EXCLUSIVE: The former MP is out after just six months in the party.
Former MP Craig Kelly has publicly confirmed he has left Pauline Hanson's One Nation, following exclusive reporting from 6 News.
In an interview last night with Chris Smith on ADH TV, Kelly said he "tried my best to try and open One Nation up to join with the other parties, get the other smaller parties involved."
"I tried with national conferences, I tried with public rallies. You know, I tried a lot of new things, trying to get some of the old candidates that were disenchanted back into the fold. But, you know, they didn't want to do it that way. So, unfortunately, we've had a separating of the ways."
When asked by Smith if it was "a separating of the ways or acrimonious?," Kelly said he didn't "want to disparage One Nation".
"They've got a lot of very good people in there working very hard, but they do have some fundamental problems that they need to overcome."
As for his future, Kelly says "I'll keep fighting on sort of thing, as I've got my own reasonable platform on social media. I'm still involved in all the protest groups, the freedom groups, and we'll keep on fighting on. And in life, you find one door closes and another door opens. So that's what we'll keep. I'll keep on battling on."
Prior to the interview, Kelly tagged NSW Libertarian Party MLC John Ruddick on Twitter and asked if "perhaps there's something to these Libertarians?," possibly indicating a switch to that party.
READ THE ORIGINAL STORY FROM SUNDAY 1 SEPTEMBER:
Former MP Craig Kelly has left Pauline Hanson's One Nation, 6 News understands.
Kelly, who left the Liberal Party and joined the United Australia Party (UAP) in 2021 before losing his seat at the 2022 federal elction, was appointed as One Nation's national director in February.
However, it's believed he and Hanson have disagreed in recent months, leading him to leave the party. Kelly has removed "National Director [of] Pauline Hanson's One Nation" from his Twitter bio and changed his Twitter handle from "CraigKellyPHON" to "CraigKellyXXX", seemingly confirming the reports.
Kelly has not publicly tweeted the phrase "One Nation" since June 9.
It's not the only defection One Nation has suffered this year − last month, Queensland state MP Stephen Andrew quit the party after being disendorsed for this October's state election.
And last year, NSW MLCs Mark Latham and Rod Roberts both quit One Nation. The party currently has MLCs in NSW, South Australia and Victoria, while Hanson is joined by Malcolm Roberts in the Senate.
6 News has contacted Kelly and Hanson for comment.
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