Hugh Schuitemaker, Murray Pioneer

Tim Whetstone’s election eve claim that One Nation was “preferencing Labor” in Chaffey came just hours before Labor preferences delivered him a fifth term as MP.

On Friday, Mr Whetstone said One Nation candidate Jenny Troeth was preferencing Labor in Chaffey, following the discovery of an undisclosed number of pre-poll voters with One Nation how-to-vote cards preferencing Labor ahead of Liberal.

That afternoon, The Murray Pioneer published a story on its online and social media channels carrying Mr Whetstone’s statement.

Mr Whetstone said preferencing Labor was a “dog act”, however in response One Nation said it was an innocent mistake from a volunteer, and reiterated its campaign message statement that preferences were up to One Nation voters, not the party.

Mr Whetstone’s primary vote dropped below 50 per cent in the 2026 SA Election, leaving him to rely on preferences to defeat his main challenger, Mrs Troeth.

Ironically, Labor’s Chaffey candidate Oscar Harding – who polled the third highest number of first-preference votes – preferenced Mr Whetstone ahead of Mrs Troeth.

Greens candidate Alice Kuersch finished fourth in Chaffey and also preferenced Mr Whetstone ahead of Mrs Troeth.

Independent candidate and local wine-grape grower Jason Perrin preferenced Mr Whetstone first on his how-to-vote card, despite referencing “political nonsense” in last week’s Pioneer when discussing a Bill that Mr Whetstone had previously been critical of.

Mr Whetstone preferenced Mr Perrin – who finished fifth – first on his how-to-vote card, ahead of both Mrs Troeth and the candidate representing the Nationals, who are reunited federal Coalition partner of the Liberals.

On Friday, Liberal MLC Nicola Centofanti reposted The Pioneer‘s social media post, and added:

“One Nation talks a big game about being ‘centre right’ but these preferences in Chaffey tell a very different story. By putting Labor ahead of the Liberal Party, they are actively helping Labor win seats. It’s that simple.”

Mr Whetstone told ABC that cards had been filled out by hand.

The ABC also reported that Independent candidate for Finniss Lou Nicholson said she pulled 24 pre-filled One Nation how-to-vote cards from a recycling bin at a prepolling booth on Fleurieu Peninsula.

The Pioneer understands the Liberal Party has lodged a complaint with the Electoral Commission.

As of late yesterday, Mr Whetstone had 306 more first-preference votes than Mrs Troeth, but was well ahead in the two-party preferred count, leading 55.7 per cent to 44.3 per cent.

Meanwhile One Nation’s tactic of leaving its preferences blank attracted criticism this week, after it was discovered lower house cards with only ‘1′ marked would ultimately lead to preferences being split between the two major parties.

In The Advertiser this week, One Nation’s lead SA upper house candidate Cory Bernardi accused Labor and the Liberals of “acting like spoiled children forced to share their toys” over the issue.

However, Labor SA Senator Don Farrell said One Nation’s tactic would “result in many more One Nation votes going to the Labor Party”.

“The result will be that many One Nation voters will have had their ultimate vote determined by One Nation and not themselves, as they had been promised by Pauline Hanson,” Mr Farrell told The Advertiser.

This article appeared in Murray Pioneer, 25 March 2026.
Related story: Tim still on top