Workers are flocking to Hanson's party. To beat the far-right, we need organisation. ---- One Nation is sitting at around 30% in the polls. By some projections, that's enough to win over 60 seats in parliament. The Liberals would be wiped out, and a big chunk taken out of Labor's vote. --- Hanson would hold the balance of power. If her support keeps growing, or if what's left of the Liberals decide to back her, One Nation could end up running the country.
What would One Nation want to do with that power? Like their mate Trump, they would move to implement a policy of mass deportation which would terrorise migrant workers, whatever their legal status. Access to abortion would be restricted. Even more than Liberal and Labor governments, they would demonise Muslims and lock refugees up in concentration camps. Native Title would be rolled back and the policing of Indigenous communities ramped up.No surprise then that the neo-Nazi National Socialist Network have called Hanson 'the great white hope'. A strong One Nation will embolden fascist groups to target ethnic minorities, queer people, socialists, and trade unionists.
One Nation's far-right agenda is an attack on the entire working class. That's why capitalists (particularly in the mining industry) are jumping on the bandwagon.
The ruling class don't want us organising strikes against the bosses, or thinking about how we might change society outside of the electoral system. They know workers are angry and hate the major parties. The bosses want to control that anger in a way that doesn't blow up in their faces.
One Nation is the perfect solution: it leads workers back into the system, and gets them to blame each other for inflation and the housing crisis. Meanwhile, Hanson can help her rich supporters, like Gina Rinehart, get even richer.
Members of the Anarchist Communist Federation have joined protests against One Nation around the country because we know the threat can't be ignored. But just heckling Hanson or chasing her from event to event isn't a winning strategy.
To actually stop One Nation, we need to understand where its support comes from so we can stamp it out at the root.
The cross-class alliance
Why is Hanson doing so well?
To some, the answer is simple: Clearly, Australia is just full of ignorant racists. The typical One Nation voter is imagined as a privileged, old white man who owns some property and a small business.
This is the line currently being peddled by the Socialist Party. They argue One Nation isn't backed by a significant number of workers, and so appealing to the party's supporters is a waste of time.
Others give Hanson exactly what she wants by claiming the exact opposite. It's typical to see One Nation portrayed as an 'anti-establishment' party, fighting on behalf of 'battlers'-ordinary Aussie workers with 'reasonable concerns' about immigration.
Both are wrong.
In reality, One Nation's support is typical of successful far-right parties, going back to the fascist movements of Italy and Nazi Germany. It doesn't draw its votes from any one group. It's a cross-class alliance. Both workers and bosses are being mobilised around nationalism. To pull this off, Hanson is being two-faced. She's making one argument to the rich, and another to the rest of us.
Yes, One Nation is increasingly bankrolled by rich capitalists jumping ship from the Liberals. The mining sector in particular now sees One Nation as the party best placed to keep its gravy train running. It's also true that One Nation's die-hard base (the 5% who have always been around) are mostly well-off bigots.
But the global economic crisis-triggered first by the crash of 2008, intensified in Australia by COVID, and deepened by the war on Iran-has changed the equation. One Nation is now attracting a big section of the working class.
The polls don't lie. A recent DemosAU study shows that while One Nation is definitely supported by a lot of rich people (31% earning $125k+), they also lead among workers earning under $45k (31% vs ALPs 24%). For those earning $45-125k, support is split between One Nation (29%) and Labor (31%).
Sure, One Nation leads among outright home owners (29% vs ALP/LIBs at 25%), but they do far better with mortgage holders (33%). And when it comes to renters, they're tied first with Labor (both 29%).
In regional and rural areas, One Nation totally dominates, regardless of class. The party is strong in the outer suburbs too, where they're also in front. Support from women is equal with men, if not higher, and the party has as many multi-lingual supporters as the Greens.
Why One Nation? Why now?
Where has all this support for an explicitly racist party come from? And why does the appeal even extend to some migrants?
