One Nation Candidate Wins Farrer By-Election

One Nation’s candidate won the by-election for the New South Wales seat of Farrer on Saturday, securing more than 57 percent of the final two-candidate-preferred count against an independent who received just under 43 percent. With almost all votes counted, the party’s candidate obtained nearly 40 percent of the primary vote.

The independent’s primary vote rose more than 8 points to just over 28 percent. The Australian Electoral Commission had forecast the contest would be decided between One Nation and the independent after Labor chose not to field a candidate, the first such occurrence since the current system began in the 1980s.

The result does not alter the Labor government’s large majority in parliament.

The combined primary vote for the Liberal and National parties fell to barely 20 percent. The Nationals, who did not run a candidate in the 2025 federal election for this seat, recorded a near-10-point swing toward them in the by-election. One Nation won 74 polling booths and took 60 percent or more of the primary vote at some smaller rural centers.

Gains were recorded across the entire seat, including in regional centers such as Albury, though they were larger in smaller rural areas. In the 2025 federal election One Nation had not finished first in any booth in the electorate.

Farrer covers 127,000 square kilometers along the Victoria-New South Wales border, an area larger than South Korea, and includes the regional centers of Albury, Griffith and Deniliquin. The electorate had been held continuously by either the Liberal or National parties since the current system began.

The independent’s improved performance was concentrated in the major centers, where she won 15 booths, mostly in Albury and one in Griffith. The sitting member whose resignation triggered the by-election had been ousted as leader of the opposition Liberal Party.