Could Pauline Hanson become Australia’s next PM

Australia is starting to seriously contend with a question that for decades seemed absurd: Could right-wing, anti-migrant firebrand Pauline Hanson become prime minister?



Hanson largely hovered on the margins of Australian politics since entering Parliament in 1996, but her popularity has surged since the last election in May 2025.



Her One Nation party now leads in national opinion polls for the first time.



The party received just 6 per cent of the vote in 2025 but has since attracted support from voters who have shifted away from the centre-right Liberal-National Coalition, which has endured infighting and leadership battles after its landslide loss to Labor.



A Sky News Pulse/YouGov poll on June 3 found that One Nation is now backed by 29 per cent of voters, placing it slightly ahead of the ruling Labor party, which garnered 26 per cent.



The Liberal-National Coalition and the Greens garnered 20 per cent and 13 per cent respectively.