One Nation leader Pauline Hanson hosted a private $2,000-a-head lunch for potential donors at Vue de Monde, an upmarket restaurant on level 55 of Melbourne's Rialto Towers, as the party builds financial and political momentum ahead of the Victorian state election. The event brought together figures from business and political circles, including several former Liberal Party members, reflecting an apparent push by One Nation to broaden its support base among traditionally conservative-leaning donors and professionals.

Fewer than 20 guests attended, most paying around $2,000, with a seat next to Hanson reportedly fetching about $5,000; attendees included former Victorian Liberal treasurer Andrew Abercrombie and several business executives, with few women present bar Victorian party secretary Bianca Colecchia. The lunch comes as One Nation, led in Victoria by Warren Pickering, plans to field up to 100 candidates in the 28 November election after receiving roughly 1,200 applications, building on the party's first-ever lower house seat win in Western Australia the previous week. Hanson's pitch to attendees reportedly centred on restoring business confidence and championing nuclear energy for the state.