How Pauline Hanson’s party is wooing women, wealthy and city voters
Pauline Hanson’s One Nation now has more female supporters than men, according to an analysis of Resolve Political Monitor’s annual survey; The number of young people, wealthy people and people living in the city center supporting the party increased last year.
Analysis of one year of data from the Resolve survey conducted for this imprint shows that One Nation has significantly expanded its reach and appeal across all demographics, ages, income and education levels.
While the typical One Nation voter is still more likely to be over 55, live in a rural or regional area and be retired, unemployed or commercially qualified, the rise in support for the party overall underlines the growing threat Hanson’s team poses to both major parties.
Hanson said in this byline that women flocked to One Nation because “female voters saw the things I warned about.”
“These are the ideologies taught in classrooms, boys being taught in girls’ restrooms, boys being taught in women’s sports, woken up with late-term abortion changes,” he said.
“One-party parties have gone too far and are demoralizing Australian families.”
In the latest Resolve Political Monitor, One Nation recorded 24 percent of the primary vote; It is just four points behind Labor on 28 per cent and ahead of the Coalition on 23 per cent.
Hanson said on Monday he was ready to become prime minister if One Nation’s poll gave him the numbers to form a government. The senior senator, 72, is said to be considering a move to the lower house and is eyeing either the Coalition-held seats of Capricornia and Wright or the Labour-held seats of Oxley and Blair.
The Resolve analysis covers the 12-month survey from May 2025 to May 2026 and is split into quarterly data. The sample size for each quarterly data set is approximately 5,400 individuals and has a margin of error of approximately 1.3 percent.
Twelve months ago, just after the last election, 7 percent of men and 6 percent of women said they would vote for One Nation. Since then, support has increased to 22 percent among men and 24 percent among women.
In the last election, One Nation’s primary vote was 6.4 percent.
Party member Railene Turner, 56, said she thought One Nation made women feel their voices were being heard.
“I don’t think people feel heard by the major parties and I think the younger demographic, not just women, want to go somewhere and because Pauline is a real person, you know, like the One Nation candidates are real people, they don’t pretend to be perfect,” she said.
Turner, a business owner and infrastructure consultant, said it was important for single women to feel they could provide for themselves, which was difficult due to the rising cost of living and unaffordable housing. He noted One Nation’s revenue sharing and family tax policy as a major draw.
“It makes perfect sense… one partner may not be well off and can’t work, so being able to split that income can make a huge difference,” he said. “For people where both partners work and are low-income, this is an even greater benefit.”
Turner said he was a member of the Liberal Party but left One Nation after Malcolm Turnbull ousted Tony Abbott in 2015. When he moved to the New England electorate, he signed up for the Nationals because he liked member Barnaby Joyce. So did he when he went to One Nation last year.
“I look for politicians with conviction. Pauline certainly does, Barnaby certainly does, and I don’t think the two major parties have that level of understanding,” he said.
According to Resolve analysis, just 4 per cent of 18-34 year olds said they supported the party at the last election, while 38 per cent backed Labour, 21 per cent the Coalition and 26 per cent the Greens.
Since then, the proportion of One Nation supporters in the demographic has almost quadrupled to 15 per cent, with support from the two major parties and the Greens.
During the same period, support for One Nation among people aged 35-54 increased from 7 percent to 22 percent, and among people over 55, support increased from 7 percent to 31 percent. The big increase in support for One Nation among over-55s came equally from Labor and the Coalition; Support for the government decreased by 8 percentage points to 24 percent, and support for the Coalition decreased by 11 percentage points to 29 percent.
Support for the party rose from two percent to 18 percent in the city centre; This was a ninefold increase in one year, but reached 24 per cent in suburban Australia, 25 per cent in regional areas and 27 per cent in rural Australia.
Similarly, among highly educated people who said they support One Nation, the rate rose from 2 percent to 15 percent, while among people with a high school education, the rate rose from 8 to 26 percent, and for people with commercial qualifications it rose from 8 to 28 percent.
Almost one in three pensioners, 29 per cent, now support One Nation, compared with 7 per cent a year ago; 22 percent of both unemployed and employed people support the party.
Determined pollster Jim Reed said One Nation began taking votes away from the Coalition in regional and rural areas last year, “but we quickly began to notice its gains spreading into the suburbs and into the Labor base. This is not just a right-wing, conservative fragmentation, it is a wave of change”.
“They still perform best among groups of older, lower-income voters who don’t vote for the Greens or the Turquoises, but the bigger picture is the relative homogeneity of One Nation’s gains. Across the states, they’re gaining traction equally among men and women, and are now winning them seats at the polls and by-elections.”
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James Massola is the chief political commentator. He was previously national affairs editor and Southeast Asia correspondent. He won the Quill and Kennedy awards and was a Walkley finalist. Connect securely to Signal @jamesmassola.01Connect with: X or email.
Brittany Busch is the federal politics correspondent for The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via email.
