Coalition plans assault on One Nation’s credibility to avoid South Australia-style wipeout

Opposition Leader Angus Taylor will lead an assault on One Nation’s credibility and warn about Pauline Hanson’s aim to form government, in a new plan to avoid a South Australia-style drubbing at a federal byelection in May.

As Prime Minister Anthony Albanese warned on Sunday against attacks on multiculturalism, the Coalition is planning to reveal big-picture economic reform, put more focus on its anti-net zero stance, and explain to voters the economic pain that would be caused by Hanson’s zero-immigration policy.

“There’ll be no ‘deplorables’ moment,” one senior Liberal source, who asked to remain anonymous in order to discuss internal party matters, said, referring to Hillary Clinton’s infamous remarks about Donald Trump’s supporters.

A Liberal MP added: “Just like Labor savages the Greens to keep progressives in the tent, we need to do the same on our side.”

South Australian Labor Premier Peter Malinauskas was re-elected with a thumping majority on Saturday. The Liberal Party will be left with about four lower house seats, with votes bleeding to One Nation, whose primary vote of 22 per cent was higher than that of the Liberals at 19 per cent.

Albanese delivered a veiled warning against One Nation’s brand of politics in a speech in Melbourne on Sunday.

“There are some, including some in political life, who want to turn back the clock to an Australia that is no longer who we are,” he said at the Immigration Museum in the CBD, warning about politicians harking back to the White Australia era.

“We need to call out those people.”

The federal Coalition’s senior shadow cabinet members held talks on Friday to formulate a strategy to claw back support from One Nation. A day later, the populist outfit rocked the political establishment by out-polling the Liberal Party in South Australia. It is also polling ahead of the Coalition nationally.

After months of confusion about how forcefully to attack Hanson and her recruit, Barnaby Joyce, the Coalition group reached consensus that it must attack Hanson and reject calls from conservative commentators to form some sort of right-wing coalition with her party.

Five sources familiar with the opposition’s strategy meeting, unable to talk about the confidential meeting publicly, confirmed elements of the discussion. The Liberal Party and Nationals directors, Andrew Hirst and Lincoln Folo, delivered briefings on voter attitudes towards One Nation, as the parties prepared to use social media to mobilise against One Nation ahead of the Farrer byelection sparked by Sussan Ley’s retirement.

Although Saturday’s South Australian election was influenced by local factors, the surge of support for One Nation proved that Hanson could turn support in opinion polling into votes, although preference distribution may mean the party ends up with only one seat.

Ahead of the Farrer byelection, Taylor is planning to announce the Coalition’s own plan to cut the migration intake. But the opposition wants to highlight the folly of reducing net migration to zero, as Hanson proposes, by warning tradespeople how badly the building sector would be hurt.

Opposition MPs intend to target what they see as Hanson’s hubris as she aims to supplant the Coalition.

Nationals senator Matt Canavan received blowback from some sections of his right-wing base after he labelled Hanson’s brand of race politics divisive earlier this month. The opposition is wary of being criticised for attacking Hanson personally given her tendency to portray herself as a persecuted figure speaking for the voiceless.

Hanson has claimed she is aiming to win an election, a prospect Coalition MPs want to elevate in the public discourse.

“Even her supporters think the prospect of her running the country is ridiculous,” one Liberal MP familiar with party research said.

Echoing remarks from frontbencher James Paterson, the opposition will also point out that 70 per cent of MPs elected under the One Nation banner have quit the party, and that Hanson had achieved few policy wins.

MPs who attended the Friday meeting acknowledged it was critical to differentiate the Coalition from One Nation by offering voters a compelling economic vision on tax and material living standards as it aims to release major policies midterm rather than just before the election as they did last term.

Opposition health spokeswoman Anne Ruston blamed the state election collapse on the Coalition’s inability to articulate its values.

“Australians don’t know what we stand for,” she said on Sky News’ Sunday Agenda. “History would suggest to you that that’s probably not the case. You know, we’ve seen the rise and fall of One Nation on numerous occasions around the country.”

Malinauskas outlined a vision for progressive patriotism in his acceptance speech on Saturday, showing the salience of the national debate over identity and culture that is fuelling One Nation’s rise.

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