Aug 27, 2026 · 24 min · 9 segments
This week we reported on some interesting polling that grappled with what makes One Nation voters tick, and one issue stood out. There’s also been an argy-bargy in the party this week over…
Paul SakkalGuestJacqueline MaleyHostPaul, you reported on some interesting polling this week that was grappling with what makes One Nation voters tick.
It was polling by former Labor pollster John Ushing, and I think it was for a Labor think tank maybe to be passed on to Labor members of Parliament.
He didn't work for the Labor Party, but he did Labor Party polling for about 10 or 15 federal elections up until 2019.
And Bruce Hawker, who you might remember from your Canberra days, Jack, who was Kevin Rudd's key advisor.
And what they did was did a bunch of focus groups to understand how One Nation voters were thinking about the world.
And then they put together a survey to try and tease out some of those questions.
And what it found, I thought the top line issue, and some people thought this was an obvious point to make, but the reason we led our news story with it was because most polls, all polls really, in the last year or two have shown that cost of living is by far and away the number one issue among all voters.
People are probably sick of me saying it on this podcast and our news stories talking about it.
But among One Nation voters, and 1,000 of them were surveyed in this poll, immigration is ahead of cost of living.
And the immigration issue, according to John Uddin, is the one that really creates differentiation for One Nation because it's a hotter issue.
There's greater levels of difference between the major parties on their positions.
And for many One Nation voters, Pauline Hanson is the only person who talking about migration in the terms that they're comfortable with and that resonate with them.
91% of One Nation supporters think that the country is heading in the wrong direction.
And that compares to 62% of all voters who think the country's heading in the wrong direction, which is also not great news for the government.
But it strikes me that these One Nation voters overwhelmingly, they don't just want a change in government.
Paul, you reported on some interesting polling this week that was grappling with what makes One Nation voters tick.
It was polling by former Labor pollster John Ushing, and I think it was for a Labor think tank maybe to be passed on to Labor members of Parliament.
He didn't work for the Labor Party, but he did Labor Party polling for about 10 or 15 federal elections up until 2019.
And Bruce Hawker, who you might remember from your Canberra days, Jack, who was Kevin Rudd's key advisor.
And what they did was did a bunch of focus groups to understand how One Nation voters were thinking about the world.
And then they put together a survey to try and tease out some of those questions.
And what it found, I thought the top line issue, and some people thought this was an obvious point to make, but the reason we led our news story with it was because most polls, all polls really, in the last year or two have shown that cost of living is by far and away the number one issue among all voters.
People are probably sick of me saying it on this podcast and our news stories talking about it.
But among One Nation voters, and 1,000 of them were surveyed in this poll, immigration is ahead of cost of living.
And the immigration issue, according to John Uddin, is the one that really creates differentiation for One Nation because it's a hotter issue.
There's greater levels of difference between the major parties on their positions.
And for many One Nation voters, Pauline Hanson is the only person who talking about migration in the terms that they're comfortable with and that resonate with them.
91% of One Nation supporters think that the country is heading in the wrong direction.
And that compares to 62% of all voters who think the country's heading in the wrong direction, which is also not great news for the government.
But it strikes me that these One Nation voters overwhelmingly, they don't just want a change in government.
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