One Nation Tops Australian Poll, Surpassing Labor for First Time

A Redbridge Group/Accent Research poll released in late May shows Pauline Hanson’s One Nation party rising to 31 percent of the primary vote, overtaking the governing Labor Party’s 28 percent and pulling ahead of the Liberal‑National Coalition, which fell to 20 percent. It is the first time One Nation has led a national opinion poll since its founding in 1997. The surge follows voter backlash to the May 12 budget, which introduced major property‑tax changes and other measures that many Australians view as failing to address high living costs, rising interest rates and fuel price pressures. Six‑three percent of respondents said the country is heading in the wrong direction, a mood Redbridge director Tony Barry linked to the anti‑establishment swing.

Senator Hanson, now 72, has repeatedly asserted she has the “ability” to become prime minister and is weighing a move from the Senate to the House of Representatives for the next election, though she has not yet decided where to contest. Former prime minister Tony Abbott, newly appointed president of the Liberal Party, said he will work to win back conservative voters as One Nation’s rise threatens the Coalition’s base. The poll also shows Labour still leading on a two‑party‑preferred basis (51 percent to One Nation’s 49 percent).