'For too long, we haven't had a voice' - One Nation unveils Gippsland South candidate
The candidate was announced at a fundraising event with Pauline Hanson in Sale last night.
Gippsland emergency healthcare worker Bianca Wilkie will challenge State Nationals leader Danny O'Brien after One Nation selected her to contest Gippsland South in November.
One Nation unveiled the Cowwarr mother of two at its sold-out Eastern Victoria fundraiser in Sale on Monday night, where she appeared alongside Senator Pauline Hanson, Victorian One Nation leader Warren Pickering and Eastern Victoria candidate Greg Hansford.
Ms Wilkie told the Sentinel-Times said she had never planned to enter politics but cost-of-living pressure and the divide between regional and metropolitan Victoria convinced her to stand.
"Definitely not a politician, let's start there," Ms Wilkie said.
"Nor did I have any plans to become a politician.
"And if I get elected, I probably won't ever refer to myself as one."
Ms Wilkie said she wanted to take a regional voice into State Parliament and planned to visit every community in the electorate during the campaign.
"Basically, I just want people to know that I'm running because I want to be a strong local voice," she said.
"I'm someone who understands the realities of raising a family, supporting a small business, and working on the frontline where the deficits are seen.
"I believe that our government should be working for the people who fund it, and we all need to be accountable, transparent, and have investment that produces real outcomes for our communities."
Ms Wilkie has spent 11 years working in ambulance and emergency healthcare services across Gippsland and holds a degree in paramedicine.
She spent much of her recent career in Yarram and has worked in frontline healthcare, clinical instruction, management and community support roles.
The Council of Ambulance Authorities named her among its 56 Women in Ambulance honour recipients for 2026, while Ambulance Victoria recognised her work with rural communities and first responders.
Ms Wilkie said her work had exposed gaps in regional health care while her family had felt the economic impact of the state government's native timber decision.
She said her husband lost his logging-industry job last year before establishing a small business as a diesel mechanic.
The state government ended commercial native timber harvesting in Victoria's state forests on January 1 2024 after bringing the closure forward from 2030.
"It just seems to be getting a greater and greater divide between rural and regional areas and the metropolitan areas," Ms Wilkie said.
"We need to get our infrastructure back."
Ms Wilkie put regional roads among her campaign priorities and said the government should direct revenue from vehicle registrations and fines into road maintenance instead of other projects.
Victorian registration and licence fees currently enter the state government's consolidated fund, which pays for roads and other government services including health and education.
The focus puts Ms Wilkie against an incumbent who has made regional roads one of his central issues for years.
Mr O'Brien serves as Shadow Minister for Roads and Road Safety and has repeatedly campaigned for more maintenance funding, drainage work, resurfacing and lasting repairs across Gippsland.
He took a $10 billion road-maintenance commitment to the 2022 election and has continued to challenge the state government over falling resurfacing and patching targets.
The Liberals and Nationals unveiled a new $5 billion road-repair plan in July which they said would eliminate one million potholes over five years, increase preventative maintenance and rebuild road-engineering expertise.
The state government announced a $1.04 billion road blitz in its 2026-27 Budget and said regional Victoria would receive 70 per cent of the funding.
Ms Wilkie said she would spend six weeks of long service leave visiting towns and meeting voters throughout South Gippsland.
"I want to get to every town that's in the electorate to be able to hear from people, because for too long, I believe we haven't had a voice," she said.
"I want to work for the families, the businesses, the farmers, and the young people, and make sure that our communities get a fair go, and that we all have a genuine voice about the decisions that affect us."
Mr O'Brien has represented Gippsland South since March 2014 and has led the Victorian Nationals since November 2024.
He won 53.27 per cent of first-preference votes and 65.25 per cent of the two-candidate-preferred vote at the 2022 election.
One Nation did not field a Gippsland South candidate in 2022.
It is understood the candidate for Bass Coast will be announced tomorrow, Wednesday, September 2.
Victorians will vote in the state election on Saturday November 28.
