‘I want my country back. I want to bring back prosperity.’ As we listen to the strains of Pauline Hanson and her calls about how existing parties have ‘run this country into the ground’ following the One Nation win in the Farrer by-election I have to reflect on how her good mate Donald Trump has made America great again (MAGA).
Frustration at the high cost of living, increased fuel prices, a sense that there is a lack of major party response to genuine community concerns, and that it is refreshing to hear someone ‘say it like it is’ has driven the Hanson win in the Farrer by-election.
It’s understandable that people who are struggling blame the government, or at least what used to be the two major parties before Abbott, Dutton, Ley and Taylor/Hastie wrecked the Liberals. But why support One Nation? After all, One Nation voted to cut benefits like the aged pension and let the biggest corporations pay less tax.
Pauline Hanson has links to Trump and supports the Iran war, even though the ‘battlers’ One Nation professes to care about are hardest hit by the fuel and fertiliser price hikes. Hanson has billionaire backers like Gina Rinehart and she also leads a lavish lifestyle at public expense. Isn’t that the sort of stuff that upsets One Nation voters?
We have the chance to reflect on the outcomes in the US of unfettered right-wing, autocratic, and racist government, and it is not good. It has led to mass deportations, including children and babies, and the killing of American citizens by ICE (though as One Nation is not in government this is unlikely at this point in time). It has led to increasing corruption, a reduction in the rights of free speech, attempts to gut education, and the war with Iran that is having devastating consequences on the world economy, including Australia.
One Nation, like other right-wing movements such as MAGA, has a simple strategy of blaming it all on the ‘government’, and an ‘out’ group – first Asians, then Muslims, and now we are just going for a catch-all called ‘migrants’. This is the rhetoric of fear, it is the way to split communities and demonise people, it is destruction – not community building.
The overwhelming message of One Nation is that ‘there are too many foreigners here, taking our jobs and houses’ and also ‘they don’t want to assimilate’, which is opposite to the actual reality on the ground.
According to the OECD: Findings on the effects of migration on Australia’s economy, ‘Migration boosts the employment of the Australian‑born population and does not affect its wages’. Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that over a ten-year period, migrants successfully integrate into Australia.
Why would people possibly think that One Nation offers a viable solution to the issues we are facing which are primarily around income and resource scarcity, a result of an unequal economic system that has more to do with the income gap between the highest and lowest earners in our country (and the systems that favour the high earners, not the battlers) than immigration?
One Nation has generally voted against federal action on public housing. There is no evidence they support first-home-buyers to access their super to help purchase their first home and One Nation voted against the Help-To-Buy Bill for first-home buyers.
In September 2024 Hanson opposed ‘the introduction of a bill to prevent price-gouging by massive corporations’. She has almost always voted against increasing funding for public schools and there is no evidence that she has ever supported more fee-free TAFE places and described cutting existing student debt as ‘ridiculous’.
When it comes to childcare Senator Hanson has voted consistently against support for childcare, including the Early Childhood Education and Care (Three Day Guarantee) Bill 2025. She voted against paid parental leave equality for both mums and dads.
When it comes to energy security in Australia Hanson has voted against decreasing subsidies for fossil fuels for her mates like Gina, or increasing investment in renewable energy. And aren’t we all enjoying the outcome of that decision as the international supply of oil is being strangled by her great mate Trump.
It is hard to say what One Nation is fighting for. There is plenty that they are not fighting for – when it actually comes down to how they vote, and who they vote for – which is when their choices really make a difference. It doesn’t seem that over the last 30 years Pauline Hanson and One Nation have ever really walked their talk!
It will be interesting to see how long One Nation’s newest recruit David Farley lasts in the party if he actually tries to use evidence-based, logical responses to policy suggestions.
Aslan Shand, editor
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