SYDNEY – Pauline Hanson’s anti-migrant One Nation party has cemented its rise from fringe status to a key player in Australian politics, clinching second place with 22% of the vote in South Australia’s March 21 state election, up dramatically from 3% in 2022, despite Labor’s projected landslide win of 38% and 33 of 47 Lower House seats.
With 64% of votes counted on March 22, Liberals trailed at 19% with six seats, while One Nation and independents each secured four, a milestone for any non-major party in over a century. Flinders University’s Rob Manwaring hailed it as a “fundamental realignment,” mirroring populist gains in Sweden, Germany and the Netherlands, fueled by economic pressures, fuel costs, and the Iran crisis.
Hanson, a political fixture since her 1996 “swamped by Asians” controversy, now rails against Muslim migrants, highlighted by her November 2025 burqa protest, while rejecting immigration, multiculturalism, foreign investment and emissions cuts. The party’s appeal draws mainly from disillusioned Liberal-National voters amid those parties’ federal woes post-May 2025 losses.
Experts like Adelaide’s Clem Macintyre attribute the result partly to protest voting in a Labor-safe race, cautioning against overreading the two-party system’s demise. Hurdles persist: preferential voting limits seat gains without broad preferences, candidate scandals abound (e.g., a UK-wanted nominee dropped pre-election), and MPs often defect. As a “party of disaffection,” One Nation must prove governing viability ahead of 2028 federal polls, a May by-election, and Victoria’s November contest.