One Nation is dominating the narrative right now – and it’s not because Pauline Hanson is suddenly more persuasive.

The hoarding of wealth and resources by the few has caused an economic crisis for the many, and the political mainstream are failing to put forward an ambitious solution people can get behind. When we fail to articulate a believable path out of a crisis, or worse stay silent for fear of getting it wrong, a vacuum appears. Enter One Nation who have filled it and, as a result, are dominating the mainstream media with divisive messages targeting people based on their race and gender, pitting communities against each other for political gain.

While the conversation is centred around Pauline Hanson's sudden ascension to being preferred Prime Minister, social proofing for One Nation continues to climb, we continue to cede ground, and communities of colour and immigrants are rightly feeling abandoned.

Here’s what we know:

People are angry and outraged about the economic crisis, and billionaires have succeeded in scapegoating marginalised communities (including immigrants, trans people, and working class communities). Globally, anti-immigration parties are gaining in traction as a result.
Newer One Nation supporters are generally doing it tough and are looking for a way to protest and challenge the ‘political elite’ (aka major parties – and even civil society organisations), who they feel have failed them. They don’t always support One Nation policies, but are looking for alternatives that aren’t elitist. As a result, attacking Pauline Hanson in fact moves persuadables away from our messages of fairness and justice.
The solutions to improve the lives of everyday people are our solutions – real wage rises, tackling housing inequality, stemming corporate greed, ensuring access to public health and education – yet this is the opposite of the current conversation. Put simply: our messages aren’t cutting through.

We’ve invited Anat Shenker-Osorio to host a snap briefing to share frank advice on how we turn this around. Anat has spent years figuring out how progressive movements break out of this stagnation; build solidarity across race, class and genders; and give people a vision to get excited about. The briefing will include a presentation plus Q&A with Anat.

Here are the details

What: Responding to the rise of One Nation: snap messaging briefing
When: Tuesday 7 July, 9:30-10:30am AEST
Where: Zoom
Who: Organisers, campaigners, communicators and leaders from across civil society
Accessibility: This webinar will be live captioned. We will ask for your access requirements in the checkout questions when you register. If you have any questions please email info@australianprogress.org.au

Accessibility

General information

Features