Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) CEO Michelle Pearse has been reflecting on the takeaways from the South Australian election which saw the Labor Party of Peter Malinauskas coast to victory in the Lower House and One Nation record its highest vote (22%) in an Australian election in 28 years, even beating the Liberal Party (19%) which was reduced to a handful of seats.

Ms. Pearse pointed to the Bondi factor.

“This is the first election we’ve seen since the Bondi attacks,” she explained to Vision Radio.

“That’s when I think Pauline Hanson really became more prominent because she gave an answer to why this is happening — radical Islam and mass immigration.”

“It took Prime Minister Albanese quite a while to actually utter those words — radical Islam.”

“PAULINE HANSON’S APPROACH STRUCK A CHORD WITH A NATION IN SHOCK”

“I think Pauline Hanson’s approach there really struck a chord because the nation was alarmed,” observed MIchelle Pearse.

“The public sensed that something was terribly wrong and she spoke directly to that, while Mr Albanese was more trying to bring calm and calling for national unity.”

“People were really like: This is shocking. We want to know what has gone wrong and what’s going to fix it. “

“So with the rise of all of the protests and the anti-Semitism in our nation, Pauline Hanson is weighing into that and giving a cause for the issue, which is what Australians wanted to hear.”

“ONE NATION HAS BEEN CONSISTENT ON TRADITIONAL VALUES AND PATRIOTISM”

“What One Nation and Pauline Hanson have been consistent on is traditional values and patriotism of our nation, of Australia,” reflected the ACL boss.

“I think there is this longing for the way that Australia used to be.”

“We’re seeing protests, we’re seeing division like we haven’t seen before, and these are foreign issues that have made their way to our shores and affecting our safety and our security.”

“So when this is becoming more exposed and prominent, people are wanting Australia to be the way it used to be.”

“Pauline Hanson has shown that conviction about Australia for decades, and I think that’s got much to do with the support she has now.”

“PAULINE HANSON HAS A VERY CLEAR POSITION ON THE CULTURE WARS”

“Also on the culture wars, she has a very clear position,” Ms Pearse told Vision Radio.

“She is fundamentally against identity politics. She clearly hates political correctness and goes out of her way to not be politically correct.”

“I think that makes people that support her like her even more, and to go on and then become an advocate for her.”

“We know in marketing that most of it is word of mouth. So I think people are talking around their dinner tables, talking with their friends and seeing the support for her party growing.”

ONE NATION WILL HAVE POWER IN THE SA UPPER HOUSE.

Michelle Pearse says while One Nation’s stunning result won’t translate into many Lower House seats, it will be a formidable force in the Upper House where it’s on track to win three seats.

“They’re a very conservative party on the culture war issues. They’re with us.”

“Even recently, Pauline Hanson and her team have taken a stronger stance against late-term abortion.”

“So all of those things are very encouraging for what can be achieved in South Australia.”

FAMILY FIRST WILL STRUGGLE FOR SEAT AFTER MULTIPLE CONSERVATIVE GROUPS RAN

“I would have liked to see other good conservative parties get a share of the vote as well.”

“There’s still hope that Family First could get a seat in the Upper House. That’s their home ground in South Australia.”

“But it will be difficult. There were a lot of different conservative parties running, and that’s a shame.”

“Overall, this isn’t a bad result in the Upper House when we think of the impact that it could have with legislation that will either be blocked or put through in the Upper House with One Nation kind of deciding what to block and what to allow through.”

LIBERAL PARTY HUMILIATED AFTER FORMER SUPPORTERS BACK ONE NATION

The Liberal Party has been humiliated by the swing of the traditional conservative vote to One Nation.

After winning 16 seats at the 2022 election, it’s set to be left with between four and seven. 

Michelle Pearse gave her view to Vision Radio on how it should address the party’s existential crisis.

“I think it can go one of three ways.”

LIBERALS NEED TO DECIDE WHO’S THEIR BIGGEST THREAT — LABOR OR ONE NATION

“We’ve seen initially their response is just asserting their credibility as a party, asserting that they’ve got a long-standing policy platform, whereas One Nation doesn’t have one as comprehensive as they do.”

“The Liberals are across a wider range of issues, so that’s their line at the moment, but I think they’re still going to be deciding what to do”

“Will they appeal to the centre and be a kind of a moderate alternative to Labor?”

“That means that they’ll push on with their strong economic platform, but I think that will mean they’ll avoid any kind of input into issues around culture wars.”

LIBERALS COULD GO CENTRE RIGHT OR HARD RIGHT TO TACKLE ONE NATION

“They could go for the centre right, which means they might dabble in the culture war issues.”

“They’ll have a strong stance on immigration, they’ll have a strong pro-Australia rhetoric and perhaps talk about strengthening our defence capabilities.”

“But where we’ve seen One Nation get the votes is on their right wing values, which is conviction on culture war matters,” Ms. Pearse declared.

“So if the Liberals want to directly contest that One Nation vote, they’ll need to have a strong stand on male and female, on DEI in the workplace, rejection of identity politics and talk about how our nation needs a transformation and we need to get back to the Australia that we once were.”

“That’s what will directly be a contest to the One Nation vote”

“I WANT TO SEE LIBS GO RIGHT TO ADDRESS THE ROOT HARMS TO OUR NATION”

“So will they try to get the Labor vote or will they try get the One Nation vote? I’m not sure where they’ll end up.”

“Obviously I want to see them go right because this is really addressing the root harms to our nation.”

“But ultimately we just need politicians that speak according to their convictions, that say what they really believe and then are willing to provide the arguments to back that up, even when it’s not politically correct.”

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