{"id":1648,"date":"2026-07-02T23:55:44","date_gmt":"2026-07-02T23:55:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arabnewsmonitor.com\/2026\/07\/02\/is-the-populist-right-about-to-take-over-australia\/"},"modified":"2026-07-02T23:55:44","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T23:55:44","slug":"is-the-populist-right-about-to-take-over-australia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/?p=1648","title":{"rendered":"Is the populist right about to take over Australia?"},"content":{"rendered":"

One Nation recently shot to the top of the country\u2019s political ratings \u2013 but its program is disruptive and unrealistic<\/strong><\/p>\n

Recent opinion polls make clear that the populist One Nation Party has experienced a dramatic surge in popularity amongst Australian voters in the past few months.<\/p>\n

Last week, Newspoll \u2013 Australia\u2019s most respected and accurate political opinion poll \u2013 disclosed that One Nation was the most popular party in the country, with 31% of voters supporting it.<\/p>\n

Support for the Labor Party, which currently governs federally and in all but one of the six Australian states, was at 30%, while backing for the conservative Liberal\/National Party coalition had plummeted to a meagre 18%, with the Greens remaining steady at 11%.<\/p>\n

These poll figures revealed an extraordinary recent increase in popularity for One Nation. At the last federal election, in May 2025, One Nation obtained just 6.4% of the primary vote, and it currently holds only two seats in the House of Representatives, together with four seats in the Senate.<\/p>\n

One Nation, founded in the late 1990s by its current leader Pauline Hanson, was until recently a right-wing fringe party that had never posed a significant threat to the mainstream Labor and conservative Coalition parties that have taken turns in governing Australia since the late 1940s.<\/p>\n

One Nation\u2019s recent surge in popularity is akin to that of Nigel Farage\u2019s Reform Party, and Australian politics is now following a similar trajectory to UK politics \u2013 the conservative Coalition is disintegrating, the Labor party is coming under increasing electoral pressure, and a significant number of disaffected voters appear willing to contemplate, for the first time, a right-wing populist party winning government.<\/p>\n

\n Read more<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n \"A
Brexit was a symptom, and the disease still spreads<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/blockquote>\n

And last week Pauline Hanson was invited to speak at the National Press Club in Canberra for the first time ever \u2013 proof positive that One Nation has now become a significant political force in Australian politics.<\/p>\n

How is One Nation\u2019s unprecedented surge in popularity to be explained?<\/p>\n

Last week\u2019s Newspoll made it clear that disenchantment with both mainstream parties is the most significant factor behind One Nation\u2019s recent upturn in popularity. Almost 70% of voters polled were of the view that the mainstream parties \u201cwho built this mess aren\u2019t going to fix it\u201d<\/em> and that \u201cAustralian politics is overdue for a big shake-up\u201d<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Such voter dissatisfaction is perfectly understandable. The conservative coalition was in power for over a decade before losing office to the Labor party in 2022 \u2013 and both mainstream parties have singularly failed to alleviate the cost-of-living crisis that has pauperised large numbers of Australians over the past two decades.<\/p>\n

Both mainstream parties have, for almost two decades, remained firmly committed to elite, and increasingly unpopular, polices such as net zero, mass immigration, multiculturalism, transgender rights and support for America\u2019s wars of foreign aggression \u2013 policies that have exacerbated the cost-of-living crisis and shattered social cohesion within the Australian community.<\/p>\n

In the circumstances, it is not surprising that a populist party that promises to scrap net zero, end mass migration, reverse elite culture wars policies and restore cultural unity should have become increasingly popular.<\/p>\n

The collapse of the conservative coalition as a viable party of government has also fuelled One Nation\u2019s popularity.\u00a0 The coalition has for more than a decade been deeply divided over net zero, mass immigration and a raft of culture wars issues. The coalition is now, of course, even more bitterly divided over whether it should attack Hanson\u2019s policies or embrace them with a view to forming some kind of electoral alliance with One Nation.<\/p>\n

\n Read more<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n \"Reform
Nigel Farage\u2019s \u2018White Britain\u2019: A misguided fantasy built on his enemies\u2019 logic<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/blockquote>\n

As a result of these intractable divisions, progressive coalition voters have deserted the Liberal Party in favour of Teal politicians firmly committed to elite policies like net zero \u2013 who have in recent elections won seats in wealthy, formerly safe Liberal electorates. At the same time, conservative coalition voters (including those in outer suburban working class electorates) have shifted their allegiance to One Nation and its populist agenda.<\/p>\n

And as the conservative coalition has bled votes to both the left and the right, and suffered one electoral setback after another, wealthy donors, who had supported the coalition for decades, have increasingly redirected their funds into One Nation\u2019s now overflowing coffers.<\/p>\n

Gina Rinehart, the Trump-worshipping billionaire mining magnate, is now One Nation\u2019s most generous financial backer \u2013 and she recently purchased a private jet for Pauline Hanson to use on the campaign trail.<\/p>\n

One Nation now has more than sufficient funds, for the first time in its chequered history, to mount a nation-wide campaign to win seats in the federal House of Representatives.<\/p>\n

In her recent address to the National Press Club this Pauline Hanson set out a wide-ranging populist program for winning government. It included the following specific policies:<\/p>\n