Pauline Hanson's One Nation (PHON), commonly known as One Nation (ON), is a right-wing to far-right political party in Australia. It is led by its founder Pauline Hanson, who is the party's president for life and has been a senator for Queensland since 2016 and previously served in the House of Representatives from 1996 to 1998. The party was founded by Hanson in 1997 following her disendorsement by the Liberal Party and enjoyed an initial period of electoral success in the late 1990s. It polled second at the 1998 Queensland state election and won the third-highest vote count in both the House of Representatives and Senate at the 1998 federal election, though only winning a single Senate seat. It subsequently underwent a period of electoral decline and lull, and underwent several party splits, while retaining representation in the Parliament of Queensland until 2009. Following Hanson's return as leader, the party won four seats at the 2016 federal election and retained representation across the following three federal elections, despite several high-profile defections. The party experienced increased popularity in and following the May 2025 federal election. After the Liberal Party's leadership challenge and falling out with the Nationals, Barnaby Joyce defected from the Nationals and joined One Nation in December 2025. Australia's richest person, Gina Rinehart, has provided funding to the party since then. Several nationwide opinion polls were ranking One Nation ahead of the Coalition as the highest-polling party on the political right by February 2026. One Nation's policy stances have largely been shaped by the views of its leader, sometimes referred to as Hansonism. Opposition to multiculturalism has been a hallmark of the party since its creation; it initially focused on criticism of Asian immigration and government welfare policies relating to Indigenous Australians, and later expanded to include criticism of Islam. The party's economic policies have been characterised by economic nationalism and protectionism, including opposition to foreign ownership of land and economic rationalism. Opposition to climate change action, including opposition to the expansion of renewable energy, has become a prominent aspect of the party's agenda following the election of climate change denier Malcolm Roberts as a senator. On foreign policy, the party has adopted anti-globalist stances including support for withdrawal of Australia from international institutions and agreements.
History
Background In the lead-up to the March 1996 federal election, Pauline Hanson was endorsed as the Liberal Party of Australia candidate for the House of Representatives seat of Oxley, based on Ipswich, for the March 1996 federal election. At the time, the seat was thought of as a Labor stronghold. The Labor incumbent, Les Scott, held it with an almost 15% two-party majority, making it the safest Labor seat in Queensland. Because of this, Hanson was believed of having no chance of winning the seat. Hanson received widespread media attention when, leading up to the election, she advocated the abolition of special government assistance for Aboriginal Australians and criticism of multiculturalism, resulting in her being disendorsed by the Liberal Party. Ballot papers had already been printed listing Hanson as the Liberal candidate, and the Australian Electoral Commission had closed nominations for the seat. As a result, Hanson was still listed as the Liberal candidate when votes were cast, even though Liberal leader John Howard had declared she would not be allowed to sit with the Liberals if elected. On election night, Hanson took a large lead on the first count and picked up enough preferences from Democrat voters to defeat Scott on the sixth count. Her victory came amid Labor's near-collapse in Queensland, which saw it reduced to only two seats in the state. Hanson won 54% of the two-candidate-preferred vote. Since Hanson had been disendorsed, she entered parliament as an independent.
Early years
Foundation (1997)
Shortly after being elected to federal parliament, Hanson formed the One Nation party with co-founders David Oldfield and David Ettridge. During the formative days of One Nation, Oldfield was employed by Liberal Party backbench MP Tony Abbott as a political advisor. One Nation was launched on 11 April 1997, at an event held in Ipswich, Queensland. The party was officially registered by the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) on 27 June.
First elections (1998)
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