One Nation has converted its rise in opinion polls into electoral success in Western Australia, with gym owner Luke Herdegen winning the Secret Harbour byelection and becoming the party’s first lower house MP in the state.
Herdegen secured 39.1 per cent of the primary vote after a swing of 30.6 percentage points to One Nation, putting him well ahead of Labor candidate Georgia Tree on 24.4 per cent.
On the indicative preference count, Herdegen led Tree by 57 per cent to 43 per cent, a margin of more than 3,600 votes. The ABC called the seat for One Nation about four hours after counting began on Saturday night.
The Western Australian Electoral Commission said counting remained in progress and election-night figures were indicative. The final count will not be completed until eligible postal votes received by 9am on September 3 have been included.
One Nation’s WA leader Rod Caddies claimed victory at about 9.30pm, introducing Herdegen as the new member for Secret Harbour.
Herdegen told supporters the result showed Labor could no longer take its traditional heartland for granted.
“There are no safe Labor seats in this state or in this country anymore,” he said.
“The people have spoken today.”
Caddies described the result as one many observers had considered impossible and claimed Australia’s two-party political system was “dead”.
“Labor owned this part of Perth,” he said. “But a safe seat does not stay safe if you ignore it long enough.”
Secret Harbour, on Perth’s southern fringe, had been held by Labor and its predecessor electorates since 1989. Former minister Paul Papalia represented the area from 2007 and won the newly created seat at the 2025 state election with 61.5 per cent of the two-party-preferred vote.
Secret Harbour, on Perth’s southern fringe, had been held by Labor and its predecessor electorates since 1989. Former minister Paul Papalia represented the area from 2007 and won the newly created seat at the 2025 state election with 61.5 per cent of the two-party-preferred vote
His resignation in July, following a serious illness in his family, triggered the byelection.
The result represents a sharp reversal for Labor, whose primary vote fell from 46.6 per cent at last year’s state election to about 24.4 per cent. Tree, a former political staffer who later worked in government relations at Woodside, faced questions during the campaign about not living within the electorate.
Labor’s decision to prevent her from answering questions at two media appearances also gave opponents an opportunity to portray her as being tightly controlled by the party.
Premier Roger Cook had described the contest as a “fight for our lives” and Labor mounted an intensive campaign to retain the seat. Cook said campaigners knocked on 19,000 doors, held 8,000 conversations with voters, distributed 210,000 pieces of mail and erected about 1,000 signs.
The effort was not enough to overcome dissatisfaction among voters concerned about household costs, housing and the pressure population growth was placing on local services.
“This campaign has been a reminder that Western Australians are doing it tough,” Cook told Labor supporters on Saturday night.
“People are concerned about their lifestyle and their futures.”
Cook said Labor would continue speaking with communities and responding to their concerns, urging supporters to use the defeat as motivation for future elections.
Herdegen, 39, moved to Western Australia about three years ago and owns several gym businesses. A former national-level weightlifter, he campaigned on cost-of-living pressures, housing, migration, infrastructure and local services, including the frequency of household rubbish collections.
During the campaign, an old social media video emerged in which Herdegen discussed heavy cocaine use and associations with people connected to the Albanian mafia while living in London about a decade ago. He said the video had been intended to encourage others to lead healthier and happier lives.
One Nation leader Pauline Hanson said the Secret Harbour result reflected a demand for representatives who would listen to voters and challenge the direction of government.
The result also presents a problem for the WA Liberals. Their candidate, Rockingham councillor and former submariner Ryan Robertson, received about 17.3 per cent of the primary vote, a fall of 7.7 percentage points from the party’s result in 2025.
Opposition Leader Basil Zempilas had argued before the poll that any Labor defeat would represent a victory for the Liberals because it would demonstrate weakening support for the Cook government.
Federal Liberal MP Andrew Hastie rejected that reasoning and warned his party needed to compete directly with One Nation. His electorate of Canning overlaps Secret Harbour and is expected to be targeted by Hanson’s party at the next federal election.
The outcome shows voters did not simply move from Labor to the Liberals. Both major parties lost primary support while One Nation emerged as the largest party in the field of 16 candidates.
Secret Harbour contains established coastal communities and rapidly growing housing developments, with a high proportion of young families. Voters interviewed during the campaign raised concerns about mortgage and rental costs, infrastructure, commuting and access to government services.
The result gives One Nation a local base in an area with similarities to outer-suburban electorates elsewhere in Australia, but the scale of its victory may not be repeated at a general election.
Byelections often produce large protest votes because they do not determine who forms government. Labor was also defending the seat without Papalia’s personal following and had promised to honour its local spending commitments regardless of the outcome.
Those factors limit how far the result can be applied nationally. However, Herdegen’s victory confirms that One Nation’s growing support is capable of delivering seats and that disaffected voters are no longer moving automatically between Labor and the Coalition.
For Labor, the defeat exposes dissatisfaction in what was once dependable working-class territory. For the Liberals, finishing third shows that frustration with the government does not necessarily translate into support for the opposition.
One Nation must now demonstrate that it can turn a successful protest campaign into effective representation and sustain its support under the closer scrutiny that comes with holding a seat.
One Nation leader Pauline Hanson said the result showed her party could compete in territory where the Liberals had been unable to dislodge Labor. “We’re not splitting the conservative vote. We’re taking on the political establishment,” she said, describing the swing since the 2025 WA election as “phenomenal” and warning Labor that One Nation would target more of its seats.
Hanson credited Herdegen’s local appeal, campaign volunteers and donations from supporters for the victory, saying similar enthusiasm had been evident in recent contests in South Australia, Farrer and Nepean. She acknowledged that Herdegen faced a “steep learning curve” when Parliament resumed in a week, but said he would be supported by One Nation’s Rod Caddies and Philip Scott in the upper house.
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