The political establishment is in a state of shock. When Sky News Australia took the unprecedented step of calling the Farrer by-election for One Nation at an extraordinarily early hour, it wasn\u2019t just calling a seat; it was announcing the end of an era. For the first time in Australian history, One Nation has captured a House of Representatives seat at an election, and if the current opinion polls are any indication, it is merely the first of many.<\/p>\n
The \u2018commentariat\u2019 \u2013 that insulated class of pundits and pollsters \u2013 has spent years repeating the tired myth that One Nation is a party of complaint but not of policy. This is precisely why, before the last Federal election, I suggested that Liberals do what Sir Robert Menzies did: return to the philosophy of the \u2018Forgotten People\u2019 and vote for the best party. I advised voters to give their first preference to the party with the best common-sense policies and the leader who will deliver them, One Nation. Farrer has proven that the commentariat\u2019s \u2018no-policies\u2019 narrative was a delusion. Australians are not merely \u2018protesting\u2019; they are voting for a platform of common sense, consistently put forward by Pauline Hanson and Senator Malcolm Roberts \u2013 one that the major parties have long since abandoned.<\/p>\n
The Death of the Major Party Monopoly<\/p>\n
Senator Malcolm Roberts is, incidentally, one of the few former manual workers in Parliament, appearing as a rare exception alongside some farmers within the Nationals. In contrast, Labor has become a party of career politicians who have been embedded in the political machine since their university days.<\/p>\n
The result reflects a deep-seated exhaustion with the status quo. Labor is no longer the party of the worker; it has become the party of the inner-city elite. The Greens, far from being environmentalists, seem content to see our landscape ruined by industrial \u2018renewables\u2019 to enrich foreign interests \u2013 propping up what Donald Trump rightly called the \u2018world\u2019s biggest fraud\u2019.<\/p>\n
In contrast, voters have responded to a leader who tells the simple truth.<\/p>\n
A Platform of Substance<\/p>\n
Beyond the personality of Pauline Hanson lies a suite of consistent, nationalist policies that address the existential crises facing the country:<\/p>\n
Cost of Living and Waste: One Nation has a strong program to eliminate the duplication caused by Canberra and the States performing the same functions. They are also committed to ending the enormous cost of Net Zero energy and demonising \u2018fossil fuel\u2019, which is wrecking the country\u2019s agricultural land and giving us what is among the most expensive electricity in the world.<\/p>\n
Energy and Water: While the major parties pursue a financially ruinous and environmentally damaging Net Zero agenda \u2013 ripping up agricultural land for useless windmills, solar farms and power transmission lines \u2013 One Nation has championed an updated Bradfield Plan. Australia is the driest continent on Earth, yet we allow our water to flow into the sea. We need massive engineering, not massive taxes. Bringing northern water south is far more sensible than delivering power via a fragile, coal-shunning grid.<\/p>\n
Immigration: One Nation\u2019s Net Zero immigration policy \u2013 the guideline that arrivals do not exceed departures \u2013 is the right target for a nation struggling with a housing and cost-of-living crisis.
Indigenous Policy: The party is willing to address the \u2018sit-down money\u2019 that has plagued remote communities since the Whitlam era. By focusing on work over welfare and supporting the principles of the Howard-era intervention, they offer a path out of dependency that the \u2018Voice\u2019 industry never could.<\/p>\n
Defence and Mining: With figures like Malcolm Roberts \u2013 a man who actually knows what it\u2019s like to work in a coal mine \u2013 the party stands as the lone defender of our resources sector. They understand that our national wealth and our national defence (including the proper treatment of our veterans and heroes like Ben Roberts-Smith) are the twin pillars of a sovereign nation.<\/p>\n
The Ultimate Check: Direct Democracy<\/p>\n
Perhaps most importantly, One Nation remains the sole political advocate for Direct Democracy on the Swiss model. By allowing the Australian people to initiate referendums via simple petitions, we can finally control the politicians between elections. It is a constitutional mechanism that would allow us to introduce the laws we need and scrap the ones we don\u2019t. Crucially, it provides a \u2018People\u2019s Veto\u2019 over the High Court when activist judges attempt to change the Constitution through the back door \u2013 something only the people should be able to do by a considered vote.<\/p>\n
The New Reality<\/p>\n
The Farrer victory is a breakthrough that proves the Australian people are ready to reclaim their country. The major parties have spent decades treating the electorate like \u2018puppets\u2019 to be managed. This result suggests that the people have finally decided to manage themselves.<\/p>\n
The \u2018safe seat\u2019 is dead. The policy of common sense is back.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The political establishment is in a state of shock. When Sky News Australia took the unprecedented step of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":661309,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,9616,44],"class_list":["post-661308","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-flat-white","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/661308","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=661308"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/661308\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/661309"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=661308"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=661308"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=661308"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}