Sep 11, 2026 – 4.35pmThe video – posted online on May 1 last year – begins softly. Facing the camera is a life-beaten woman in a simple home, saying she doesn’t know where to begin. She decides to unfurl her story in the order she became aware of it, and over the next 40 minutes, lays out a potted tale of betrayal and bewilderment, of estrangement from her children and the agony of being disbelieved. Her ex-partner engaged in drug use and other behaviour she never expected of him, she says. Now he’s running for office, and she thinks he should address that.The woman is Jo Scott, the former and estranged lover of Warren Pickering, then running with One Nation in the federal election. This week – as Pickering prepares for another contest – some (but not all) of Scott’s allegations ran in The Australian, prompting the party to convene what will likely remain the most spectacular press conference of this Victorian election season.Subscribe to gift this articleGift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe.Subscribe nowAlready a subscriber? Fetching latest articles