One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has accused Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Treasurer Jim Chalmers of dangerously escalating Australia’s political rhetoric, after Labor described the rise of One Nation and right-wing populism as a threat to the country’s social cohesion and political stability.
The extraordinary exchange comes as a new Newspoll puts One Nation ahead of both major political groupings on the national primary vote, intensifying pressure on Labor and deepening questions about the Coalition’s ability to hold conservative voters.
The latest Newspoll, conducted by Pyxis Polling & Insights for The Australian, puts One Nation on 30 per cent of the primary vote, Labor on 29 per cent and the Coalition on just 19 per cent. The survey involved about 1,243 voters.
The result follows One Nation’s historic victory in the Secret Harbour by-election in Western Australia, where Luke Herdegen captured a previously safe Labor seat and gave the party its first lower-house MP in the WA Parliament.
The combination of the by-election result and national polling has prompted Labor to dramatically sharpen its attack on Hanson and One Nation.
Speaking at the Queensland Labor State Conference in Brisbane on Sunday, Albanese warned delegates that “hard right populists” were advancing around the world and accused them of “peddling politics that is dangerous, divisive, and downright dishonest.”
“We simply must defeat them. We owe it to history,” Albanese told the conference.
The Prime Minister directly attacked One Nation’s policies and rhetoric, accusing the party of bending facts, spreading misinformation and turning Australians against each other.
“Parties like One Nation have no serious answers to our problems,” Albanese said.
He pointed to debates surrounding working from home, domestic violence, multiculturalism and penalty rates as evidence that One Nation was not acting in the interests of working Australians.
Albanese also strongly defended multiculturalism.
“Delegates, we unequivocally support multiculturalism because we know it’s part of Australia’s strength,” he said, adding that Labor believed Australians were equal whether “Australian by birth or Australian by choice”.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers separately warned the Labor conference about what he characterised as a possible future alliance between the Liberals, Nationals and One Nation.
Chalmers described it as a “dangerous and divisive coalition of chaos”, arguing that such an alignment represented a threat to Australia’s social cohesion, economy and working people.
It was that language which prompted Hanson’s furious response on Monday.
In a statement posted to X, Hanson accused Albanese and Chalmers of becoming increasingly desperate as One Nation’s electoral support rose.
“The attacks from Chalmers and Albanese on One Nation have become increasingly desperate. Yesterday they crossed a line,” Hanson said.
She argued that describing democratically elected political opponents as “dangerous” or a “threat to our country” risked encouraging people to view those politicians and their supporters as legitimate targets.
“Words have consequences. That is how political violence is incited,” Hanson said.
She also accused Albanese of hypocrisy, pointing to previous calls by the Prime Minister for Australians to lower the temperature of political debate.
Albanese has indeed repeatedly called for greater restraint in political discourse.
In January, while discussing heightened political tensions, Albanese said Australia needed to “lower the temperature of debate in this country across the board”, echoing warnings from ASIO director-general Mike Burgess about increasingly heated political discourse.
Following a bomb threat which forced his temporary evacuation from The Lodge in February, Albanese again called for political debate to be conducted respectfully and urged Australians to turn down the heat.
Hanson seized on that contrast.
“Anthony Albanese says we need to turn down the heat and violent rhetoric in our political discourse,” she said.
“Meanwhile, he and his Treasurer are pouring petrol all over it.”
Hanson said Australians should be free to support One Nation without being told their democratic choice constituted a danger to Australia.
“Australians are entitled to vote for One Nation without being told by the Treasurer and the Prime Minister that their democratic choice is a danger to the nation,” she said.
She then sought to turn Labor’s attack back towards the government’s economic record, arguing that the greater threat facing Australians was pressure on household finances.
“The real danger is that Jim and Albanese’s incompetent economic management will continue to push your rent, your mortgage and your bills even higher,” Hanson said.
“The real danger to Jim and Albanese is that the people of Australia are coming for their government… at the ballot box.”
Hanson also invoked the recent killing of veteran British politician Ann Widdecombe, arguing it demonstrated why politicians should be careful about language that portrays opponents as threats.
Widdecombe, a former Conservative cabinet minister who later became associated with the Brexit Party and Reform UK, was found dead at her home in Devon in July.
A 28-year-old man, Joshua Kerry, has been charged with her murder and remains before the courts. Prosecutors allege Widdecombe was subjected to a targeted hammer attack at her home.
Hanson’s use of the case as an example of the dangers of political rhetoric requires an important qualification.
