What are One Nation's policies? Party's stances explained

Last week, One Nation leader Pauline Hanson delivered the first National Press Club speech of her 30-year political career.

In it, she outlined her party’s political positions on a number of issues.

A reminder: the next Federal Election is only expected by May 2028.

Despite this, a number of recent polls have predicted a surge in One Nation’s popularity.

Let’s get into their proposed policy agenda.

State of play

First, let’s run through the current state of play regarding One Nation:

The party has won one seat in the House of Representatives. This is the seat of Farrer (Sussan Ley’s old seat), which they won in a recent by-election.
Prior to that election, One Nation already held one seat in the House of Reps. That’s because Barnaby Joyce, a sitting MP, defected from the Nationals and joined One Nation.
One Nation holds four seats in the Senate (including Pauline Hanson’s).

Immigration

One Nation’s immigration policy says its aim is to “put Australians first”. As such, if it forms Government, One Nation

will:

Deport 75,000 “illegal migrants” which includes “visa overstayers”, “illegal workers” and “unlawful non-residents”.
Cut immigration by over 570,000 people from current levels
Deport any visa holder who breaks the law. Note: Currently, under Australian law, any visa can be refused or cancelled if you do not pass ‘the character test’ (which includes a substantial criminal record).
In her recent Press Club speech, Hanson reiterated that there is “no room for hate preachers in this country”, adding: “If they have arrived here, they will be deported. If they were born here, they will face the full force of the law.”
More broadly, Hanson explicitly stated that the “immigration crisis” is the result of multiculturalism and called for a monocultural Australia where people live under “one cultural umbrella”.

Housing

Broadly, Hanson links the housing crisis to migration issues, suggesting that “unsustainable demand is being driven by several factors, but the biggest is high immigration”.

On housing, if it forms Government, One Nation will:

Introduce a five-year moratorium (suspension) on charging GST on building materials to help reduce the cost of new housing
Review “excessive government charges” that they say make up 44% of the cost of new homes
Remove “mandatory disability compliance requirements” on new homes
In her speech, Hanson suggested the Labor government’s changes to negative gearing will “move investment away from housing”. Last month, she said “One Nation supports negative gearing being allowed on two homes for everyone”.
One Nation opposes the Government’s changes to capital gains tax.

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Cost of living

When it comes to cost of living, Hanson connects rising cost of living to the Government’s energy and climate policy.

As such, her party wants to:

“Slash” electricity bills by 20% “immediately”.
Halve the fuel excise (the tax on fuel that was cut recently during the oil crisis) for 3 years
Remove the tax on beer and spirits at venues
One Nation also wants to change the National Energy Market rules to enable cheaper coal and gas fired baseload power while supporting nuclear energy in the “medium term”.
Broadening out to climate policy, One Nation believes Australia should withdraw from the UN Paris Agreement “immediately”. They label themselves as “the only political party to question climate science”.

Health

On health, One Nation proposes to:

Introduce three-year contracts for newly qualified medical professionals and in return pay their HECS loans in full
Establish a Royal Commission into the management of COVID-19 by Australian governments. One Nation opposes COVID-19 vaccine mandates.
Reduce the gestational limit for abortions and implement counselling for women considering an abortion

Media

In her speech, Hanson said she “doesn’t answer to the media” and outlined new policy positions on media, including:

The ABC to become a subscription-only service in Australian cities, while taxpayers would fund its operations in regional, rural and remote areas
SBS will be “gone”. No further information was provided here.

Polling

As mentioned earlier, One Nation has been surging in the polls, so here’s a quick reminder on how polling works.

Research companies that conduct public opinion polls and surveys are known as pollsters. In Australia, media companies commission polling firms to research voter sentiment and public opinion.

Polling companies often ask people, via online panels, phone interviews and text messages, which party they would rank first on their ballot if an election were held tomorrow, and who they would prefer as prime minister.

So, how do they get results that are representative? One method used by some companies is multi-level regression with post-stratification (thankfully known by its acronym MRP).

MRP uses demographic characteristics such as age, gender, education level and location to identify voting patterns. Pollsters also consider how different demographic groups have voted in the past.

Ultimately, polls use the responses of a relatively small group (usually at least 1,000 people) to make informed estimates about the views of the broader population.

Reminder: Polls are not predictions. They are snapshots of public opinion at a particular moment in time.