07/09/2026
"Economic has become political insecurity.
And political insecurity has created an opening for political fragmentation.
That fragmentation is visible in the weakening of traditional party loyalties.
That does not make capable of being a governing party.
But it does make it a political force capable of changing the behaviour of in this country, as we have seen overseas.
The broader trend is more important still.
Trust in , in and in the legacy remains low. Cost-of-living pressures dominate ’ concerns, while confidence that political parties understand ordinary households remains weak.
Many Australians no longer believe the political system, or the , works for them. There is great power in connecting genuine material insecurity to a broader sense of political alienation.
Hard-right prospers when economic hardship is translated into cultural grievance and exclusionary nationalism.
This is the critical political transformation we are witnessing.
A shortage of can become an argument against migrants rather than a consequence of inadequate construction, supply chain shortages, infrastructure and public housing.
Complex economic problems have become cultural conflicts.
Material insecurity has produced resentment.
And resentment can be mobilised against groups portrayed as outsiders, or against institutions portrayed as part of a corrupt establishment.
With the help of the big tech and international field testing, One Nation’s politics has found fertile ground.
On , , international , Indigenous recognition, religious and gender , it advances a narrower conception of national identity and belonging.
One Nation’s spin merchants’ argument is that Australia has lost control of its future; that established institutions have failed; and that national cohesion requires a more culturally uniform society.
Increasingly, this political outlook is reinforced by conspiracy narratives.
"The struggle against One Nation cannot be reduced to electoral arithmetic.
cannot defeat authoritarian populism simply by condemning it, nor, as the Liberals do, by trying to imitate it.
It must demonstrate that democratic government can address the conditions that have produced this alienation."
One Nation’s rise reflects deeper economic insecurity, political alienation and distrust in institutions. Defeating it requires more than condemnation.
