Australian right-wing leader Pauline Hanson surges in support while claiming immigration puts nation in crisis
Australian right-wing leader Pauline Hanson declared immigration policies have put the country in crisis and Australia cannot be a multicultural society while enjoying a surge in support for her One Nation party.
Objective Facts
On Wednesday, Pauline Hanson told the National Press Club that Australia cannot be a multicultural society and immigration policies have put the country in crisis, blaming the centre-left Labor government for "this immigration catastrophe" and saying the recent influx of migrants has pushed up house prices, making it unaffordable for families. Hanson told the National Press Club that at the centre of the immigration crisis is "the utterly flawed policy of multiculturalism". Pauline Hanson delivered a high-profile speech at the National Press Club in Canberra on June 17, declaring multiculturalism a failure, blaming immigration for housing unaffordability, and warning about "radical Islam," while her party rides a surge in polling ahead of Labor. An opinion poll conducted for the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper showed Hanson had overtaken Prime Minister Anthony Albanese as Australians' first choice for the top role. Australia's shortage of homes is not an inevitable consequence of immigration, but instead the result of not enough dwellings being built, with research suggesting that while the intake of migrants might add to price pressures in some circumstances, the main driver of high prices is housing supply.
Left-Leaning Perspective
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese responded directly to Hanson's monocultural call by saying on social media that diversity was a strength of modern Australia, with the call for Australia to be a monoculture receiving the most pushback from Senator Hanson's political opponents. Albanese told reporters when asked if he viewed One Nation as a threat: "One of the reasons why we are the best country on Earth is not just the natural environment that we have, it's the people, people who've come here, the workers here, these young kids in there from a variety of backgrounds who enrich our nation with their presence". Greens deputy leader Mehreen Faruqi, who has previously sued Senator Hanson for racial discrimination, decried the speech as "the same tired, hate-filled message" the One Nation leader had sold for years. Left-leaning experts and analysts have directly challenged Hanson's central claim linking immigration to the housing crisis. Alan Gamlen from the ANU said there is a "widespread but mistaken belief that migration is the main driver of Australia's housing affordability crisis" and "the research consistently shows that migration has a negligible ... a relatively small impact on housing costs". Marian L Tupy from the Centre for Independent Studies argued that "The strongest version of the anti-immigration housing argument says more people always mean higher housing costs" but "The research evidence does not support that strong claim". The Centre for Independent Studies paper argues that "Australia's housing crisis is primarily a supply failure, not simply a headcount problem". Left-leaning coverage emphasizes that Hanson's call for a monocultural society and her immigration-blames-everything framing ignore the actual structural drivers of housing unaffordability and conflate economic grievances with cultural identity issues. The progressive critique suggests Hanson uses oversimplified scapegoating to appeal to economically anxious voters rather than addressing policy failures around zoning, construction, and housing supply.
Right-Leaning Perspective
Hanson's headline-grabbing comments and hard line on immigration have drawn more support, with One Nation polling ahead of both Labor and the conservative coalition opposition in some recent surveys, a sharp shift in a system long dominated by the two major parties. Polling director Simon Welsh argues that linking economic issues, such as the inability to afford a home, to immigration or to what he describes as identity politics, is at the core of One Nation's appeal. One Nation's recent by-election victory in Farrer was the party's first time securing a seat in the House of Representatives. Right-wing supporters frame Hanson's message as finally speaking plainly about concerns the major parties have ignored. After returning from the political wilderness a decade ago, Hanson's party is now riding a new wave of popularity, driven by voters weary of mainstream political parties that they say don't understand their struggles, with the South Australia state poll attracting many voters frustrated with issues like cost of living. Angry voters seeking a candidate who will upset the status quo are turning to Senator Hanson's populist right-wing movement in large numbers. Right-leaning coverage often frames the housing crisis as directly caused by immigration levels, aligns with Hanson's criticism of multiculturalism as failed policy, and emphasizes that One Nation is capturing electoral space abandoned by traditional conservative parties that won't take a hard line on these issues. The right presents Hanson as voicing legitimate concerns about national identity and cultural cohesion that elites are suppressing.
Deep Dive
Pauline Hanson has become as well known for her inflammatory anti-immigration rhetoric as much as her parliamentary stunts, while since returning from the political wilderness a decade ago, Hanson's party is now riding a new wave of popularity, driven by voters weary of mainstream political parties that they say don't understand their struggles. The move to One Nation is largely limited to right-wing voters in outer suburban and regional seats, with the shift attributed to a "loss of faith" from voters who bought into the Howard era of individual aspiration, explaining they have been "belted through the global financial crisis, loss of superannuation, the impacts of globalisation in the workforces". Australians have also been buffeted by resurgent inflation, rapid-fire interest-rate increases and a spike in fuel costs due to the Iran war — helping One Nation in the polls. Hanson's housing crisis claim sits at odds with academic consensus. Strict zoning, slow approvals, and infrastructure bottlenecks limit new housing construction in high-demand areas, with research arguing that Australia's housing crisis is primarily a supply failure, not simply a headcount problem. Former Treasury economist Leith van Onselen says migration numbers matter far more to housing than other experts give them credit for — especially when it comes to rent — estimating that migration levels account for around 25 per cent of various influences on house prices, while for rents, it's more like 75 per cent. This suggests the debate is not whether immigration matters at all, but whether it is the primary lever for housing policy or whether supply-side reforms would be more effective. What remains unresolved: whether One Nation's electoral surge represents sustainable realignment or a protest vote vulnerable to economic improvement. Despite the gains, Australia's preferential voting still favours Labor, and some data suggest it would likely retain power if an election were held now. The coming months will test whether Hanson can translate primary vote leadership into actual parliamentary seats and whether the Labor government can address voter concerns about cost of living that underpin One Nation's appeal.
Regional Perspective
The Japan Times reported that Australian far-right populist Sen. Pauline Hanson has called for a "monocultural society," rejecting decades of multicultural policy and blaming the nation's housing crisis on high levels of immigration, saying the shortage of housing and rising property prices and rents were due to the increasing number of migrants. The Japan Times contextualized the surge in support for Hanson's right-wing party as mirroring the situation in the U.S. and U.K., as well as across Europe, where support for traditional centrists has collapsed as voters shift to the extreme right and left. The article noted that Australians have also been buffeted by resurgent inflation, rapid-fire interest-rate increases and a spike in fuel costs due to the Iran war — helping One Nation in the polls — with Hanson in her speech blaming those challenges on immigration and the cost of green energy. The Japan Times noted that Hanson told the National Press Club "We are a multiracial society, but we must be monocultural," without elaborating on how that would lead to a reduction in home prices or affect the cost of living. Regional coverage emphasizes the gap between Hanson's cultural framing and economic policy — regional outlets note that her monocultural prescription does not directly address the material concerns driving voters to her party, suggesting regional analysts see this as a rhetorical gap rather than a policy disconnect.