‘Never seen anyone’: Inside One Nation’s deserted Victorian headquarters

Exclusive: Months out from an election that Pauline Hanson has promised would be a turning point for her party, One Nation’s headquarters in Victoria are a deserted ghost town.

Hanson has set up shop in a quiet industrial estate in Pakenham, located about 60 kilometres east of Melbourne’s CBD, in a small warehouse-style room next to an abandoned grassy lot.

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Not a single person was in the office when nine.com.au recently paid One Nation Victoria a visit – unless you count a solitary cardboard cut-out of Hanson.

Nearby business owners and employees say the headquarters have been mostly unoccupied over the past several months.

One employee at Matcha Society, which operates a warehouse directly opposite One Nation’s office, told nine.com.au she has “never seen anyone” go in or out of the building.

The most movement she has noticed has been several journalists visiting the headquarters.

Airport shuttle bus owner Steve uses a nearby office and said he once saw a One Nation-branded trailer drive in and out of the carpark.

But he has never spotted Hanson or another One Nation staffer at the headquarters.

“I knew their office was there, but I’ve really only seen someone driving in one time with an orange trailer,” he told nine.com.au.

In a brief statement to nine.com.au, a One Nation spokesperson said: “It’s an office, not a news story.”

The spokesperson did not answer this masthead’s questions about its plans to field any candidates for the Victorian election.

Pakenham is on the outskirts of Melbourne and is widely considered a key battleground for One Nation in the upcoming state election in November.

But the party only has a small and vanishing representation in Victoria.

Rikkie-Lee Tyrrell was elected in 2022 to become One Nation’s first-ever representative in the Parliament of Victoria.

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Hanson has previously claimed that Victorian voters were “screaming for” One Nation to have a stronger presence in the state.

“I keep saying all the time, Victoria is a basket case. And a lot of our new membership is coming out of Victoria,” Hanson told nine.com.au.

“People actually want representation in Victoria from One Nation.

“They’re screaming out for it. They’re crying out for it.”

Four months out from Victorians heading to the polls, One Nation is yet to announce any candidates or a state parliamentary leader.

Nine.com.au has contacted Hanson for comment.

One Nation picks up support in Victoria

Despite the party’s seemingly abandoned Pakenham headquarters, there are still signs of One Nation’s growing prominence in Victoria.

Leaked polling last week found that One Nation could pick up as many as 19 seats if a state election were held now.

An analysis of voter intentions commissioned by the Victorian Trades Hall Council was leaked to The Australian Financial Review, which tipped a potential unprecedented surge towards One Nation in the state.

The Redbridge polling also showed Labor being reduced to 25 seats and the Coalition to 28, a worst-case scenario for premier Jacinta Allan.

However, other polls have revealed federal support for One Nation is beginning to slide after a rise earlier this year.

Backing for One Nation dipped by 9 percentage points in early July after hitting a high of 31.5 percentage points when Pauline Hanson addressed the National Press Club for the first time, according to a Roy Morgan survey.