June 26, 2026 — 5:00am
One Nation’s rise in the polls has delivered party leader Pauline Hanson a massive public profile. Now, more than 18 months out from the next federal election, some of the nation’s corporates have started wondering whether they need to start building relationships with her populist right-wing party.
Lobbyists in Canberra have already started hearing from clients asking when they need to start ingratiating themselves with Hanson and Barnaby Joyce, CBD hears, in the event the party retains enough popularity over the next six to 12 months to begin negotiating with the major parties before the next election.
But many of these lobbyists would be clamouring to get a line into the party – well, Hanson’s gatekeeper and chief of staff, James Ashby – from a standing start.
Unlike Labor and the Coalition, the bulk of One Nation’s former staffers aren’t as, er, entrepreneurial as their major party counterparts, many of whom parlay their time in public office into jobs in corporate affairs or lobbying for significantly more money.
