Exclusive: Many applicants left feeling ‘used, lied to, misled and gaslit’, complaint letter seen by Guardian Australia says

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One Nation could collect as much as $633,000 from people who have put their hand up to run in the Victorian state election, with potential candidates questioning whether the party is staging a “cash grab”.

Guardian Australia has spoken to multiple former councillors, mayors and deputy mayors who expressed an interest in running for the party. They claim they went through what one called a “pay-to-play” application process, after which they were rejected.

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