{
  "id": 6260050,
  "title": "One Nation Victoria leader admits to drug use, drink-driving.",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/08/one-nation-victoria-leader-admits-to-drug-use-drink-driving-6260050",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-09-08T09:30:04.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Age",
    "slug": "the-age",
    "url": "https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/one-nation-victoria-leader-admits-to-drug-use-drink-driving-20260908-p60vjz.html?ref=rss"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": null,
  "summary": "Warren Pickering, the Victorian leader of One Nation, has acknowledged using illicit drugs in his 20s, including methamphetamines, ecstasy, and marijuana. According to Pickering, it has been at least 16 years since he last used drugs and he had previously disclosed this history to the party.\n\nPickering also admitted to making mistakes, including losing his license multiple times for drink driving, and hurting people he loved. He expressed regret for his actions, stating that he will \"live with that forever\".\n\nPickering denied claims made by his ex-partner, published by The Australian, that he smoked crystal meth in front of children. He also mentioned considering legal action against the publication. Notably, The Guardian Australia and the ABC were barred from attending the press conference where these statements were made.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 5,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "ABC News AU",
        "title": "One Nation Victorian leader Warren Pickering admits to previous drug use",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/08/one-nation-victorian-leader-warren-pickering-admits-to-previous-drug",
        "published": "2026-09-08T06:31:09.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "The Sydney Morning Herald",
        "title": "One Nation state leader admits to drug use",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/08/one-nation-state-leader-admits-to-drug-use-6252666",
        "published": "2026-09-08T07:58:21.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "The Age",
        "title": "One Nation state leader admits to drug use",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/08/one-nation-state-leader-admits-to-drug-use",
        "published": "2026-09-08T07:58:21.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "The Guardian Australia",
        "title": "One Nation’s Warren Pickering admits to illegal drug use and says he is ‘no angel’ in extraordinary press conference",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/08/one-nations-warren-pickering-admits-to-illegal-drug-use-and-says-he",
        "published": "2026-09-08T08:04:04.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}