Newly re-elected member for Northern Victoria Wendy Lovell has welcomed the breakthrough of Pauline Hanson’s One Nation Party in the Goulburn Valley.
The party founded by controversial right-wing politician Pauline Hanson broke through in the recent state election by winning its first ever seat in Victoria with Rikkie-Lee Tyrrell, from Invergordon, gaining a seat in the Legislative Council as a representative for Northern Victoria alongside Ms Lovell.
One Nation policies include denying man-made climate change, banning the sale of water to foreign investors, reducing the refugee intake for five years and having net zero migration except for highly skilled migrants from “culturally cohesive” countries with a “sound level of English for assimilation purposes”.
Ms Lovell said she welcomed the likely election of Ms Tyrrell as another strong local voice in the upper house.
“I'm delighted that it looks like Rikkie-Lee Tyrrell will also be joining me, and she's a local girl here as well in the Goulburn Valley,” Ms Lovell said.
“So it’s fantastic to have another voice from this region that will be strong in the parliament.”
When asked if she had any concerns about the party, which detractors accuse of being rooted in nationalist tendencies, winning its first seat in Victoria Ms Lovell said she had faith in Ms Tyrrell.
“I know Rikkie-Lee as a person and I don't place her in that category,” she said.
“I hope that she has the competence to vote in her, you know, under her own conscience and the way that she believes things should go rather than being directed by a party because she is their only representative in the Victorian Parliament.”
Ms Lovell said she was more concerned about the rise of the Animal Justice Party’s Georgie Purcell to also having a seat in Northern Victoria.
That party’s policies include creating a new legal status for animals acknowledging their right to live protected from human harm and banning several activities involving animals, including greyhound and jumps racing, recreational hunting, game fishing, rodeos, horse-drawn carriage rides, animals in circuses and marine theme parks.
“That's a very hard-left party that doesn't represent this region in our agricultural industries or our recreational industries here,” Ms Lovell said.