ONE Nation has announced lawyer Ashli Beards as their Mornington electorate candidate for the November state election.
Beards, who has been a member of One Nation since December 2025, was selected from “quite a few” potential candidates according to One Nation’s campaign coordinator for the Eastern Region, Harry Mulry.
“For me, becoming involved with One Nation was a very organic experience,” said Beards.
“I had become fed up with the majors and the mismanagement of the state. I was sick of seeing what was happening day to day and thought the community needed a real advocate.”
Before being pre-selected, Beards worked in commercial and corporate law, after cutting her teeth in criminal law earlier in her career.
“Criminal law was an eye-opening experience. Seeing how the criminal justice system works really influenced me.”
Beards, who is a mother of two primary aged children, and a step-mother to two young adult children, sees cost-of-living pressure as a major issue.
“There are people in the Mornington electorate who can’t afford to turn the heater on in their homes anymore,” said Beards.
“The cost of living has fallen on the deaf ears of the major parties. The fact is that if you really understood people, you’d see these pain points and be advocating for these people.
“Members of parliament are supposed to be listening to us, and I feel my campaign is about getting back to basics.
“Politicians seem more interested in photo opportunities than doing the hard work required. And these things shouldn’t just become a topic at election time either.”
Beards, who grew up in Watsonia North and moved to the peninsula 14 years, told The News she is interested in protecting the peninsula from urban sprawl.
“One Nation has a detailed plan to fix the housing crisis,” said Beards.
“That does not mean we are going to re-zone the green wedge just because Labor bought in too many people. Our peninsula is not a dumping ground for Labor’s failed policies and housing targets.
“I’m here for the Mornington constituents – my job as an MP is to serve them, if they so choose.
“How that plays out as we move forward is up to the local people to decide.”
Roy Morgan polling from 17 August showed that One Nation are poised to win around 10 seats in Victoria’s Upper House. That is short of the Liberal-National Party who are projected to win 11 seats, but ahead of Labor’s projected nine.
Polling from 7 August shows a tight lower house “voting intentions” contest in Victoria with the Liberal-National Party and Labor both on 26% with One Nation not far behind on 23.5%.
One Nation’s projected primary vote is a far cry from the 2022 state election, where the Liberal Party attracted 29.6% of the lower house primary vote, the National Party 4.77%, Labor 37.03% and One Nation just 0.22%. That equated to just 8077 votes out of the 3.6 million votes cast across the state.
In Mornington, where Beards will contest the seat, One Nation did not field a candidate in 2022. In that contest, independent Kate Lardner managed to edge out Labor’s Georgia Fowler on primary votes and fell just 590 votes short of Liberal Chris Crewther in the two-candidate-preferred, leaving Crewther holding the seat with a 0.7 per cent margin.
So far, for the 2026 poll, Beards will be joining incumbent Crewther, and a chosen but yet to be announced candidate endorsed by the Independents for Mornington Peninsula. There has been no word on a Labor candidate for the seat of Mornington.
