Pauline Hanson’s secret weapon – a former long-term “gentleman’s club” manager and Miss Italy contestant – has put the Liberal Party on notice over its sclerotic performance in Victoria.

Bianca Colecchia is unlike pretty much any other state secretary of a political party, having grown up struggling financially in an Italian village, migrated to Australia and then rising to become one of the architects of One Nation’s Victorian election campaign, where published polls suggest support for the minor party is surging.

Ms Colecchia has warned that while she wants to see the end of the scandal-plagued Allan government, the Liberal Party had not covered itself in glory.

“We would prefer seeing the Liberals get up,’’ she said.

“But we are not running the election to help the Liberals. And we want to show the Victorian people that they have every conservative option moving forward.

“Because I think the Liberals at the end of the day have really failed to be an effective opposition.’’

Asked if the opposition had been hopeless, Ms Colecchia said: “Yes, I think so. And, again, the internal fighting and party dynamics are really getting in the way of getting things done.’’

One Nation doesn’t have an ­office in Victoria – it has a warehouse and one state MP – but its relatively small footprint will not stop heavy speculation about the party picking up as many as 10 Upper House seats, with the Lower House much more difficult terrain although not impossible.

The size of the party’s vote could have a large impact, particularly on the Liberal Party, if One Nation eats into the Liberals’ primary vote, making it even harder to pick up the 16 seats necessary to form government with the support of the Nationals.

Ms Colecchia is reluctant to talk about One Nation leader Pauline Hanson and high-profile draft pick Barnaby Joyce, wanting to focus on Victorian issues such as intrusions on farming land via power lines and solar energy developments, less government intervention, more commonsense, sensible immigration levels supported by contemporary infrastructure, and corruption in the building industry.

“Yes, I’ve met the boss (Senator Hanson) quite a few times and Barnaby once,’’ she said.

“We have the ability of using her legacy and everything that she has built for our people down here in Victoria, which is fantastic.’’

Ms Colecchia, 32, ran as a One Nation candidate in the seat of Bruce at the last federal election, and is considering running in the state election.

While it is still early days, it is quite possible that the party that emanated from Queensland could hold the balance of power in Victoria’s Legislative Council after this year’s election.

Ms Colecchia says she believes the regions are where the party will do best in Victoria, but senior Liberals are concerned that One Nation could affect metropolitan votes, taking them off the Liberal pile but with not all preferences returning to the Liberals.

For example, a senior Liberal said a repeat of the outcome in the federal seat of Goldstein, won by Tim Wilson, may have been different had One Nation run in a hypothetical 2025 election.

Ms Colecchia said she was drawn to One Nation because of the pandemic lockdowns, spending months at home during the worst of it.

She grew up in the Abruzzo region in Italy, east of Rome, in tough economic circumstances, starting out coaching rhythmic gymnastics and working as a waitress. She lived in a village called Sant’Eusanio del Sangro. 

When she settled in Australia she eventually managed a gentleman’s club (“I won’t say the name, I am sure you can understand why”), where she looked after staff, dancers and security. This lasted for eight years.

Her image now being splashed across her social media to help tell her story features her riding a motorcycle, swimming with sharks and recreational pole dancing.

She said while the party was open to discussing preference deals with the Coalition, this would be up to the party president, Warren Pickering.

RedBridge Group pollster and strategist Kos Samaras said One Nation’s stronger polling numbers were potentially “terrible” for the Coalition, especially in regional and rural areas.

Mr Samaras said One Nation could win Lower House seats, with potentially fallout for the Nationals; but One Nation’s presence also could affect city seats, forcing the Liberals into three-way contests in what should be traditionally their electorates, with voter anger widespread.

“Every politician is unpopular. Everyone is on the nose,’’ he said.