Barnaby Joyce backing frames Allan’s One Nation warning after Nepean
barnaby joyce hovered over Victoria’s campaign arithmetic after Jacinta Allan said the Liberal party cannot govern without One Nation, following the Nepean byelection result. Allan said the Liberals will rely on preference deals to secure One Nation support and warned Victorians “can’t afford” a Liberal-One Nation government.
At the byelection, One Nation attracted almost 25% of the first-preference votes in Nepean. Allan used that result to argue the Liberals and One Nation were “on a unity ticket of cuts,” linking the two parties’ positions to extra health services and other services she said matter to the community.
Nepean byelection result
Anthony Marsh retained the safe Liberal seat of Nepean, even as One Nation drew a share Allan said showed how much the Liberals may depend on preference deals. She said the result told Victorians “very clearly” that the Liberal party cannot govern without One Nation.
Allan also said the Liberal leader and the leader of One Nation were both saying they would cut into services that matter to the community. She tied that claim to the state government’s investment in extra health services and to growing waiting lists for children seeking surgery and specialist appointments.
Jess Wilson at Rye hotel
The political message from Nepean did not stop with Allan’s comments. At the Verve Bar at Rye hotel, David Southwick introduced Jess Wilson as the “next premier of Victoria” and said “the people of Nepean have said yes for Jess.” Wilson entered the event with Marsh.
That presentation added another layer to the result: the Liberal side was celebrating a retained seat while Allan was arguing the byelection exposed a deeper dependence on One Nation’s preferences. The safe seat status of Nepean made the size of One Nation’s first-preference vote the central detail in Allan’s attack.
With the November state election ahead, Allan has set the terms of the argument she wants to prosecute: that a Liberal-One Nation arrangement would bring cuts and division, while her government is pointing to health spending. The contest now moves from a single byelection result to how each side tries to turn that vote into a wider message for Victorian voters.
