Hanson on the attack as One Nation edges up in polls

By Tess Ikonomou

Pauline Hanson is fending off a barrage of criticism from political rivals over her recent trip to Europe that included a meeting with a far-right activist, as the latest opinion poll shows One Nation gaining ground.

Senator Hanson has been accused of talking Australia down in her visit to the UK, where she spoke at a conservative conference in London, claiming Australia had been “flooded” with migrants and gone “completely woke” over transgender rights, while she also visited Italy with billionaire donor Gina Rinehart.

The latest Newspoll, published in The Australian, shows One Nation’s primary vote rose one percentage point to 30 per cent to tie with Labor, while the coalition also recorded an increase in support to 19 per cent, up from historic lows of 17 per cent.

Appearing on Channel Seven’s Spotlight on Sunday night, the One Nation leader doubled down on her views on multiculturalism and her claims she was taking on the “establishment”, while also claiming negative migration issues in Australia began after the abolition of the White Australia policy.

Following the interview’s broadcast and her high-profile trip to Europe, which included a meeting with far-right activist Tommy Robinson, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Senator Hanson shouldn’t be talking the nation down.

“I find it astonishing that Pauline Hanson has travelled overseas in order to denigrate and talk down Australia,” he told reporters in Darwin on Monday.

“When I’m overseas, I talk Australia up. Pauline Hanson has travelled overseas to engage in various activities with fringe people and to talk Australia down. I don’t think that’s appropriate.”

One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce said while he defended the comments of his leader, the party did not support the reintroduction of the immigration policy.

“The wind down of the White Australia policy, a very good thing, and at the start there was really no issues with it,” he told Seven’s Sunrise program.

“But over time, we got a section of people who didn’t want to assimilate with Australia, didn’t work within the guardrails of Australia and therefore we started moving away from an Australian culture to having to encompass a whole range of views.”

Speaking at the CPAC conference in London, the One Nation leader told attendees “don’t apologise for being white, I am sick of hearing about white privilege”.

Senator Hanson also courted controversy after she was photographed with mining magnate Ms Rinehart at the same luxury resort in Sicily where the hit drama series The White Lotus was filmed.

Comments made by One Nation Senator Malcolm Roberts in recent years have also received criticism, including his promotion of works by conspiracy theorists and anti-Semites.

The Newspoll also showed Labor dropping three points in the polls, from a primary vote of 33 per cent.

A rise in support for the coalition follows consecutive falls in its primary vote.

The latest poll comes support for One Nation dropped two points from a historic high of 31 per cent in June, following Senator Hanson’s first address at the National Press Club.