Australia hosted Nigel Farage previously, and his words may have influenced the country today (Image: Getty)
The political establishment in Australia has been shaken by a by-election result that locals are calling a “bloodbath” — delivered by the woman many regard as the country’s equivalent of Nigel Farage.
One Nation leader Pauline Hanson — a Right-wing populist who has spent three decades on the fringes of Australian politics — declared she would “take the country back” through an end to mass migration after her party broke into the lower house for the first time in its history.
The winning candidate, farmer David Farley, secured 39 per cent of the vote in Farrer, a rural New South Wales constituency that had not left the Liberal-National fold since 1949. The result promises a political earthquake in a country long dominated by orthodox parties.
A second One Nation figure sits in the lower house, though he crossed the floor from the National Party last year rather than being elected under the One Nation banner.
Hanson declared the result sent a clear message to her rivals. “What it shows is that the coalition can’t beat One Nation. They’ll have to join them. There’s no future coalition government, I think, without One Nation in it.”
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How does Pauline Hanson compare to Nigel Farage?
According to the Telegraph, Australian commentators have drawn direct comparisons with Reform UK’s rise in Britain, suggesting One Nation may be approaching a similar breakthrough moment. Hanson and Farage share more than political style — both have built movements on grievances about immigration and living costs that establishment parties failed to address.
Hanson’s personal approval ratings have climbed above those of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
Her admiration for Trump has remained undimmed even as his trade policies have strained relations with Canberra. She appeared at CPAC last year at Mar-a-Lago, promising to transplant his political programme to Australian soil.
Known to some as “Dancin’ Pauline,” she marked the victory with a dance on stage as supporters in blue Make Australia Great Again hats cheered her on.
“We’re coming after those other seats,” she said, with an eye on the 2028 federal elections. “You are not going to be the forgotten people any more. We are proud Australians. We want our country back and that’s what One Nation is about.”
Hanson has held a Queensland Senate seat since 2016 sitting alongside three other One Nation members (Image: Getty)
Who is Pauline Hanson?
Now 71, Hanson has held a Queensland Senate seat since 2016, sitting alongside three other One Nation members in the upper house. She has courted controversy throughout her political career.
Her debut parliamentary address three decades ago caused immediate outrage with a warning that Australia faced being “swamped” by Muslims and Asians. She has been a persistent critic of public recognition for the rights of Aboriginal Australians and has campaigned against what she describes as political correctness.
Her decision last year to enter parliament wearing a burka — a deliberate provocation in support of her campaign to ban the garment — earned her a seven-day suspension and a censure motion passed by 55 votes to five, with opponents branding her racist and Islamophobic. It was not her first such act — she pulled the same stunt in 2017, on both occasions attracting global media attention.
