Angus Taylor rejects One Nation seat sharing deal as cracks appear in Liberal ranks over Pauline Hanson threat

The Liberal leader, Angus Taylor, has been urged by Tony Pasin, a conservative Liberal from rural South Australia and a shadow minister on Taylor’s frontbench, to ‘work hand-in-glove’ with One Nation to defeat Labor. Photograph: Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images View image in fullscreen The Liberal leader, Angus Taylor, has been urged by Tony Pasin, a conservative Liberal from rural South Australia and a shadow minister on Taylor’s frontbench, to ‘work hand-in-glove’ with One Nation to defeat Labor. Photograph: Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images Angus Taylor rejects One Nation seat sharing deal as cracks appear in Liberal ranks over Pauline Hanson threat South Australian Liberal Tony Pasin says parties should ‘work hand-in-glove’ to defeat Labor at the next election Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Splits are appearing inside the Liberal party about how to deal with Pauline Hanson, after one opposition MP at risk of losing his seat to One Nation said the two conservative parties should cooperate and not run against each other – a plan rejected by Angus Taylor and other senior colleagues. With One Nation leading the Coalition and Labor in published opinion polls, Hanson’s threat to target government-held seats has recharged debate about whether the surge will see rightwing politicians cooperate or cannibalise each other’s votes. Tony Abbott backs One Nation preference deal and says Liberals can’t just be a ‘little less woke than Labor’ Read more Tony Pasin, a conservative Liberal from rural South Australia and a shadow minister on Taylor’s frontbench, suggested his party and One Nation “work hand-in-glove to defeat Labor”. In comments to The Australian newspaper, Pasin reportedly said the two parties “should work together to identify which seats are more appropriately targeted” by One Nation or the Coalition, claiming the parties could pool resources and “get two seats for the price of one.” Sign up for the Breaking News Australia email Pasin is a Liberal with more reason to worry than most about One Nation’s surge. One Nation ran third in Pasin’s seat of Barker at the 2025 election, and Hanson’s party won seats at South Australia’s March state election in areas which overlap with Pasin’s federal seat. Former ABC election analyst Antony Green wrote on X: “Given how strongly One Nation polled within the boundaries of Mr Pasin’s seat using SA state election results, I wonder if he is hoping to have Barker as a seat where One Nation will stand aside for the Liberal Party.” Despite former Liberal prime minister John Howard’s previous stance of preferencing One Nation last in elections, the modern Liberal party is more open to some form of cooperation with One Nation. Former prime minister and the current party president, Tony Abbott, a confidant of Taylor, this week suggested preference swaps and that the Coalition should work with “whoever we can” to defeat Labor. Bridget McKen