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One Nation’s Queensland division has filed three years of overdue financial returns after the regulator threatened to strip the party of its legal status in its home state.
The Office of Fair Trading issued a fresh warning to Pauline Hanson’s party on Wednesday, saying any future failures to lodge annual returns would trigger enforcement action, including a fine or being struck off the association register in Queensland.
In July, the regulator said One Nation Queensland Division had lodged overdue returns, but this crucially didn’t include audited financial statements, as required by law, from 2022-23 to 2024-25.
The Office of Fair Trading gave the party three weeks to produce these statements, which were filed before the deadline expired on Tuesday evening.
“One Nation Queensland Division Inc has now lodged audited financial statements for the years 2022-2023, 2023-2024 and 2024-2025, as required by the Associations Incorporation Act 1981,” the regulator told this masthead in a statement.
“The Office of Fair Trading has notified One Nation Queensland Division Inc that any future failures to lodge annual returns within prescribed time limits may result in enforcement action.”
This future action could mean a small fine for division president Hanson, NSW senator Sean Bell as the secretary or party treasurer Alex Jones.
It could also trigger a show cause notice being issued, which would require the Queensland division to argue why its registration should not be cancelled.
Such a move in its home state would be a significant blow to the rising political force, given the populist party has become the most dominant federal party in Queensland, according to some polls. Its headquarters is also based in Queensland.
“One Nation has met all of its obligations with respect to the Queensland Office of Fair Trading,” a One Nation party spokesman said.
An OFT spokesman said the regulator is required to assess documents when provided by incorporated associations before being added to the register.
More to come
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James Hall is the News Director at the Brisbane Times. He is the former Queensland correspondent at The Australian Financial Review and has reported for a range of mastheads across the country, specialising on political and finance reporting.Connect via X or email.From our partners
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