ELECTION DAY

It’s been a fun few weeks.

The pre-polling has been a great lesson in politicising — the art of vote-getting, and learning that there is an art to it. Democratising is fascinating.

It is the study of maximum benefit for minimum effort. Yes, larger funding allows for more advertising, more Facebook ads, more corflutes around town, media access, shinier how-to-vote cards, more volunteers — more, more, which means more access to the people. Then there are policies and promises. Do they even matter?

There is much more to discuss. Stay tuned.

Interesting times indeed

One Nation’s performance over Labor’s safe seat — much will be written about it. Did the candidate matter? What are we voting for: local promises, state and federal policies, party direction, party leaders, party colours, parties and their history, their past promises and how they let us down? Much to observe and much to discuss.

Today is no doubt another turning point in Australian politics. Just how, we will discover over the coming months and years.

I feel honoured to have been part of it.

Well done to One Nation. The people have spoken. The pot has been stirred, and the incumbent parties are now paying attention.

The result

Luke Herdegen took the seat for One Nation on 39.1 per cent of first preferences and 57.2 per cent two-candidate preferred, leading by 3,999 votes. It is the first Western Australian lower house seat One Nation has ever won. Labor held Secret Harbour on a margin of 11.5 per cent; the two-candidate swing against them was 18.8 points, and their primary fell 22.5 points. It was a safe Labor seat. It is not one any more.

Two-candidate preferred

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share
Luke Herdegen	One Nation	15,868	57.2%
Georgia Tree	Labor	11,869	42.8%

First preferences

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Swing
Luke Herdegen	One Nation	10,863	39.1%	+30.7
Georgia Tree	Labor	6,696	24.1%	−22.5
Ryan Robertson	Liberal	4,779	17.2%	−7.8
Rhi Davies	The Greens	2,153	7.8%	−1.1
Craig Buchanan	Legalise Cannabis	1,036	3.7%	−2.1
Neil Jensen	Animal Justice	505	1.8%	−0.8
Robert Burdett	Australian Christians	470	1.7%	−1.0
Jayne Palmer	Independent	278	1.0%	+1.0
Matthew Barton	Libertarian	230	0.8%	+0.8
Anthony Fels	WA First	184	0.7%	+0.7
Tim Hamilton	Shooters, Fishers and Farmers	136	0.5%	+0.5
Paul Howard	Independent	116	0.4%	+0.4
Brett Murrell	Independent	106	0.4%	+0.4
Teresa van Lieshout	Independent	102	0.4%	+0.4
Paul Gullan	Independent	60	0.2%	+0.2
Peter D. Dunne	Independent	57	0.2%	+0.2
Informal	—	982	3.4%	—
Total	—	28,753	—	—

Figures from the ABC election results, 79.0 per cent counted, updated 3 September 2026. The count is not final.

106 votes — thirteenth of sixteen. Three candidates finished behind me. No party column on the ballot, no registration, no funding, and last position on the paper, in a field that included two sitting councillors and a former member of the Legislative Council. The number is what it is, and it goes on the record here alongside everybody else’s. That is the honest shape of a first run with no machine behind it.

Up next: the Victorian state election, then New South Wales, then the federal election.