WHAT do the Secret Harbour by-election, strawberries and gun control have in common? Surprisingly a lot more than you may think.

August’s by-election, triggered by Paul Papalia’s resignation, saw One Nation candidate Luke Herdegen wrest the historically safe Labor seat from its parachuted candidate, former gas industry lobbyist Georgia Tree. 

Papalia had held the seat, and its predecessor, Warnbro on a comfortable margin, but the by-election saw the party suffer an 18.7 per cent swing on a two-party preferred vote. 

Some have suggested the result reflected Papalia’s personal following deserting Labor on his departure, but it’s the legacy of the former police minister’s controversial gun reforms that seems to have delivered One Nation the ammunition it needed to secure a 14 point margin and its first Lower House victory in WA.

The win sent a clear warning sign to the broader Australian political landscape: One Nation is not just competing for the low hanging fruit in regional or Coalition seats, they’re a genuine contender.

Which brings us to the next stage of the story. Fruit.

 Not exactly low hanging but just above the ground, at hip height — strawberries. 

Smashastrawb is a strawberry farm in Smithbrook, 15 minutes south of Manjimup, where owner and managing director Paul Da Silva describes himself as an “Australian patriot” from a Portuguese Italian background – a heritage he is proud of.

He’s also quite proud of his contribution to what he calls a “change in the political landscape”, being an “integral part” of One Nation’s Secret Harbour victory. 

Under Smashastrawb’s trading name Grower Connect Pty Ltd, $75,000 was donated to One Nation WA. 

The first general donation of $50,000 was made in April 2026 followed by a $25,000 campaign war chest just after Papalia announced his resignation in July.

“I was told multiple times that me supporting One Nation – I was the only supporter for WA.

“One Nation was saying the right things, understood me, our values aligned, and I decided to support them. And it just so happens that that support was the main reason that they were able to run such a fantastic campaign and win that seat,” Da Silva said.

Da Silva says he’s dissatisfied with the current government’s “debilitating” taxes and the turning point was discovering his children could not afford to buy a home in Perth. 

“So, when I can’t get my child into a house, they can’t buy a house, I just clicked.

“It was my son not being able to get a home in Perth and being kicked out by people that — I’m not saying they shouldn’t be there. 

“I’m saying that if you have a coffee cup and you overfill it, it spills and makes a fucking mess. Yeah, it’s not about people. It’s about numbers.”

Smithbrook is one of three main farms which make up Smashastrawb. The farm houses five patches, with 21 tunnels in each patch and six rows of strawberries per tunnel. Each tunnel is 100 metres long; approximately 63 kilometres of linear strawberries.

Da Silva estimates 800 tonnes of strawberries were produced at Smithbrook last season and says the entire company would handle “$50 million worth of strawberries a year wholesale pricing”.

Da Silva says there has been a push towards corporatisation amongst farmers and out of about 40 strawberry growers in WA he’s one of just five who still live on the land.

“Farming was a selfless job where you didn’t make a hell of a lot of money, but you lived on the land and it was a lifestyle. Now it has nothing to do with that. It’s a multi million dollar business that you pretend is still your lifestyle.”

Each year SmashaStrawb employs 60 international workers for the nine month season through the Pacific Australian Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme.

PALM scheme

Under the government scheme Smashastrawb is a direct employer, meaning it is able to recruit workers directly from overseas, with its workforce predominately from East Timor.

Da Silva said it was a conscious choice to join the scheme in order to select those most suitable for the farm but also those who would most benefit from the work.

“The worker is the most important thing. It’s people over profit. Okay, so we want to go and choose our workers to make sure that they’re going to be suitable for us.

“We’re not going to choose the rich farmer’s daughter we’re going to choose the poor guy from the village that has a family that needs to work,” he said

Da Silva is proudest of his retention rate amongst workers; he tells me the farm would maybe only lose one a year.

“We don’t rotate people. We give people training and the opportunity to excel,” he said.

PALM is an aspect of immigration Da Silva said he would not want to see change. He would have been be pleased to have seen One Nation adopt a hands off stance in their recent immigration policy announcement. 

