Malinauskas warns of One Nation threat despite decisive Labor election victory

One Nation will pose a direct threat to Anthony Albanese, South Australia Premier Peter Malinauskas has warned, even after Labor swept to victory in the state’s election on Saturday.

Malinauskas said almost one in four voters choosing One Nation as their first preference should not be dismissed as an anomaly or just a threat to the conservative side of politics.

“I think there are implications for my party as much as there are for the Liberal Party,” the re-elected premier told Nine’s Today show on Monday morning.

“We’re going to treat this seriously. I don’t think One Nation, or any political party for that matter, should be written off.”

Asked whether he thought One Nation was a threat at the federal level, Malinauskas said: “Yeah, I do.”

While Malinauskas’ decisive victory on Saturday night was expected, the state election was seen as the first major test of whether One Nation could convert strong polling into actual votes.

Labor won 32 of the state’s 47 lower house seats, while the Liberal Party was decimated, retaining just four. One Nation picked up one seat and was on Monday ahead in three out of the nine seats still in doubt.

Malinauskas warned the electorate would punish politicians who showed hubris or got “carried away with themselves” following a decisive victory.

“Complacency is death; you get found out really quickly,” he said. “Better to remind ourselves that in the modern era, there are no such thing as safe seats. There just isn’t. While we’ve had some incredibly big swings to us in some areas, there’s also been swings against us in others.”

The leading Labor figure, widely regarded as one of the country’s most formidable politicians, said the party needed to focus on policies that could win back votes shed to One Nation in suburban communities, without patronising those turning away from the major parties.

“We’re going to go out there and make it clear … that we have a serious economic agenda for them, and point out the differences between the lack of policy offering on behalf of One Nation,” Malinauskas told ABC’s Radio National.

He said One Nation leader Pauline Hanson’s comments as the votes rolled in on Saturday – that she was going to leave him some “landmines” in the form of One Nation MPs – were indicative of her grievance politics.

“Some people get into politics to use the power of office to deliver policy plans for the future of the state. Some people get into politics to lay landmines, and I guess that’s the point, isn’t it?” he said.

Malinauskas also critiqued One Nation’s policy offerings, saying the party did not go to the election with deliverable outcomes for South Australians.

“They didn’t have a housing policy. I’m not aware of their education or health policy, it was rather just a vote-against-immigration-style campaign. And while I don’t think that should be dismissed, I just think it points to a difference around whether or not you’re serious to use the power of state government to make a difference for your community,” he said.

“I’m committed to doing everything I can to use the power of government to help the people of this state. And Pauline Hanson’s speech is about political landmines. I just think it’s a very different approach.”

The federal Coalition on Monday echoed the attack on Hanson’s credibility as it pivots to a more hardline approach to One Nation. Most of the swing to One Nation in South Australia came off the Liberal Party’s primary vote.

Deputy leader Jane Hume conceded the election outcome was not ideal, but argued the Liberals were the only credible alternative for opposition.

“We need to make sure that when we speak to Australian people we do so with empathy and understanding, but also demonstrate competence and capability,” she told Sky News.

“One Nation is a party of protest. They have never delivered a budget. They’ve never delivered a hospital or a road. They’ve never had to make tough decisions about whether to send Australian combatants into a war zone or risk Australian assets.”

Hanson hit back, saying the Liberals had failed to be an effective opposition after losing the 2022 federal election when they became “deflated, depressed”.

“Their policies are hopeless,” Hanson told 2GB on Monday. “I don’t believe they’ve put out any policies [since the 2025 election], even still, they haven’t put out an immigration policy. And I’m sick and tired of the criticism that we have no policies. We’ve got all our policies on our website.”

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