One Nation leader Senator Pauline Hanson has set her sights on Victoria, with the state shaping up as the next major test for the party's surging popularity. The push positions Victoria at the centre of the party's national ambitions.
Hanson visited Melbourne, where she was met with demonstrations as an online fundraiser for the party exceeded its initial targets. Enraged protesters swarmed attendees, chanting into megaphones and banging drums outside the event.
Speaking to supporters, Hanson framed the campaign in blunt terms, saying that when the party wins Victoria back she would stop calling the state a basket case every time she visits.
Flanked by her right-hand man Barnaby Joyce, the leader rallied a new wave of supporters in Melbourne and opened the door to an alliance with the state's Liberal-National opposition ahead of the contest.
According to the party, more than 1,000 people have put up their hands to represent One Nation at November's state election, and Hanson has promised to field a candidate in every seat.
Victoria's opposition, however, said it had not been approached by One Nation headquarters and kept a tight lid on its plans, with a representative declining to comment on hypotheticals and stressing a focus on winning majority government.
The party said its anti-Labor donation drive had raised more than 3.5 million dollars in just days, nearly quadruple its initial target. Police questioned one man, described as a known neo-Nazi, at the fundraiser but laid no charges, while Hanson said she had never advocated for a white Australia policy.