British investigators have described Widdecombe’s killing as a targeted attack, and counter-terrorism police have been involved in the investigation, but authorities have not established publicly that she was murdered because of political rhetoric directed at her.
The Crown Prosecution Service said investigators were continuing to examine the accused man’s alleged motives, including a possible political or terrorist connection. Earlier in the investigation, police said there was no evidence at that stage establishing that her killing was politically motivated.
The criminal proceedings against Kerry remain active and no determination of guilt has been made.
The escalating rhetoric between Labor and One Nation comes amid a dramatic change in Australia’s political landscape.
The latest Newspoll gives Hanson’s party 30 per cent, one point ahead of Labor and 11 points clear of the Coalition.
It is a remarkable position for a party that for much of its history has operated on the fringes of Australia’s parliamentary system.
The poll also shows that Hanson’s growing party support has begun translating into stronger personal ratings.
Newspoll reportedly gives Hanson a net approval rating of about minus one, compared with Albanese at approximately minus 21.
But the Prime Minister maintains a substantial advantage when Australians are asked who they would prefer to lead the country.
Albanese is preferred prime minister by 46 per cent, compared with Hanson on 31 per cent and Opposition Leader Angus Taylor on 23 per cent.
When respondents are asked to choose directly between Albanese and Hanson, the Prime Minister leads 56–44.
Those numbers illustrate the unusual nature of the current political environment.
One Nation may lead on the primary vote, but that does not automatically mean it would form government.
Australia’s preferential voting system means the flow of preferences between Labor, the Coalition, One Nation, the Greens and independents would determine the final outcome in individual electorates.
A separate RedBridge poll released on Monday also offers a more cautious picture of One Nation’s rise.
That survey had Labor on 29 per cent, One Nation on 28 per cent and the Coalition on 22 per cent. When respondents’ preferences were applied in a Labor-versus-One Nation contest, Labor led 52–48.
The difference between the polls underlines the risks of treating any single survey as a prediction of an election result.
What is harder for Australia’s major parties to dismiss is the accumulation of evidence showing One Nation has developed a substantially larger electoral base than it held only a few years ago.
Saturday’s result at Secret Harbour provided a real-world demonstration.
Herdegen secured a dramatic victory in a seat Labor had held comfortably, with One Nation attracting close to 40 per cent of first preferences and ultimately defeating Labor after preferences.
The win gave One Nation its first lower-house seat in Western Australia and transformed growing polling support into an actual parliamentary breakthrough.
Hanson has argued the result gives Australians a “licence to vote” for One Nation because voters can now see the party is capable of winning seats rather than merely registering a protest.
That poses different problems for each major party.
For Labor, the threat is particularly acute in working-class, outer-suburban and regional electorates where frustration over housing, migration, energy costs and household expenses overlaps with One Nation’s political message.
For the Coalition, the challenge may be even more existential.
At 19 per cent in the latest Newspoll, the Coalition is now substantially behind One Nation on the primary vote, raising questions about whether Hanson is becoming the principal beneficiary of dissatisfaction with Labor rather than the Liberal and National parties.
Labor’s response appears increasingly aimed at making One Nation itself a central issue in future elections.
Albanese used the Queensland conference to remind delegates of One Nation’s first major electoral breakthrough in 1998, when it won 11 seats in Queensland before internal splits and defections quickly reduced its parliamentary presence.
“Every time they achieve any success, it leads to chaos and division,” Albanese said.
His argument is that voters frustrated by cost-of-living pressures should judge One Nation not simply on its criticism of government but on whether its policies could realistically improve their circumstances.
Hanson’s counterargument is increasingly focused on democratic legitimacy.
She argues that with millions of Australians prepared to support One Nation, Labor cannot simultaneously demand more civil political discourse while depicting those voters’ preferred party as dangerous to the country.
That disagreement is likely to become sharper rather than disappear.
Labor believes One Nation’s policies and political style should be aggressively challenged as divisive and economically risky.
One Nation believes attacks of that kind confirm the political establishment fears voters abandoning the major parties.
Meanwhile, the Coalition must find a way to distinguish itself from both.
The political consequences will be particularly important in Victoria’s November state election and the NSW election in March 2027, where One Nation is attempting to convert its national rise into additional lower-house representation.
The broader contest is also likely to shape the next federal election.
For now, Newspoll has delivered the headline neither Labor nor the Coalition wanted: Pauline Hanson’s One Nation is sitting above both of them on primary support.
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