A One Nation committee formed to run the party’s campaign for next month’s Nepean byelection dissolved into acrimony after two of its members refused to attend a meeting with Sean Black, a convicted rapist then working inside Pauline Hanson’s national headquarters.
It came after a third member of the committee lodged a formal complaint with Hanson and her executive leadership team against Jason Smart, a party member and aspiring federal candidate, who has vehemently denied allegations he was heard professing his admiration for Adolf Hitler’s economic policies at a One Nation branch meeting.
In a written complaint sent to Hanson and obtained by this masthead, Smart is accused of “expressing admiration for the economic recovery of Germany under Adolf Hitler” and discussing the Nazi leader in “a matter that I consider wholly inconsistent with the party’s values”.
“Regardless of any claimed historical or economic context, public commentary that appears to normalise or express admiration for a regime and individual responsible for crimes against humanity presents a significant reputational risk to the party and undermines public confidence,” the complaint reads.
A second person at the meeting has provided a sworn statement that recounts a similar exchange.
“He [Smart] stated he read a lot about great past leaders,” the statement reads. “After mentioning the names Churchill and Kennedy, he casually dropped in Hitler and stated he not only admired his leadership skills, but also believed Australia should follow his example to turn the economy around.”
Smart on Monday said the allegations were “utterly false” and that he had no admiration for Hitler or his economic policies.
“Adolf Hitler was a monster,” Smart said. “His deranged, extremist and antisemitic views resulted in state-sponsored genocide of European Jews and the murder of over six million Jews by the Nazi regime and their collaborators during the Second World War.
“These innocent people were annihilated for racial, political, ideological and behavioural reasons, and any person who does not acknowledge this historical fact, or does not condemn the Nazi regime, Adolf Hitler, his collaborators or those despicable souls who sympathise with any aspect of the darkest chapter in history should be immediately denounced and exposed for their abhorrent views.
“Further, I hold no admiration whatsoever for Adolf Hitler in relation to what you refer to as the ‘economic recovery’ of Germany.”
Smart, a 55-year-old construction manager from Hastings, allegedly made the remarks about Hitler at the inaugural meeting of One Nation’s Flinders branch on January 14. He stood at last year’s federal election as a candidate for Clive Palmer’s Trumpet of Patriots but switched his support to One Nation before polling day, after a disagreement over how to direct preferences.
A source familiar with the episode, but not authorised to discuss it publicly, said Smart’s party membership was revoked but reinstated a short time later. The complaint against Smart was personally handled by Black, a former One Nation staffer rehired by Hanson as her national campaign director after he served a jail sentence for rape and assault.
Hanson, when asked on Saturday about whether Smart was still a party member, replied: “Who is Jason Smart?”
The disputed episodes expose the organisational dysfunction and internal tensions within a fast-growing, far-right political party seeking to secure its first lower house seat in Victoria at next month’s Nepean byelection.
With Labor choosing not to contest the Mornington Peninsula seat vacated earlier this year by former deputy Liberal leader Sam Groth, the May 2 byelection is shaping as a three-way contest between the Liberal Party, One Nation and independent Tracee Hutchison.
Hanson sacked Black a week ago – despite arguing he deserved a second chance – to contain the political fallout from his involvement with the party. By then, public scrutiny of Black’s return to One Nation had already triggered a backlash within the party’s newly formed Nepean committee working to elect local candidate Darren Hercus.
On February 23, a WhatsApp group used by seven members of the Nepean committee, Hercus and state secretary Bianca Colecchia lit up with concerns about Black.
A Teams meeting had been arranged between Black and members of the committee to discuss campaign matters, but two members refused to attend, saying they weren’t prepared to listen to a man convicted of rape in 2018.
“I have given a lot of thought to Tuesday’s meeting with Sean Black,” one member of the group said. “I refuse to be near or listen to a convicted rapist. I have been brought up with too much respect for women.
“I will never condone nor sit idly by while men like Sean Black think and act the way they do. This is a very personal decision each man must take”.
Hercus said he respected their decision. “I must admit I don’t feel great about the situation either, but he is the national staffer and campaign manager and we do need guidance,” he said.
Messages seen by this masthead show that in response, Colecchia deleted six members of the group from the chat. “Bianca was under instructions from HQ,” Hercus later explained to those remaining in the chat.
Colecchia did not respond to questions from this masthead.
The Nepean campaign committee collapsed on February 23, the day after a meeting where, according to three people present, One Nation state president Warren Pickering advised Hercus to set up a personal bank account to handle campaign donations and expenses.
If this advice had been acted upon, it would have put One Nation in breach of the state’s electoral laws. This masthead on Saturday detailed the advice given, which is disputed by Hanson and Pickering.
Pickering declined to respond to further questions from this masthead on Monday. “Until The Age proves it is capable of impartiality, we have no desire to comment on these perpetual hit pieces,” he said. “Exclusive access to authorised spokespeople will be reevaluated in the coming months.”
Hanson, while campaigning on the Nepean Peninsula on Sunday, said the allegations were from “disgruntled former members of the party” who left One Nation before Hercus was endorsed as a candidate.
“They’ve had no involvement in it at all,” Hanson said. “They actually left before Darren was endorsed as the candidate. They have no understanding of what is going on.”
The resignation letters of the party members, which this masthead has seen, show that they quit after Hercus was endorsed as the party’s candidate for Nepean, and concerns about Smart, Black and campaign financing had been raised.
Three of seven members of the Nepean committee have now quit the party.
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Chip Le Grand leads our state politics reporting team. He previously served as the paper’s chief reporter and is a journalist of 30 years’ experience.Connect via email.From our partners
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