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One Nation MPs divided over loyalties after Latham dumped as leader
By Max Maddison and Alexandra Smith
One Nation in NSW has fractured after founder Pauline Hanson forcibly removed Mark Latham as parliamentary leader and disbanded the party’s organisational wing, leaving the loyalties of the party’s three state MPs divided.
The rupture has emerged amid allegations Hanson stacked the NSW division’s state executive with allies as part of an ongoing power struggle between two of the nation’s most polarising political identities.
One Nation MPs Rod Roberts, Mark Latham and Tania Mihailuk
The party’s national executive last week voted to disband the NSW state executive – in a move Latham described as a “bizarre” takeover” – replacing the body with new members, including perennial aspiring politician Steve “Mav” Mavrigiannakis as treasurer, and one-time Senate candidate Kate McCulloch.
While Latham insists he remains leader of the parliamentary team, the loyalties of the party’s two other MPs – former Bankstown Labor MP Tania Mihailuk and MLC Rod Roberts – have splintered, raising questions about the future of the party in NSW.
Latham and Roberts are united, however sources who would not comment publicly said Mihailuk was siding with Hanson.
The Herald made repeated attempts to contact Mihailuk, but she did not respond. A source close to the MP said Mihailuk was aligned to Hanson and had a troubled relationship with Latham. Latham was also contacted several times for comment.
One Nation party sources, who are not permitted to comment on internal matters, pointed to Mavrigiannakis’ tenure as chief executive of Gumala Aboriginal Corporation – one of the largest Aboriginal companies in Australia – which was stained by controversy.
After resigning in 2015, Mavrigiannakis faced the Federal Court two years later over allegations brought by the corporation he falsely claimed thousands of dollars worth of accommodation, meal and travel expenses – despite earning an annual salary of $399,000.
After Mavrigiannakis denied liability, the dispute between the parties settled in April 2018.
The Gumala Corporation declined to comment. A One Nation spokesman declined to comment on behalf of the party and Mavrigiannakis.
When asked if NSW should appoint someone with Mavrigiannakis’s history to the role of party treasurer, Roberts, who was elected to NSW parliament in 2019, said he “thought it would be more appropriate to select someone with a less colourful background”.
Roberts secured the plum position of upper house deputy president after this year’s state election but was criticised by some within the party for accepting the role and leaving One Nation down a vote in the Legislative Council.
Federal party sources said the allegations against Mavrigiannakis had been reviewed before he ran as a senate candidate for One Nation in Tasmania at the 2022 federal election, dismissing the claims as a ploy to tarnish his reputation.
McCullouch, who has a long association with Hanson and was once dubbed “the next Pauline Hanson”, has long been a vocal anti-Muslim campaigner, and led the charge to block an Islamic school proposed for Sydney’s rural outskirts.
During the divisive debate over the school, planned for Camden, McCullouch railed against “Muslims who take our welfare” and was often photographed in a patriotic green and gold dress with an Akubra hat adorned with Australian flags.
She contested a Tasmania senate seat for One Nation in 2016, where she received 141 first preference votes and was later Hanson’s pick to replace Jacqui Lambie, who quit federal parliament in November 2017 over dual citizenship linked to her father’s Scottish heritage.
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