There is, however, more ammunition – or perhaps lack thereof – behind Da Silva’s support for One Nation. 

Whilst in office Papalia was responsible for new gun ownership laws which limit the number of firearms an individual can own and introduce a list of disqualifying offences which could see someone stripped of their license.

For Da Silvia, a historic charge of possession of a weapon that may cause fear, meant losing his firearms.

“I’m never allowed to have a firearm ever again, which was part of my persona at one stage.

“I don’t cry very often, but that one there nearly – it really cut me,” he said.

Da Silva disagrees he is not fit and proper to own a gun, saying the incident involved a Swiss army knife in his pocket and a “series of retarded events”, which ended with a suspended sentence and modest fine. 

As a result, he says the farm would have lost $150,000 worth of fruit because he’s unable to ward off pests.

“I’m not saying that that’s the catalyst, but afterwards, now looking back, sucked in,” he says of his contribution to the Secret Harbour result.

“It really made me happy. Fuck ‘em! They deserved every bit of it.”

Da Silva was in hospital with a broken leg he sustained in a farm accident and was unable to attend One Nation’s victory party but says it was still a sweet day.

“I was really happy. Probably the greatest day of my life.”

The emboldened Da Silva says the rise of One Nation is a good thing for Australia.

“If I was the political establishment in Australia, I would absolutely be shitting myself, frightened, because the orange wave is coming.”

He says the lack of understanding in government circles about what goes on in farms has contributed to One Nation’s popularity.

“Everyone’s in an echo chamber, so you only hear — You reap what you sow,” he said.

Notre Dame University politics and international relations professor Martin Drum says this is something that can happen on all sides of politics in what he calls a “hollowing out of the centre”. 

“People get on social media and they have their feelings and ideas reinforced repeatedly. And what that leads to is greater and greater polarisation. 

Bubble

“So, if you’re in a very specific bubble, then you’ll get frustrated about a range of things and you may well believe that One Nation is the party that best serves those aspirations.”

Prof Drum has observed a change in fortunes for One Nation.

He says where people previously would be hesitant to publicly show their support for the party, soaring polls paint a new picture. 

“More people are coming forward saying, ‘I’m A One Nation voter, I’m out there campaigning for them, I’m out there supporting them’. 

“And in some cases, ‘I’m out there donating various amounts of money for them’. 

“So in a sense they are a legitimate political actor,” he said.

Prof Drum said people are turning towards One Nation for a multitude of reasons, with immigration and cost of living high on the agenda.

“I think these anxieties and frustrations are natural and there are plenty of people who are genuinely suffering out there.

“There’s a lot of wealth floating around, but there’s also a sense of people can’t afford to have a place to live. The services and facilities are very expensive for them. 

“They’ve had the fuel prices also go through the roof. Interestingly when you see this on social media, you see Albanese being blamed largely for that.

“So just the fact that all these things, these perceptions exist, it doesn’t matter really whether they’re true or not. It’s just whether they exist because in existing, these perceptions explain the support.”

Prof Drum isn’t as convinced One Nation has the right answers. He says most economist predict its immigration limit of 130,000 will be disastrous for the Australian economy. 

So, what is causing the shift? What do farmers like Paul and flip voters in Secret Harbour have in common? What does the new wave of supporters for One Nation see in the party that is so different to the norm?

Prof Drum says one possibility is exactly that – a point of difference.

Outsider 

“I think that’s classic outsider status. So, one of the reasons why, when people are really frustrated and angry and everything, and you’re asking why they vote for One Nation, they vote for One Nation because they somehow see them as different to those other parties.”

It’s the unconventionality of One Nation which Prof Drum says the major parties are having difficulty dealing with. 

Prof Drum isn’t sure Labor and the Opposition have figured out how to combat the One Nation threat.

The upcoming state election in Victoria will be the next chance to observe just how meaningful the Secret Harbour victory was, and if the major parties are able to effectively stop the bleeding.

“I think people should take the One Nation rise seriously, because it’s clear that there is increasing support for them. 

“And that means if One Nation’s got a range of very divisive policies, that they need to be explored and called out,” Prof Drum said.

by GUS CULLEN