From ‘please explain’ to a prison spell, what next for the One Nation wave?
After walking ‘slap bang’ into Hanson and Bernardi on the steps of SA parliament, Smithson says the Pauline show is set to roll on relentlessly.
You can sense the winds of significant political change are blowing through all levels of politics.
No more so than in New South Wales but also all the way here to the steps of parliament in the past week.
Voters overwhelmed the weekend’s Farrer by-election across the border with a resounding call to arms for One Nation.
It’s starting to have a very familiar ring after the recent SA election where One Nation gained an impressive seven seats across both chambers.
Now, David Farley will stride into the Canberra halls of power as the newly elected member for Farrer having gained an extraordinary 57.3 per cent of the two-party vote defeating independent Michelle Milthorpe who achieved 42.7 percent.
It had been a Liberal held seat since 1949 until party leader Sussan Ley was unceremoniously dumped in favour of Angas Taylor.
Now that blue ribbon stronghold has left a combined Liberal and National vote wallowing at just 22 per cent of the vote.
I’ve been astounded at the momentum One Nation and Pauline Hanson can effortlessly generate in just the blink of an eye.
She even continues to fly high with Australia’s richest tycoon, billionaire Gina Rinehart, who gifted her a $1.5 million private plane to cover our vast land.
I dutifully attended the first sitting day of state parliament last Tuesday, arriving early to get organised for a busy day of ceremony and pomp.
Entering the Old Parliament security foyer, I walked slap bang into Hanson and state leader Cory Bernardi heading in the opposite direction.
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She was on the way to a Sky television interview which all other Adelaide media also jumped on in a frenzy.
The media now can’t get enough of Pauline, despite her occasional prickliness during the state campaign.
After One Nation’s first official party room meeting, two hours before parliament resumed, Bernardi described her visit as a rare honour and his delight in having the leader in town.
Bernardi says she’s changed politics in this country for the better and party success is a direct result of her tenacity.
You can argue with Pauline, but you can’t argue with the facts.
Her party secured nearly a quarter of the primary votes in the March 21 election.
I was eager to determine whether she was in Adelaide to intimidate the Malinauskas government, rather than being in the Farrer electorate just four days before it was to decide its new federal member.
“Not at all (to intimidate), I’m here as a proud woman who started this political party in 1997 and to see the results now 30 years later, to get seven seats in the South Australian parliament, is an honour,” she said.
Bernardi interjection with lightning speed out of the blocks to assure me he didn’t need Hanson’s help to pick a fight with government, if one was needed.
There’s a new aura around the national leader and confidence which I haven’t seen before.
That would now be further enhanced after the startling result in Farrer.
Hanson knows she has the upper hand and a growing following which may be short term, disintegrate or potentially blow-up mainstream politics as we know it.
I then asked her how much of an impact does she want One Nation to have on SA.
Her answer was predictable, prescriptive and personal.
“Look, we’ll support the government on good legislation that’s right for the state, for the people,” she said.
“It’s about calling for accountability, transparency and about making sure the people are getting the best that they can.
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“That’s been my whole purpose with everything, that people have had enough.
“The cost of living is just killing people out there.
“Their standard of living, homelessness, what they’re paying for in inflation.
“It all comes with governments and the legislation that they impose on people.
“We want to balance it and give people a decent standard of living.”
The Pauline Show looks set to roll on relentlessly, especially in the wake of the byelection.
She will now have her sights set on Victoria’s state election in November and, beyond that, the next federal election in 2028.
The level of professionalism One Nation displays at grassroots level is certainly on the march.
Hanson had made no attempt to draw other media into last week’s Adelaide visit, but the spotlight followed her anyway.
Her switched-on chief-of-staff James Ashby followed her every move with his own camera and then supplied the images for use within minutes of the images being shot.
The major parties are now undeniably looking to work with One Nation rather than against them.
At a federal level a coalition, of sorts, might be the only way any group other than the Labor Party will be able to govern Australia any time soon.
Hanson is 100 per cent correct in her assessment of her own achievements.
Being where she and One Nation currently stand is almost unbelievable.
Her commitment over the decades, when others have fallen or lost interest in politics, is staggering.
Don’t forget, she spent two and a half months in prison in 2003 after being convicted of electoral fraud, which was later overturned by the Queensland Court of Appeal.
She proudly wears her school of hard knocks as a badge of honour.
Those who ridiculed her “please explain” turn of phrase in the past and now having to do the explaining for the plummeting downturn conservative popularity and the rapid rise of One Nation.
It could still be a flash in the pan for One Nation, but its legacy will always remain as, arguably, the biggest shake up in politics since federation and there’s likely to be much more to come.
Mike Smithson is weekend newsreader and political analyst for 7News.
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