Why Sarah Game left One Nation
Over the weekend, Game announced she’ll sit in the Legislative Council as an independent, saying she isn’t confident her former party “will change as it needs to”.
In a post to Game’s social media on Saturday, she announced her departure saying she was proud of her achievements within the party, but she faced “missed opportunities” due to Pauline Hanson’s One Nation’s brand perception.
Speaking to ABC Radio Adelaide this morning, Game said the stereotypes that associate the party with racism have been “very limiting”.
“I think anyone that knows me and that I’ve worked with professionally, that’s never been an issue that they’ve had with me,” she said.
“I’ve got certainly great relationships with lots of people from different religious backgrounds and heritages, but in terms of being willing to publicly associate with the brand and support various advocacy areas, that has continued to hold people back.”
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On Sunday, the party posted to Facebook that it was “blindsided” by Game’s resignation after the party decided not to place her mother, Jennifer Game, at the top of the ticket in preselection for SA’s 2026 legislative council ballot.
Jennifer Game ran in the 2025 federal election on the One Nation senate ticket but was unsuccessful.
One Nation said Sarah Game’s reasoning for stepping down is “false”, lacks accountability and is the result of the mother-daughter relationship affecting internal party processes.
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Responding to these allegations, Game told ABC Radio, “anyone who’s followed this journey would know that the dream to be in politics was really originally my mother’s”.
“I ended up here sort of somewhat unexpectedly, although I think I fight very hard to earn my place,” she said.
Game said her mother left the party before she did, which gave her the “freedom of thought” to consider ending her own relationship with the party.
This follows Tammy Franks MLC leaving the SA Greens last week to sit as an independent, alleging she was “undermined”.
Pauline Hanson’s One Nation said in its statement that “every political party within Australia has been impacted by similar acts of treachery” and is calling for legislative change that will prevent party members from remaining in their seats as an independent after they leave a party.
Game told ABC Radio Adelaide on Monday morning this is “a stupid argument”.
“I’m still going to be the same person, I’m going to be demonstrating the same level of work ethic, gratitude and advocacy for South Australian people,” she said.
“My constituency have been very happy with my advocacy to this point and I’m going to be continuing that and none of that is going to change.
“What I hope will change is that more people will be able to get on board publicly and I’ll be able to have greater success with my advocacy for the next five years.”
Sarah Game was elected to the South Australian Legislative Council in 2022, and will hold her seat as an independent until 2030, as legislative councillors are elected for eight-year terms.
