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A long-standing Liberal policy to putOne Nation last on how-to-votetickets is likely to be dumped by the Victorian branch of the party, amid warningsthe Coalition is bleeding votes to the hard right.

The impact of demographic change, high unemployment and industrial collapse has left party hardheads worried One Nation could cut as much as 10per cent from the primary vote of the Liberal or Nationals in some seats.

State president Michael Kroger said the Victorian Liberal Party was considering a policy of preferencingcandidates whose values most closely aligned with the Liberal Party in such key areas as law and order, energy prices and security, budget repair and border protection.

"The person whose policies are most in line with our views on those issues is likely to be preferenced," Mr Kroger told The Age."It will be done on an individual candidate basis. Hard-left Greens candidates are extremely likely to be put last."

While the Liberals famously put the Greens last in the 2010 state election, the "case-by-case" policy would mark a significant change from past practice put in place in 2001 by former prime minister John Howard of putting One Nation on the bottom of how-to-vote cards.

The Latrobe Valley Nationals seat ofMorwell is seen as vulnerable. Unemployment in the town is as high as 20.2 per cent, before factoring in job losses linked to the looming closure of the Hazelwood power plant.

Incumbent RussellNorthe, who clung onwith a 1.8 per cent margin at the 2014 state election, said in December he was leaving the shadow ministry to spend more time in his electorate.

The Liberal rural seat of Ripon, held byjust 0.8 per cent, is also under a cloud.Labor strategists are also eyeing the Liberal seat of Bass, which stretches from outer Melbourne to South Gippsland, and is held by a margin of 4.6 per cent.

According to a senior Labor strategist, if the federal results in voting booths overlying the state seat of Bass are extrapolated, Labor is on track to win the seat.

It follows alarm about the growing influence of One Nation in Victoria, withsome polls suggesting the hard-right partyis on track to capture as much as 9.4 per cent of the state vote.

The worry is that only 55to 60 per cent of One Nation primary votes tend to flow back to the Coalition. "If we don't accept we have to deal with One Nation, it will gobble up 8 to 10 per cent of our primary vote in some seats," a senior Liberal source said.

The move follows a decision by the West Australian Liberals to end the long standing policy of putting One Nation last. According to some reports, One Nation could be placed as high as second on the ballot in some WA seats, ahead of the Nationals.

Continued here:
Victorian Liberals prepare to do business with One Nation - The Age