One Nation coalition? Liberals face fresh confusion over how to deal with minor party’s surge
The Liberal Party has entered a new period of confusion over how to deal with One Nation after Opposition Leader Angus Taylor rejected a frontbencher’s suggestion that the parties could join forces to form a ruling majority after the election.
The question of how to fend off One Nation has caused friction in the party for months. Backbench senator Alex Antic left group chats with colleagues on a “fake spit” last week after this imprint reported concerns that he would seek to ally with One Nation in South Australia.
The issue was revived on Monday morning when Senator Andrew Bragg said the party must accept that “of course we will be pragmatic” if One Nation or the Coalition does not have a majority of seats after the next election and can come together to form a government.
Commenting on this piece, the coalition’s housing spokesman said: “The number one priority is to defeat the communist Labor government.”
He continued: “We must be honest. If there is an opportunity to form a government to defeat the communists, then we will do it. This should not be controversial.”
Bragg’s statement reflected the possibility of the Liberals, Nationals and One Nation striking a deal if right-wing parties win more seats than Labor after the 2028 election. Current polls suggest Labor is unlikely to lose its majority.
However, this seemingly relatively benign prediction sparked controversy because Taylor and his team were willing to downplay the idea that the Coalition and One Nation could cooperate.
As Labor stepped up claims that a vote for the Coalition actually meant a vote for Pauline Hanson, Taylor responded to Bragg by quashing any speculation: “There will be no coalition with One Nation.”
The opposition leader continued to tell reporters: “Our coalition is with the National Party. It is very clear that we will not form a coalition with One Nation and I know Andrew knows that.”
Taylor’s leading ally, James Paterson, said he would be “surprised if Andrew Bragg advocated a coalition with One Nation”.
“That’s not my opinion of his views. I think he made a reasonable point that we would exercise our preferences in the normal time and approach the election in the normal way,” Paterson told ABC Radio National.
Bragg, who takes a straightforward approach and frequently deviates from agreed talking points, is one of the moderate leaders who supports the Parliamentary Voice and criticizes One Nation. But his realpolitik views on the potential of combining the Coalition’s numbers with those of One Nation have aligned him with Antic, who is on the party’s right wing.
Antic’s colleagues called the imprint “bullshit” after he was removed from chat groups with Conservative colleagues last week after reporting on rumored plans for a Liberal-One Nation alliance in his home state of South Australia.
In a podcast broadcast over the weekend, Antic said the reports were exaggerated.
But he told 2 Worlds Collide Presenter Sam Bamford said Liberal Party founder Robert Menzies won seven elections by rallying anti-Labor groups.
“He made them all take a nap based on their expectations and founded the Liberal Party,” Antic said.
While he brought up Menzies’ actions in a conversation about how to deal with One Nation, he also said he didn’t know if this was the best course of action for today.
“I don’t think it would be beneficial to fight with One Nation,” Antic said.
Professor Emeritus Judith Brett, arguably the leading historian of the Liberal Party, said Antic’s quote about Menzies trying to fit the Liberal Party into its current make-up showed “a complete historical misunderstanding of what Menzies was doing”.
Brett wrote the critically acclaimed book Robert Menzies’s Forgotten PeopleMenzies said he is creating a unified force at the national level from more than a dozen state-based unions that, in some cases, have different names but share policy positions and work together in elections.
“We are now talking about a party with a long and proud history of government joining a party with no experience, a single organization and no well-developed policies.”
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Paul Sakkal is the Chief Political Correspondent. He has previously covered Victorian politics and won the Walkley award as well as the 2025 Press Gallery Journalist of the Year award. Contact him securely on Signal @paulsakkal.14.Connect with: X or email.
