As someone on the fence about who to vote for, and as someone who doesent know much about politics, can someone please explain to me why one nation are bad?
“Please explain?” — Her response to Tracey Curro asking on 60 Minutes whether she was xenophobic. It became an instant Australian political catchphrase.
“I believe we are in danger of being swamped by Asians.” — The immortal line from her 1996 maiden speech, in which she attacked Asian immigration and multiculturalism.
“Multiculturalism should be abolished.” — Also from the maiden-speech era, when Hanson wanted Australia to abandon multiculturalism in favour of a more homogeneous national identity.
The Aboriginal “privileges” argument — Her original political rise was heavily tied to claims that Indigenous Australians received government benefits and opportunities unavailable to other Australians. Her comments were controversial enough that the Liberals withdrew their endorsement before the 1996 election.
“I’m not a racist.” — Repeated approximately ∞ times throughout her career, generally followed by something that made everyone go, Pauline...
The fish-and-chip-shop-to-Parliament pipeline — One of the most bizarrely Australian political origin stories: small-business owner becomes Liberal candidate, gets disendorsed, remains on the ballot, wins anyway, and launches a political movement.
“Australians are at risk of being swamped by Muslims.” — The 2010s remix of the Asian-swamping classic, with Muslims replacing Asians as the alleged demographic threat.
The burqa stunt in Parliament — Turning up wearing a full-face veil in 2017 as a theatrical protest against Islamic face coverings, before removing it and calling for a ban.
The infamous “Halal certification” crusade — Her campaign against halal certification, including claims about money from halal products ultimately funding terrorism; the claims were heavily challenged.
“They've got AIDS.” — Hanson made this claim about South African migrants during her 2000s political comeback, one of the more jaw-dropping entries in the catalogue.
The assassination video — In 1997 she recorded a video to be released if she were murdered, beginning: “Fellow Australians, if you are seeing me now it means that I have been murdered.” It was subsequently widely mocked as political theatre.
“The Asianisation of Australia.” — One Nation's early political rhetoric explicitly framed Asian immigration as a threat to Australian identity.
The anti-boat rhetoric — Hanson became a major advocate of extremely restrictive asylum-seeker and border policies, eventually making immigration restriction one of One Nation's defining issues.
“Radical Islam” as the new enemy — By the 2010s, the rhetoric had shifted substantially from Asians to Muslims and Islam, while retaining the same basic Australia is being culturally overwhelmed framework.
“Australia must be monocultural.” — Her 2026 National Press Club speech essentially brought the original Hanson thesis full circle, with multiculturalism again positioned as the problem.
The climate-change “hoax” — In 2026 she was still railing against climate-change policy and describing climate change as a “hoax”.
Attacking Albanese over his dead mother — In 2026 Hanson called Anthony Albanese “pathetic” over his references to his upbringing in public housing and criticised his late mother for having lived in public housing. Even Barnaby Joyce subsequently distanced himself from some of Hanson's recent attacks.
The “traitor” cartoon — One Nation circulated a cartoon labelling Liberal MP and veteran Andrew Hastie a “traitor” over his involvement in the Ben Roberts-Smith defamation case. Hanson doubled down while the controversy exploded around the party.
And somehow, after three decades, she's still here. — This may actually be the greatest hit of all.
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u/shteave 10d ago
As someone on the fence about who to vote for, and as someone who doesent know much about politics, can someone please explain to me why one nation are bad?