The richest person in Australia, Gina Rinehart, attended James Ashby’s fundraising dinner at a local restaurant in the town of Yeppoon.
The chief of staff of Pauline Hanson, who is now running for the Keppel seat in Queensland, was the event’s host.
Some of the people who attended the dinner included local gas station owners, tank distributors, and graziers.
According to fundraising documents, some of the individuals who paid for the tickets purchased them weeks before the event.
Since the emergence of One Nation in Queensland during the 1990s, the party’s campaigns have typically been low-budget affairs.
Party candidates were required to sign contracts and pay fees to cover the costs.
In the past couple of years, One Nation’s Queensland branch only received one donation totaling less than $1,000.
Since James Ashby became a candidate for Keppel, he has quickly brought in more money and influence to the race.
Since he announced his intention to run for the seat, James Ashby has raised more than $22,000 in just a month.
Most of his money came from the Rinehart event, which was attended by several local Liberal National Party members. One of the individuals who gave him airtime on a talkback radio show is Peta Credlin, who was the chief of staff to former Prime Minister Tony Abbott.
Pauline Hanson, who is the founder and president of One Nation, turns 70 years old this year.
Her loyalist senator, Malcolm Roberts, is also a year younger. With the emergence of James Ashby as a potential successor, some within the party are unhappy.
The LNP has already preselected Nigel Hutton, a former deputy mayor of the Livingstone Shire, to run for Keppel.
As a relatively young candidate, Hutton has a strong local following in the town of Yeppoon.
The seat, which is currently held by Brittany Lauga, was high on the LNP’s target list before the October election.
Although he did not respond to requests for comment, sources within the party said that, for all of his appearances on Sky News, James Ashby did not have a sufficient community profile.