One Nation Express v Albanese’s ‘stable’ revolution: It will be a head-on crash

June 15, 2026 — 5:00am

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Australian politics right now is operating in three worlds. Those worlds are separate – atmospherically and substantively – but are beginning to overlap. That intersection will dictate the coming months and possibly the next election.

The first world is politics-as-normal. Despite the One Nation drama, this remains the central narrative: the throughline. It lies in actions rather than words: the government delivered a budget and is now fighting to deliver it. Despite feverish commentary, post-budget polling has not yet been calamitous for the government and Labor has responded correctly: kept calm and carried on. This is in keeping with Labor’s tone since 2022. More on that story later.

The second world is the One Nation Express and the crazed sense of drama surrounding it. This will likely increase this week with Pauline Hanson’s appearance at the National Press Club. These speeches are usually seen as consequential. This one may be. But it is equally possible it is irrelevant: that there is nothing Hanson could do at this early point that would derail her.

The truth is that nobody knows precisely what’s behind One Nation’s rise. Its rapidity suggests that voters are volatile, that there is a high degree of emotion in the electorate: anger, frustration, bewilderment. It is also connected to the fading ties between voters and major parties. But these are not explanations so much as restatements of the facts.

There is much talk of the Bondi........

© The Sydney Morning Herald