Racism has always been a part of Australian society. Whether we're talking about colonisation, the White Australia Policy, or the horrific treatment of refugees, the major parties in Australia have never shied away from it. But this was true ten years ago too. So why is One Nation exploding in popularity now?
Again, the numbers don't lie. A poll done in May by RoyMorgan lists the main reasons given by supporters for backing the party.
52% were motivated by the major parties being too similar and not working for ordinary Australians. Many others gave similar 'protest vote' explanations. Only 12% mentioned 'support for small businesses' or 'cutting regulation', whereas 28% talked about the cost of living and housing affordability.
The top reason given for supporting One Nation, though, was 'reducing immigration' (58%). But look a little deeper, and the details are telling: One Nation supporters consistently blame high immigration for the cost of living and housing crises.
Where we don't organise, they will
Pauline Hanson is racist. Endorsing One Nation policies is support for racism. The party is seizing on the ugliest prejudices in the country and whipping supporters up into a hateful frenzy. But workers are being mobilised around these views for largely economic reasons.
The truth is that, for millions of us, life is getting worse. One Nation are telling struggling working class people a story that sounds convincing, with a quick fix: Capitalism isn't the problem. The problem is all those migrants, and the lefties who stick up for them. They're the ones taking all the homes, overcrowding public services, and wasting your taxes.
The ruling class love this story. It's why they're lining up to give Hanson buckets of cash, private planes, and marketing her as an 'anti-establishment' outsider. Their worst fear is workers getting organised, turning away from electoral politics, and using their collective power to force real change.
Fighting together in a union teaches workers to stick up for one another and builds real power. When workers have power and resources, it undermines the conditions that fuel racist division.
But our unions have been battered for decades. In many parts of the country, they barely exist. Suburban, regional, and rural workers-many in communities hollowed out by globalisation-are more likely to belong to their local sports club or church: cross-class organisations.
This is a big reason why One Nation do better the further you get from major cities. Not because people in the country are stupid or immoral, but because that's where working class organisation is weakest.
A crisis for our class
Under a Hanson government, the bosses, landlords, and bankers would be given more power.
One Nation think the minimum wage is too high, that workers don't deserve penalty rates, and that bosses should be able to fire you for any reason. They want to protect companies from being charged with wage theft, or being held responsible for deaths on unsafe worksites.
Meanwhile, they think that rich capitalists pay too much tax. To keep the government finances in order, they'd gut funding for health and education.
Millions of workers intend to vote for this.
In response, the Socialist Party and the Greens have argued for a 'political alternative'. They want anti-racist workers and students to protest One Nation, and to funnel these activists into doorknocking for left-wing candidates at the next election.
This is a losing strategy. There aren't enough ideologically committed Greens or socialists to beat Hanson at the ballot box, or stamp out her movement in the country.
It's a no-win situation. If One Nation underperform, migrants will still be scapegoated for the economic crisis. And if they win... Well, what then? Electoral campaigns don't build the kind of lasting class power we'd need to resist Hanson's agenda.
No shortcuts
If One Nation were to disappear tomorrow, some other group would take their place. Hanson's movement is a symptom. The disease is capitalism.
The fight against One Nation can't be reduced to an abstract 'anti-racism'. It has to be fought as a struggle for higher wages, more housing, and funding for public services. Not just in city centres, but in workplaces everywhere. To those rightly fed up with the system, we need to offer a critique of capitalism and a realistic vision of workers' power.
Today, few workers are convinced socialists or even willing to sign up to the Greens. Most have no interest in political parties or elections. But when the boss needs to be fought, workers with all kinds of opinions can join the union. From there, solidarity can be built step by step.
Because when we go on strike together, we see the results of our own power. Power changes what people think is possible, and who they're willing to stand with. And inevitably, when the bosses hit back, workers see clearly who the real enemy is-and that frauds like One Nation are on the other side of the picket line.
https://ancomfed.org/2026/08/the-one-nation-surge/
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Source: A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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