Support for One Nation slips as women and immigrant voters turn away from party policies, says poll
Updated ,first published
Support for Pauline Hanson’s party has fallen for the first time in four months, shifting towards the Coalition as women and immigrants turn against the One Nation leader over key elements of his policy agenda.
a special Unfreeze Political Monitor The poll shows that support for One Nation fell three points to 26 per cent in July, while support for the Coalition increased by the same amount to 23 per cent. Labor support remained steady at 28 per cent, while the Greens were unchanged at 12 per cent.
One Nation enjoyed a five-point increase in support in June, with the party becoming more popular than the Coalition or Labour. Hanson was the preferred prime minister and his support was twice that of Opposition Leader Angus Taylor.
But after a month in which Hanson gave his maiden speech to the National Press Club and outlined policies including his support for an Australian “monoculture”, key measures of his personal standing have also fallen in the survey of 2,252 people conducted between 6 and 11 July.
Anthony Albanese is preferred as prime minister by 33 per cent of respondents, up four points, while the figure is up five points for Angus Taylor, on 21 per cent. Hanson’s support dropped eight points to 25 percent.
Albanese’s performance was rated as good by 39 percent of those surveyed; this was a four-point increase from June and its best mark since December. Voters also increased their rating for Taylor by three points, to 41 percent. Hanson, who was included in this question for the first time, was the name that received the highest score with 45 percent.
However, the One Nation leader’s approval rating fell sharply, reaching 14 points in June. This fell to three points in July, while support for One Nation (from 16 to eight points) and Barnaby Joyce (plus one point to minus two) also fell.
While 28 percent of those polled in June believed Hanson would lead One Nation to victory in the next federal elections, 34 percent expected the Albanians to remain in power. This month, expectations for a One Nation government have fallen to 19 percent, while 35 percent expect the Albans to remain in the Lodge. Just 18 percent believe the Coalition is on track for victory.
Despite fluctuations in primary support between the Coalition and One Nation, the overall political landscape remains unchanged. Labor still leads both conservative parties on a two-party preferred basis.
Resolve pollster Jim Reed said there had been a shift away from Hanson in key demographic groups last month, including those born abroad, those aged 18 to 34 and those in full employment.
“The two biggest losses [Hanson] immigrants and women, and argues that its comments on areas such as multiculturalism and abortion show One Nation is the party of old. “Mutton is dressed up as mutton in terms of politics,” he said.
“All of this is a sign that the polish is wearing off a bit.”
Polling shows voters support some of Hanson’s key policy statements. While half agreed with his claim that many young workers are lazy, 53 percent supported his claim that the country’s immigration regulations were wrong, while only 23 percent disagreed.
Hanson’s priorities for the NDIS (72 per cent) and concerns that poverty is a serious problem that needs to be addressed by the government (73 per cent) were also strongly supported.
But more people (39 per cent) disagreed that Australia would be better off if it were “monocultural” (33 per cent support). His attacks on SBS, ABC and the United Nations were supported by only a minority of respondents.
Pressed on Hanson’s monoculture plan, Joyce said Sunday that he does not believe in multiculturalism and linked the issue to the Inca empire in pre-Columbian South America.
“You’re multi-ethnic, you’re multi-religious, there’s all kinds of those, but to be in Australia you have to come to a point of Australian culture and I stick to that,” he told Sky News.
“And maybe it’s a bit trite, but the Incas, for example, had a culture where they believed that you would cut off people’s heads, roll them out of the temple, take out their beating hearts, and the sun would rise. That’s a culture; it’s completely and utterly unbearable.”
But Education Minister Jason Clare said One Nation and the Coalition were denying the power of multiculturalism and its important role in Australia.
“When I go to primary school I tell young children that Australia is a bit like fruit salad – as education minister you can do that too –,” he said.
“We all love apples, oranges and bananas, but they’re all better together. This is Australia. We’re not all the same, but we all pull together and work together.”
Hanson also argued that it should be easier to fire people. While 32 percent of those surveyed supported this view, 36 percent opposed it.
Reed said he supports Hanson on some important issues, but not on all of them.
“When you combine these themes with throwing people out of work, multiculturalism, scrapping the SBS and focusing on abortion and the UN, they draw the line,” he said.
A problem for Taylor, the Coalition still lags behind Albania and the government on key measures such as whether it is a better communicator, whether it has a unified team, whether it is honest and trustworthy, and whether it is best for the country.
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Shane Wright is senior economic correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect with: X or email.
