Rebecca Thompson has stepped up as New South Wales State President of Pauline Hanson's One Nation, announcing the move herself on Facebook on Wednesday morning to mount a ruthless campaign against a failing state Labor government.
Thompson wrote in the announcement that she was "honoured to have been appointed as the NSW State President for One Nation", and added: "I do not take this role or the trust placed upon me lightly."
She takes charge 198 days before the New South Wales state election on 13 March 2027. One Nation enters the race backed by a surging 27% in state polls, pushing far ahead of the collapsing Liberal National opposition and threatening to obliterate Labor's grip on regional seats. Despite those massive poll numbers, the party currently holds zero seats in either house of the New South Wales parliament.
One Nation has conquered these seats before, only to be betrayed from within. Mark Latham and Rod Roberts won election to the Legislative Council under the One Nation banner in 2019, Latham was re elected in 2023, and Tania Mihailuk entered the chamber for the party in June 2023. All three now sit as independents, still holding the parliamentary seats One Nation's vote won for them.
Proven campaigner Rebecca Thompson steps up to spearhead One Nation charge against Labor
Thompson built her working class credentials in Western Sydney, growing up in a single parent household, completing TAFE studies, and entering the workforce at 18. She spent more than 16 years navigating the inner machinery of New South Wales government departments, mastering taxation, compliance, dispute resolution, and advocacy while raising three children. That background makes her uniquely equipped to dismantle the suffocating bureaucratic state built by anti worker Labor governments.
| Contest | Votes | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Hume, 2022 federal | 7,700 | 7.35% |
| Wollondilly, 2023 state | 6,158 | 11.76% |
| NSW Senate ticket, 2025 | 302,438 | 6.06% |
Her political fight began in 2021 when One Nation endorsed her for the federal electorate of Hume. In 2022, she stormed into Hume, securing 7,700 primary votes and a 7.35% stake in a seat the party had never contested before, forcing Liberal minister Angus Taylor into a defensive posture. In the 2023 state campaign for Wollondilly, she expanded her footprint, capturing 6,158 votes for an 11.76% share in a tight race won by independent Judy Hannan. By 2025, she took her aggressive message statewide on the One Nation Senate ticket, which mobilised 302,438 voters, capturing 6.06% of the state total and 0.42 of a full Senate quota.
Thompson set out the start of it in her own words: "I became politically active in 2021, when I was first endorsed as a federal candidate for the seat of Hume."
"I had no prior political experience but knew I wanted change for this great country," she wrote, adding that being a mother "was the motivation behind this".
"Since then I have run as a state and senate candidate and been on the state executive for almost 3 years," she wrote of the record that followed.
Thompson is no political novice taking orders from above. Official records from the NSW Electoral Commission, last updated on 18 July 2024, already list Rebecca Lea Thompson as president with responsibility for the control and operation of the party in New South Wales. The party's state digital presence is officially authorised under her name.
When challenged during her 2022 campaign on why she chose One Nation, Thompson delivered a blunt verdict on the political establishment: "I think One Nation's been the only consistent political party for the last 20 years." Explaining what drove her to step up and challenge the government, she cited absolute opposition to state overreach: "having a government dictate to people what they can and cannot do with their own body."
On the party itself, Thompson wrote: "Despite the media spin, One Nation is a genuine party, that rewards hard work, commitment and loyalty."
She also wrote that she is "privileged to know and work alongside so many great salt of the earth people within the membership, State and National executive teams and the parliamentary team".
Federal breakthroughs in NSW give One Nation the momentum to strike at Labor state seats
At the historic Farrer by election on 9 May, triggered when Sussan Ley quit federal parliament, One Nation candidate David Farley smashed the political establishment, capturing 39.53% of the primary vote and securing 57.55% after preferences. Farley made history as the first candidate directly elected under the One Nation banner to the House of Representatives, utterly humiliating radical left wing activist group GetUp after they poured $600,000 into a desperate, failed effort to stop him.
That decisive victory anchors the party's second federal lower house seat in New South Wales alongside New England, held by Barnaby Joyce following his defection from the toothless Nationals in December 2025. Adding to the party's federal assault, One Nation nominated Sean Bell to fill the New South Wales Senate vacancy in September 2025, after Warwick Stacey resigned just three months after winning the seat that May. With a powerful federal bridgehead established across regional New South Wales, One Nation now turns its full strength directly against Labor state seats.
Record polling surge positions One Nation to tear down failing state Labor across NSW
An explosive poll from DemosAU and Premier National surveying 1,038 New South Wales voters exposes a massive surge in support for One Nation as voters reject state Labor.
The state polling figures show One Nation jumping six points, while support for both the Coalition and Labor continues to fall. In the Legislative Council contest, Labor clings to 30%, with One Nation surging right behind at 27% and leaving the Coalition trailing at 20%. DemosAU head of research George Hasanakos confirmed the political landscape is shifting dramatically, noting "if an election were held today the Coalition would be at severe risk of being relegated to the crossbenches". Out in regional New South Wales beyond the Sydney Basin, the One Nation primary vote has surged to a massive 37%, smashing Labor down to second place at 23% and leaving the Liberal National Coalition stranded in third at 19%.
Translating that level of primary support into actual parliamentary seats depends entirely on navigating the New South Wales optional preferential voting rules. Under this framework, voters can simply mark a single box and finish, preventing preferences from automatically flowing as they do in federal contests and requiring a targeted campaign strategy to lock in wins.
Key upper house seats up for grabs as One Nation mounts aggressive charge against Labor
The upcoming state election on 13 March 2027 presents an immediate opportunity for One Nation to take back power and crush anti worker Labor control. All 93 Legislative Assembly seats and 21 of the 42 Legislative Council seats are up for election. Terms for turncoat members Rod Roberts and Tania Mihailuk expire on 12 March 2027, the day before voters head to the polls, while Mark Latham remains safe until 2031.
That leaves two of the three parliamentary seats lost through internal defections up for grabs in March. As newly appointed state president, Rebecca Thompson's registered role covers the control and operation of One Nation in New South Wales, putting her in charge of the campaign to field aggressive, disciplined contenders who will fight for working families, take back those upper house seats, and strip Labor of its hold on New South Wales.
Thompson closed the announcement by writing: "I look forward to the upcoming State election and thank the people who continue to back us and put their faith in us."
