Clarence Mayor Brendan Blomeley has firmly denied he will join One Nation after reports linked him to the party, which is currently skyrocketing in the polls.
In a statement, Blomeley said he was “proudly an independent” and had no intention of joining any political party.
“Having been a member of a political party for over 30 years – 33 years in fact – I have absolutely no intention of going back into that sort of dysfunctional cesspit,” he said.
The comments follow reports Blomeley had been approached to run for One Nation, which is in the process of registering as a party in Tasmania.
In those reports, Blomeley praised founder Senator Pauline Hanson for her “intestinal fortitude”.
He said Hanson’s values “resonate very strongly with mainstream Australians” and criticised the Tasmanian Liberal Party as run by “apparatchiks and political opportunists”.
Blomeley said he was elected mayor as an independent in 2022 and it was “only right and proper” he maintain that position.
He described factional politics as unpleasant, taking aim at “unelected and unelectable faceless backroom factional warriors” who seek to influence elected representatives.
“There is no doubt that the old political parties are broken and our country deserves so much better,” he said.
Blomeley confirmed he would seek re-election as an independent candidate at the October local government elections.
One Nation’s Tasmanian convener Lee Hanson said the party was not yet running candidate preselections for the federal election.
“Right now we are focussed on launching and embedding five federal branches in Tasmania, with our last branch in Braddon launching later this month, which is already booked out,” she said.
“The support and movement of One Nation in Tasmania and nationwide has been tremendous.”
“People are seeking change and want to be a part of it.”
Blomeley was expelled from the Liberal Party in 2024 after refusing to rule out an independent run at the state election.
He stood unsuccessfully as an independent in last year’s federal election, receiving 5% of the vote in Franklin.
