OPINION
Stevie Lane (they/them) is an LGBTIQA+ advocate, researcher and equity practitioner with expertise in LGBTIQA+ inclusion, policy and higher education.
One Nation won its first seat in WA’s Legislative Assembly, with Luke Herdegen defeating Labor in Secret Harbour’s by-election on Saturday 29 August.
While One Nation’s singular seat in a house of 59 will have limited immediate influence on legislative outcomes, given Labor’s current majority, their entry into WA’s lower house does raise concerns for the LGBTIQA+ community.
For example, One Nation’s WA policy in relation to gender identity is to:
- define who is a woman based on “biological sex”
- not recognise diverse gender identities
- restrict trans women from women’s sports and spaces
- ban puberty blockers for young trans people, and
- remove what it calls “gender ideology” from schools, describing gender diversity among young people as a form of “social contagion”.
Political rhetoric causing real harm
One Nation’s policies are particularly concerning at a time when long-awaited equality reforms in WA remain pending or ignored.
This includes changes to The WA Equal Opportunity Act, which is over 40 years old, criminalisation of conversion practices, and of deferrable medical interventions on people with innate variations of sex characteristics, as well as the addition of stronger anti-vilification laws.
Debates around WA’s gender recognition and surrogacy reforms in recent years have already demonstrated how the legislative process can provide a platform for harmful rhetoric about LGBTIQA+ people, particularly trans and gender diverse communities.
We also saw this play out recently in South Australia, where One Nation MP Cory Bernardi introduced legislation seeking to criminalise the provision of gender-affirming healthcare to people under 18, with healthcare practitioners facing up to five years’ imprisonment.
The Bill was ultimately defeated 11 votes to eight, but its failure does not erase the public debate and anti-trans rhetoric generated simply by bringing such legislation before Parliament.
New research from Trans Health Research involving more than 800 trans and gender diverse people across Australia, shows more than one-third of respondents reported frequent exposure to anti-trans rhetoric from Australian politicians and other high-profile individuals, which was associated with a significantly higher prevalence of anxiety, depression, self-harm ideation, self-harm, suicidal ideation and suicide planning.
The addition of a single One Nation seat in WA cannot be dismissed as merely one vote with limited legislative influence, when the rhetoric amplified through that platform can have tangible consequences for people’s wellbeing and sense of safety.
Why people are looking elsewhere
So why did Secret Harbour vote in a One Nation candidate, in a supposedly safe Labor seat, when One Nation stigmatises and marginalises already vulnerable communities?
The starting point is recognising that voters are unlikely to know, let alone endorse every element of One Nation’s policies.
Herdegen campaigned as a local business owner promising a “fair go”, rewarding hard work and restoring the standard of living that many Australians feel is slipping away. Those messages likely resonated with people who are struggling with housing, mortgages and the cost of everyday essentials, and when frustration is growing about whether governments are delivering meaningful improvements to their lives.
People are struggling and have a right to be angry about the conditions making their lives harder, but it is important to not misdirect that.
LGBTIQA+ people, migrants, culturally and racially marginalised people and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people did not create the housing crisis or the rising cost of living yet are some the easiest people to blame when politicians are looking for a simple target for complex problems.
For some people, genuine frustration and hardship can be misdirected towards communities that have little to do with the problems they are experiencing. For others, however, this rhetoric does not create prejudice so much as give existing prejudice permission to be expressed more openly.
When those views are reflected in political policies, campaigns and parliamentary debate, they can legitimise and embolden attitudes that might once have remained at the margins.
Beyond Western Australia
One Nation’s growing electoral success extends well beyond Secret Harbour.
The WA by-election result follows One Nation’s by-election victory in the federal seat of Farrer. After the retirement of former Liberal leader Sussan Ley and a record result in the South Australian election, where the party went from no parliamentary representation to seven members; four in the House of Assembly and three in the Legislative Council.
Victoria will head to the polls later this year, followed by New South Wales in early 2027, with Pauline Hanson pledging to field candidates in every seat at both elections.
Whether the One Nation momentum continues remains to be seen, but Secret Harbour provides further evidence that support for One Nation can translate into representation in places where the party might once have been considered unlikely to win.
For LGBTIQA+ communities, these gains cannot be taken for granted.
We have fought too hard for the LGBTIQA+ rights we have today, to watch those gains be wound back as One Nation gains political ground.
People are struggling and governments need to act, but marginalised communities cannot become the price paid for addressing that frustration. Division might give people somewhere to direct their anger, but it will not solve the problems causing it.
Declaration: Stevie Lane and OUTinPerth co-editor Graeme Watson are both employees of Edith Cowan University.
