Andrew Close

Warren Pickering, One Nation’s Victorian state leader, has a story of personal redemption. Warren does not deny the mistakes he made as a young man. He openly acknowledges his past drug use, drink-driving offences and failures as a father, and he expresses genuine regret for the hurt those choices caused his children and the people he loved when he was younger. Rather than asking to be excused or judged as blameless, Warren accepts responsibility for his past and asks to be judged by the man he has worked to become. Warren’s character is reflected in his willingness to own his mistakes, rebuild his life, serve his country, stand by his family and face public scrutiny with honesty. Warren says he stopped using drugs before joining the Australian Defence Force and credits his military service with giving him the discipline, purpose and direction he had been missing. He joined the ADF in 2013, held a Negative Vetting Level 2 security clearance, served operationally in eight countries and remains in the standby reserves. That service helped Warren understand that supporting others gave his life meaning and later inspired him to pursue community and political service. His commitment to his family is also central to his story. Warren assumed custody when his children needed care, remained involved in the lives of his daughter and stepsons, and tried to support their mother’s recovery. His daughter and stepson stood beside him at the press conference, while his stepson spoke of the difference Warren had made to their lives, expressed respect for the person he had become and said he forgave him. Warren’s greatest regret is that he could not give his children the childhood they deserved, but the close relationship he now shares with them points to the effort he has made to repair that harm. He has faced painful questions in public, answered them directly and accepted that voters must weigh both his past and the life he has led since. As One Nation said at the press conference, “One Nation does not grow its candidates in petri dishes like Labor and the Liberal Party. They come from lived experience.” The major parties should reflect on their own shortcomings before condemning a man who has acknowledged his failures, rebuilt his life and demonstrated through his family, military service and community involvement that people can change. Warren’s story shows a man who confronted his mistakes, changed the direction of his life and chose not to remain defined by the worst decisions of his youth. I encourage you to watch his press conference in full and make your own judgement.