One Nation figureheads Pauline Hanson and James Ashby have ruled out facing off against Nationals leader Matt Canavan in a key Queensland seat as he tries to shift to the lower house.

Canavan announced on Monday he would seek to move from the Senate to the lower house seat of Capricornia at the next federal election.

“Someone’s got to step up, and I’m the next person up here in central Queensland, so I’ll put it on the line,” he said in Rockhampton.

“Who knows, I might not be successful, my political career may die, but I’m not going to die wondering.”

The central Queensland coastal seat is being vacated by Coalition MP Michelle Landry, who announced 10 days ago she would not recontest the seat she has held since 2013. She holds it with a 5.8 per cent margin.

Landry’s resignation prompted widespread speculation that Canavan, who lives in the electorate, would resign to run instead for the lower house seat.

He holds the second spot on the Coalition’s Queensland Senate ticket, behind Liberal James McGrath.

He won the second of two Queensland Senate seats for the LNP six years ago, but One Nation’s recent polling surge means it could conceivably pinch that second upper house berth.

Hanson staged a comeback in the Newspoll released on Monday, with her net approval jumping eight points to -1 per cent in the space of a month. But on Monday she said she wouldn’t challenge Canavan in the seat.

“Am I running in Capricornia? No I’m not running in Capricornia, so I’ll give you a direct answer to that one. What Matt Canavan does is Matt Canavan’s choice to do, but it’s not my choice to run in Capricornia,” she said on a visit to Victoria.

“We’re still over a year out from the election, so I’m not making any decisions or giving any – any indication of where I’m standing … Or where James Ashby, if James Ashby is going to stand.”

Ashby, who is Hanson’s chief of staff and lives on the Capricorn coast, made an unsuccessful tilt for the seat of Keppel at the 2024 Queensland election.

Later on Monday, he also ruled out challenging Canavan.

“I’ll play a role in the campaign here in Capricornia, but my position as national director is one that I take seriously. Therefore I won’t be nominating at preselection,” he said.

“Capricornia is a seat One Nation can win, so I intend to throw the resources and people behind a strong campaign.”

One Nation was third on primary votes in Capricornia at the 2025 federal election, behind the LNP and Labor. It registered about a 1 per cent swing in its favour.

The party announced late last year it would open a branch in Yeppoon, which is Canavan’s home town, to “help shape the future of One Nation in the region”, according to its website.

Canavan initially downplayed reports he would run for the central Queensland seat, saying the matter was up to LNP membership.

He had previously said he would do what it took to keep a strong Coalition presence in the region, despite the prospect of a One Nation wipeout.

Opposition Leader Angus Taylor praised the Coalition’s deputy leader for “putting it all on the line” by attempting the move to the lower house.

“I was very pleased to see Matt is throwing his hat in the ring,” he said on Monday.

“We’re all putting it all on the line because we have to, because we need our country back.”

Canavan’s fate is in the hands of rank-and-file Coalition members, who will decide whether he is preselected. If successful, he will have to resign his Senate seat before getting on the ballot in Capricornia.

“I hope to get that endorsement of the LNP members, we’re a grassroots party – it’s up to them,” he said.

“If I do get that honour, I’ll be fighting like hell.”

-with AAP