Pauline Hanson has spent decades building her political brand around the idea of putting Australians first. Her party regularly campaigns against immigration, warns about foreign labour, and argues that Australian workers are being pushed aside. But new reporting around One Nation’s campaign operations has raised a serious question: if the party believes Australian jobs should come first, why was campaign work being handled offshore?
One Nation has confirmed it used Philippines-based virtual assistants to help set up Facebook pages for election candidates. The party says these workers did not control the pages and that political content was created in Australia. But the controversy is not only about who wrote the posts. It is about whether Australian campaign work was lost offshore while the party was raising millions from supporters.
Reports say One Nation raised around $4 million for its campaign push, while also relying on lower-cost overseas assistance for digital campaign tasks. The exact amount paid to those offshore workers has not been confirmed, but reports say the typical going rate for virtual assistant work in the Philippines can be around $4 to $8 per hour.
For many voters, that is where the contradiction becomes hard to ignore. Hanson’s message has long been about protecting Australian workers, Australian wages, and Australian jobs. Yet when it came to campaign operations, her own party looked overseas for help.
Supporters may argue it was only technical setup work, not policy work. Critics will say that misses the point. If a party raises millions while campaigning on “Australia first,” even basic campaign jobs should be offered to Australians first.
This story cuts directly to political credibility. It is not just about outsourcing. It is about whether the people telling Australians to fear foreign labour are quietly benefiting from it when it suits them.