of One Nation's leadership team in Victoria.
After a disagreement with Warren Pickering, who eventually became state leader, Mr McLindon said his application was rejected.
He resigned from the party soon after.
"Victoria's been largely neglected and for One Nation to treat a lot of the candidate applications with the contempt that it did, we don't deserve that," he said.
One Nation said it received 1,200 applications to run for office.
Each would-be candidate was charged $150 to apply, and another $5,500 if they were chosen to run.
Mr McLindon said candidates were not told they would be hit with the additional $5,500 fee until the end of the interview process.
"What we're seeing here is a bit of an insidious money grab,"he said.
"'Oh, by the way, we've got all your hopes up, but before you sign the dotted line, here's a $5,500 [fee].'"
The fees add up to about $700,000 from the preselection process for the lower house alone, something Mr McLindon believes is exploitative during a cost-of-living crisis.
While Labor says it does not charge prospective candidates an application fee, the Liberal Party has been known to charge up to $5,000, depending on the seat, to help cover the cost of background checks and to discourage frivolous applications.
However, would-be Liberal candidates are aware they will be charged a fee when they apply.
Candidates report an undemocratic preselection process
Would-be candidates have told Four Corners One Nation's preselection process in Victoria was not democratic.
Instead, about 160 of the 1,200 applicants who made it through the original vetting process participated in 15-minute Zoom interviews with a three-person panel that included Mr Pickering.
One would-be candidate, who was passed over for pre-selection and requested anonymity, said it did not feel like a proper interview.
Warren Pickering is One Nation's Victorian state leader. (AAP: James Ross)
"[Mr Pickering] had a scripted monologue that took up virtually the entire 15 minutes, and then he asked some inane questions," the former councillor says.
"I said 'You are leaving it late for candidates to campaign', and he said 'We are sitting at around 20 per cent for primary vote. If we keep our mouths shut, we will be around 35 per cent in the polls'."
The former councillor said applicants were prevented from applying to run in the upper house — the seats One Nation is more likely to win.
Michael Labrador, a Whittlesea councillor who said he won pre-selection but eventually chose not to run, agreed the process did not reward quality candidates.
"One Nation espoused meritocracy, but the process wasn't meritocratic at all,"he said.
"Pretty much anyone with political ambition, or who had merit or experience behind them, or a community profile was shut out of the winnable seats in the upper house."
Michael Labrador says One Nation’s conduct left him feeling frustrated. (Four Corners: Simon Winter )
Mr Labrador, who is a friend of Mr McLindon, said that by early September — with less than 90 days to polling day — the party had only announced a third of its lower house candidates.
"They're trying to build a grassroots campaign on quicksand," he said.
"You don't have much time to get your troops on the ground. You don't have time to build volunteers and a donor base."
One of the decisive factors in Mr Labrador not running was the $5,500 candidate fee, which he said he was informed about at the end of his interview.
"That was quite shocking to me," he said.
He said the fee would be difficult for blue-collar workers and small business owners to pay.
"It felt a bit frustrating to see that we are being called to put money down, when I know that the party has some significant financial backing," Mr Labrador said.
Adriana Buccianti, a former Trumpet of Patriots candidate, signed up for the One Nation preselection process full of hope in February.
She did not make it through to the interview process and said the party did not inform her she was unsuccessful.
"I never heard back. I never got an email, nothing," Ms Buccianti said.
Ms Buccianti said she was so disillusioned by the preselection process she quit the party soon after.
Successful candidate lauds 'fantastic' preselection process
Michael Piastrino, the One Nation candidate for Berwick, told Four Corners he had no problem with the preselection process.
"I was rapt," he said.
"The vetting process was fantastic. I think it was done so professionally."
Michael Piastrino praised One Nation's preselection process. (Four Corners: Ryan Sheridan)
The former Liberal candidate, who runs an award-winning hairdressing salon in Albert Park, said he didn't think the party lost anything by announcing its candidates later than expected.
"To run a strong campaign, if you're known in the area, 12 to 14 weeks is plenty of time," he said.
"We've got farmers, all sorts of different people with different backgrounds and professions and we've all come together … and we'll get the job done."
Former aspiring candidate says James Ashby deserves more scrutiny
In the lead-up to the preselection process, Mr McLindon said he met with One Nation powerbroker, Mr Ashby.
"[James Ashby] is somebody who has been in the game of politics for a long time, which unfortunately for him, is probably just that, a game," Mr McLindon said.
"This is serious. This is a country to save. These are people's livelihoods at stake."
A decade ago, Mr Ashby was caught boasting about how the party could potentially profit from a Queensland state election.
James Ashby has been involved in several political controversies. (AAP: Darren England)
"Can I just point out, and I've said this once before, there is an opportunity for us to make some money on this if we play it smart," he said in a secret recording of a meeting obtained by the ABC in 2017.
"Now I know they say you can't make money out of state elections, but you can."
At the time, Mr Ashby dismissed the recording as part of a "brainstorming session", and said "we never went through with it".
Mr McLindon said he was concerned the party was not treating prospective candidates with the dignity they deserved.
"There's a certain level of decency, communication, and respect that's required that I do not believe James Ashby is giving to people," he said.
"I think it's well overdue that Pauline Hanson puts the magnifying glass on a couple of those key people around her, otherwise it will be the demise of the party."
Four Corners repeatedly requested interviews with key figures in One Nation, including Senator Hanson and Mr Ashby. None were available.
A series of detailed questions sent to One Nation went unanswered.
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