One Nation has announced that army veteran and former Senate candidate Warren Pickering will lead the party at the upcoming Victorian state election on Tuesday, August 3rd, 2026. Pickering, who is also the state president of One Nation in Victoria, will be the party's leader and candidate for the lower house seat of Pakenham.

At a media event, which the ABC was denied access to, Pickering told reporters that One Nation intends to govern in Victoria. He described the campaign as the biggest in the party's history and called Victoria "the most fiscally and morally bankrupt state in Australian history."

Pickering clarified that he does not intend to share government in Victoria as part of a coalition with the Liberals, countering warnings from state Labor figures about a possible Liberal-One Nation coalition.

Federal One Nation leader Pauline Hanson said the party plans to field candidates in every Victorian seat, with more announcements expected soon. Hanson stated the party aims to restore Victoria and remove what she described as the "tired and toxic Labor government," which she accused of running the state into the ground, aided by a weak Liberal opposition.

Labor's stakes in the election are considered high, with some polling suggesting Victoria could be on track for Australia's first Liberal-One Nation government.

Sources