Compulsory voting, our preferential voting system and our strong institutions will protect Australia from populist political parties.

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One Nation now has a higher primary vote than both the Labor Party and the Coalition according to two separate polls.

Some polls have Pauline Hanson as the preferred prime minister, while the Liberals and Nationals openly discuss whether they would bring One Nation into their Coalition.

The good news is that these numbers are soft. One Nation has attracted support without having done anything new. As Senator Hanson openly admits: she hasn't changed, Australians have.

But soft numbers can solidify if nothing is done. What should we be doing to stop the tide of populism washing up on Australian shores?

The first step is to address people's grievances. One Nation isn't winning votes, other parties are losing them. Address people's grievances and support for One Nation could quickly return to single digits.

We should work backwards from the next election and ask: what do we want the world to look like when people are lining up to vote?

We want interest rates to be lower. We want inflation back under control.

We want workers to be paying less tax. We want progress on housing affordability. We want real wages growing. Clearly, people are worried that immigration is too high.

The government can deliver all these things. Its changes to trusts, negative gearing and the capital gains tax discount give it almost $7 billion of budget firepower each year after the next election. WATO - the

Working Australians Tax Offset - provides the framework through which the government can give this money directly to workers.

Cutting marginal tax rates benefit both people who get their income from........

© The Examiner