Frustration over the rising cost-of-living and growing distrust in major political parties is fuelling support for Pauline Hanson’s One Nation across the Hunter.
New polling from RedBridge Group and Accent Research suggests her troops could dramatically increase their representation if an election took place today.
It predicted One Nation would take 53 seats, based on current polling, reducing the Coalition to just 12 and Labor holding a slender majority of 76.
Political analyst Alex Fein said the rise was less about far-right politics and more about people feeling ignored by governments and institutions.
Many Australians, she added, were experiencing declining living standards while losing trust in politics, media and big business.
The Hunter region has long been viewed as vulnerable to protest voting, particularly during periods of economic uncertainty and debate surrounding energy and industry.
Although, Labor incumbent Dan Repacholi enjoys a big margin of support in his “home base”.
Concerns, however, around power prices, housing affordability and job security continue to dominate conversations across the region.
Liberal Senator Andrew Bragg said the polling showed there was a “huge amount of grievance” within the Australian community.
“We have not done a good job in the past 10 years on economic policy,” he told Sky News.
The growing support for One Nation has sparked concern among some residents, too.
Lake Macquarie’s Velda Hunter said younger generations should think carefully before backing populist movements.
“Gen X and millennials are the increasing population of voters,” she stated.
“If they’re silly enough to believe the nonsense… suck it up.”
The polling comes after One Nation secured a shock victory in the NSW seat of Farrer earlier this month, intensifying debate about the party’s burgeoning influence in regional communities.
Labor minister Andrew Charlton said while the party was tapping into voter frustration, it was not offering genuine answers.
“One Nation is expressing the grievances that people have, but they’re not providing the solutions,” he added.
Analysts say the growing support reflects broader anger directed at the political establishment rather than loyalty to any single party.
- With AAP
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