The Farrer by-election result marks a dramatic collapse in Liberal support and signals a broader shift in Australian politics as One Nation surges.

It is impossible to exaggerate the disastrous performance of the Liberal Party in the by-election for the seat of the party’s former (briefly) leader, Sussan Ley. In just over 12 months more than half of the people who voted Liberal when she was the candidate changed their allegiance and voted for One Nation or an independent.

What was once a relatively safe Liberal seat became the first seat won by One Nation in a House of Representatives election. Ever.

The Farrer result tells us the Liberal Party no longer has safe seats in provincial Australia. We learned in the last two federal elections that there are no safe Liberal seats in what used to be its heartland – the better-off electorates in our major cities. What’s left?

The Nationals are yet to be tested by this resurgent One Nation party. But it too failed in Farrer, in areas outside the provincial cities. The combined vote for the Liberal and National Party candidates was about........

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