The Hanson Paradox: Why Ridicule Is Her Strongest Fuel
While Canberra laughs at 'lesbian cyborgs' and burqa stunts, the numbers tell a terrifyingly different story. Pauline Hanson isn't fading; she's evolving into the premier protest vote for a generation that feels abandoned.
⚡ The Essentials
- The Surge: Contrary to predictions of irrelevance, One Nation has hit a record 17% primary vote in recent polls (Dec 2025).
- The Shift: Support is bleeding from the Coalition to One Nation, particularly among Gen X and Millennials crushed by the housing crisis.
- The Strategy: Stunts like the 'Burqa 2.0' incident may draw Senate censure, but they solidify her base's 'us vs. them' mentality.
If you spent late 2025 scrolling through X (formerly Twitter), you likely saw the headlines. Pauline Hanson losing a racial vilification case to Senator Mehreen Faruqi. The resurrection of her 1997 book The Truth, featuring the now-infamous prediction of a "lesbian cyborg" president. The second coming of the burqa stunt in the Senate chamber.
It was, by all accounts, a circus. The chattering classes of the inner cities laughed. Surely, they whispered over flat whites in Fitzroy and Surry Hills, this is the end. She has finally become a caricature of herself.
Wrong.
If you look past the courtroom drama and the theatrical outrage, the raw data reveals a much colder, harder reality. While the media was busy meme-ing her "cyborg" prophecy, Pauline Hanson was busy securing the most dangerous political commodity in 2026 Australia: the rage of the forgotten middle.
The "Boomer" Myth is Dead
The lazy analysis of One Nation has always been demographic fatalism: "Her voters are dying out." It’s a comforting bedtime story for progressive strategists. It assumes that Hansonism is a biological condition of the elderly white Australian, destined to fade with the passing of the pre-war generation.
But the polling numbers from late 2025 shattered that illusion. Look at the breakdown of who is actually ticking the box for One Nation today.
| Demographic | 2016 Support | 2026 Trend (Est.) | The Driver |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baby Boomers | High | Stable | Cultural Anxiety |
| Gen X (45-60) | Moderate | Surging | Cost of Living / Interest Rates |
| Millennials | Low | Rising | Housing Unaffordability |
Do you see the shift? (It’s subtle, but lethal). Hanson has pivoted. She hasn't abandoned the culture wars—the burqa stunts prove that—but she has weaponised the cost of living crisis.
She is no longer just the voice of racial exclusion; she is the voice of economic exclusion. For a Gen X tradesman watching his mortgage repayments double, or a Millennial locked out of the property market by high migration numbers, Hanson’s simple logic—"Too many people, not enough homes"—cuts through the complex economic jargon of the major parties.
The Teflon Populist
Why doesn't the ridicule stick? When Senator Faruqi won her case, legal experts cheered. But in the electorate? It likely barely registered, or worse, it reinforced the narrative.
To her base, a court loss isn't a failure; it's proof of a "rigged system". Every censure motion in the Senate is worn like a badge of honour. It signals: I am not one of them. I am one of you.
"You don't vote for Pauline Hanson because you think she's going to draft complex legislation. You vote for her because she's a brick through the window of the establishment."
The major parties are playing chess while Hanson is playing dodgeball. They cite GDP per capita; she cites the price of groceries. They talk about social cohesion; she talks about the queue at the hospital. In an era where trust in government is at historic lows, the politician who is most hated by the government becomes, by default, the most trusted by the cynics.
The Kingmaker's New Clothes
The LNP's recent victory in Queensland (October 2024) offered a preview of the federal landscape. One Nation didn't sweep the seats—they rarely do. But their preference flows (over 70% to the LNP) were the kingmakers.
This is the trap for the Coalition. They need Hanson's preferences to govern, but every time they court her voters, they risk alienating the teal-leaning moderates in the cities. Hanson knows this. She doesn't need to be Prime Minister (or a lesbian cyborg president, for that matter). She just needs to hold the balance of power in the Senate.
So, go ahead and laugh at the stunts. Mock the predictions. But do not underestimate the anger that fuels them. As we march deeper into 2026, Pauline Hanson is not a relic of the 90s. She is the ghost of elections future.
