One Nation has surged to become Australia’s most popular political party, overtaking Labor in a dramatic polling shift that highlights growing voter dissatisfaction with the direction of the country.
A new Redbridge Group/Accent Research poll, published by the Australian Financial Review on Monday, found support for Pauline Hanson’s One Nation has climbed to 31 per cent, ahead of Labor on 28 per cent and the Coalition on 20 per cent.
The result marks a four-point rise for One Nation since the previous survey a month ago, while Labor slipped three points and the Coalition fell two points.
Support for the Greens dropped one point to 12 per cent, while parties grouped in the “other” category rose two points to nine per cent.
The poll found nearly two-thirds of Australians believe the nation is heading in the wrong direction, with 63 per cent expressing pessimism about the country’s trajectory.
Redbridge director Tony Barry said the mood of frustration and disillusionment was driving voters towards alternatives outside the major parties.
“That pervasive negative mood sentiment is fuelling more anti-establishment support and a view among a growing cohort of voters that the answer lies outside established norms and major parties,” Barry said.
Despite One Nation’s strong primary vote showing, Labor retains a narrow lead on a two-party-preferred basis, leading Hanson’s party 51 per cent to 49 per cent after preferences.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese remains the preferred choice for prime minister, attracting 31 per cent support. However, Hanson has continued to close the gap, lifting two points to 25 per cent, while Opposition Leader Angus Taylor remained unchanged on 14 per cent.
Albanese’s support on the preferred prime minister measure fell two points compared to the previous poll.
The survey also found Hanson recorded the strongest net favourability rating among the nation’s political leaders. Her rating, calculated by subtracting disapproval from approval, sat at zero.
No major political leader achieved a positive net favourability score. Albanese recorded a rating of minus 19, while Taylor and Nationals leader Matt Canavan were both on minus four.
Ahead of the poll’s release, Hanson told Sky News she believed she was capable of serving as prime minister if given the opportunity.
“Do I want to be prime minister? Well, I tell you what, I won’t knock the job because I believe that I have the ability to do it,” she said.
“I’m not going to underestimate myself or say, ‘no, I can’t do it,’ because you know, have a look at what we’ve got now. That’s why we’re in a mess.”
Hanson said she was confident One Nation had the talent and experience to form a capable government should it ever win office.
“I’m getting a great team around me, and even those members of parliament that I have now, they’re great, down-to-earth — the experience and knowledge they have behind them, it’s marvellous,” she said.
The One Nation leader also confirmed she is still considering a move from the Senate to the House of Representatives at the next federal election in 2028, a move that would be necessary if she hoped to become prime minister.
However, Hanson said she had not yet made a final decision and would not reveal which electorate she may contest.
The poll surveyed 1005 voters between Monday and Thursday and carries a margin of error of 3.4 percentage points.
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