Support for Pauline Hanson has fallen for the first time in four months and moved to the Coalition as women and immigrants turned their backs on the One Nation leader on key aspects of her policy agenda.
Unique Solve the Political Tracker the poll shows support for Hanson’s party fell by three points in July to 26 per cent while support for the Coalition rose by the same amount to 23 per cent. Labour’s support was steady at 28 per cent while the Greens were unchanged at 12 per cent.
One nation enjoyed a an increase of five points in support in June, with the party being more popular than the Union or Labour. Hanson was the preferred prime minister, with his support double that of Opposition Leader Angus Taylor.
But a month after Hanson gave his first speech to the National Press Club and outlined policies including support for Australia’s “one farm”, key measures of his personal standing also fell in a poll of 2252 people taken between July 6 and 11.
Anthony Albanese was favored as prime minister by 33 per cent of those polled, a four-point lift, with the number rising by five points to Angus Taylor, who hit 21 per cent. Hanson’s support fell by eight points to 25 per cent.
Albanese’s performance was rated good by 39 percent of respondents, a four-point jump in June and his best rating since December. Voters also raised their approval rating for Taylor, up three points to 41 percent. Hanson, included for the first time in this question, was rated the highest at 45 percent.
But the One Nation leader suffered a sharp drop in his approval ratings, which hit 14 points in June. It fell to three points in July, while support for One Nation (from 16 points to eight) and Barnaby Joyce (plus one point to minus two) also fell.
In June, 28 percent of respondents believed that Hanson would lead One Nation to victory in the next federal election compared to 34 percent who expected the Albanians to remain in power. This month, expectations for a One Nation government have dropped to 19 percent with 35 percent expecting Albanians to remain in The Lodge. Only 18 percent believe that the Union is on the way to victory.
Despite the shift in core support between the Union and One Nation, the overall political climate has not changed. Labor is still ahead of both conservative parties on a two-party preference basis.
Solve researcher Jim Reed said there has been a shift from Hanson among key demographics in the past month, including among the foreign-born, 18- to 34-year-olds, and those in full employment.
“The two biggest losses for (Hanson) are among immigrants and women, suggesting his views in areas such as multiculturalism and abortion have shown One Nation to be the party of the past. Sheep dressed as sheep, in terms of policy,” he said.
“It’s all a sign that the varnish is a little off.”
Polls show voters support some of Hanson’s key policy statements. Half agreed with his claim that many young workers were lazy, compared to just 23 percent who disagreed, while 53 percent supported his argument that the nation’s immigration climate was wrong.
Hanson’s concerns about NDIS priorities (72 per cent) and that poverty was a serious problem that needed to be addressed by government (73 per cent) were also strongly supported.
But more people (39 per cent) disagreed with his view that Australia would be better off if it was “cultural” (33 per cent support), while his attacks on SBS, the ABC and the United Nations were supported by only a minority of respondents.
Insisting on Hanson’s monoculture plan, Joyce said on Sunday that he does not believe in multiculturalism, linking the issue to the pre-Columbian Incan empire of South America.
“You’re multi-ethnic, multi-religious, there’s a variety of that, but to be Australian, you have to get to the point of Australian culture, and I stand by that,” he told Sky News.
“And maybe being a little lenient, but for example, the Incas had a culture – they believed that you cut off people’s heads, roll them down outside the temple, take out their beating hearts, and the sun rises. Now that’s a culture – it’s completely and utterly intolerable.”
But Education Minister Jason Clare said One Nation and the Coalition were denying the power of multiculturalism and its important role in Australia.
“I tell the little kids when I go to primary school – you can do that a little bit as an education minister – that Australia is like a fruit salad,” he said.
“We all like apples and oranges and bananas, but they’re better when they’re together. And that’s Australia. We’re not all the same, but we all go and work together.”
Hanson also said it should be easier to deport people. Although 32 percent of respondents supported his views, 36 percent opposed.
Reed said there was support for Hanson on some key issues, but not all.
“They draw a line when he mixes these topics with deportations, multiculturalism, eliminating SBS, as well as focusing on abortion, the UN,” he said.
In Taylor’s problem, the Union is still ranked below the Albanians and the government in important measures including whether it is a good communicator, has a united team, is loyal and trustworthy and is good for the country.
Cut through the noise of federal politics with news, opinion and expert analysis. Subscribers can subscribe to our weekly Domestic Politics newsletter.
Shane Wright is the senior economics writer for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect through X or email address.
