Story perspectives

One Nation wins Secret Harbour seat in WA by-election

8/30/2026

Left

Herdegen Wins Seat

One Nation’s Luke Herdegen won the WA Assembly seat of Secret Harbour in a Saturday by-election.
Voters said cost-of-living, unaffordable housing and scarce community services drove the swing from Labor.
MP Paul Papalia retired to care for a sick family member, prompting the vote.
Roger Cook called it a fight for Labor, yet the government keeps its majority.
Herdegen earned 39.08% votes; Labor’s Georgia Tree got 24.43%, a 14.08% lead.

Right

Herdegen Wins

One Nation candidate Luke Herdegen won the WA Legislative Assembly seat of Secret Harbour on Saturday.
Supporters called the win a grassroots verdict against Labor, with Rod Caddies saying the two-party system is dead.
With three-quarters of votes counted, Herdegen led about 57% two-candidate preferred.
Pauline Hanson posted on X that the win makes One Nation an alternative.
Premier Roger Cook and candidate Georgia Tree have not yet conceded defeat.

Center

Herdegen Wins

One Nation candidate Luke Herdegen won the Western Australian Legislative Assembly seat of Secret Harbour in a Saturday by-election.
The win represented a 30.6-percentage-point swing to One Nation, giving it 39.1% of the primary vote and a 57-43 two-party-preferred victory.
Labor had held Secret Harbour since the 1980s, winning by an 11.5% margin in 2025.
Premier Roger Cook called losing Secret Harbour “heart-breaking” and pledged to listen to voters.

Blindspot

Left-leaning reports said voters pointed to cost-of-living pressures, unaffordable housing and insufficient community services as the main drivers of the swing away from Labor.
Within this story's sources, this angle appears mainly in Left-leaning coverage and receives less attention in Center- and Right-leaning coverage.

History

Historical Context

In the 1998 Queensland state election, One Nation captured eleven Legislative Assembly seats under Premier Rob Borbidge’s coalition, shocking the established parties. Founder Pauline Hanson led the party, which secured 8.4% of the primary vote and 22.7% of the two-candidate preferred tally. Similarly, in 2024 Secret Harbour, One Nation’s Luke Herdegen won with 39.1% primary support and a 57% two-candidate preferred margin, echoing the 1998 surge. The 1998 breakthrough demonstrated that populist outsiders could reshape Australian politics, foreshadowing future by-election upsets and pressure on Labor’s policy agenda.

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Herdegen Wins Seat

One Nation’s Luke Herdegen won the WA Assembly seat of Secret Harbour in a Saturday by-election.
Voters said cost-of-living, unaffordable housing and scarce community services drove the swing from Labor.
MP Paul Papalia retired to care for a sick family member, prompting the vote.
Roger Cook called it a fight for Labor, yet the government keeps its majority.
Herdegen earned 39.08% votes; Labor’s Georgia Tree got 24.43%, a 14.08% lead.

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