One Nation claims byelection win in Western Australia's Secret Harbour

One Nation candidate Luke Herdegen has won the Secret Harbour state byelection in Western Australia, defeating Labor's Georgia Tree 57-42 after preferences, with 74.5% of votes counted as of Sunday morning.

The byelection was called after senior Labor minister Paul Papalia retired midterm.

Reactions to the result

One Nation's WA leader Rod Caddies declared victory on Sunday evening, saying the outcome proved there were no longer any safe Labor seats in the state or the country, and predicted it would send shockwaves nationally. Federal party figure Barnaby Joyce said "politics has changed," noting that many former Labor voters had found it easy to switch to One Nation.

Party leader Pauline Hanson warned on social media that One Nation would keep targeting Labor-held seats, calling the result a warning sign for Labor.

Federal cabinet minister Pat Conroy sought to downplay the result's significance, calling it a tough day for WA Labor but cautioning against drawing national conclusions from a single state byelection.

WA Premier Roger Cook had acknowledged before the vote that holding the outer-suburban seat would be a tough fight.

Liberal setback

The Liberal party finished a distant third with 17% of the primary vote, a result federal frontbencher Jonno Duniam admitted was poor and needed serious attention. He said the party should focus on winning back voter trust rather than considering cooperation with other parties.

Voters in Secret Harbour cited cost-of-living pressures, housing affordability and a lack of local amenities as their top concerns.