An update and a name change

One Nation didn't emerge in a vacuum, then or now. The global surge in right-wing populism has propelled the party and thirty years on, it’s arguably stronger than ever. But is its popularity a protest or a fundamental realignment of Australian politics? And what happens to Pauline Hanson’s One Nation, post Pauline? In the sixth and final episode of The Making of One Nation, we speak to Jill Sheppard, a political scientist and senior lecturer in the School of Politics and International Relations at the Australian National University. This episode was written and hosted by Ashlynne McGhee and produced and edited by Isabella Podwinski. Sound design by Michelle Macklem. Misha Ketchel is the editor of The Conversation Australia. If you are enjoying the series, please consider donating to The Conversation, an independent, not-for-profit news organisation.

The media made Pauline Hanson and One Nation, but now the party holds all the power. It’s a perfect storm for democracy: a shrinking and cowering traditional media, the toxic algorithms of the unmoderated social media cess pit and the warped reality of generative AI. But why is the party that once led the charge in the new internet age seemingly so restrained in weaponising AI? In the fifth instalment of The Making of One Nation, we speak to Kurt Sengul, a political scientist at Macquarie University who has researched the nexus between the media and the rise of far-right populism. This episode was written and hosted by Ashlynne McGhee and produced and edited by Isabella Podwinski. Sound design by Michelle Macklem. Misha Ketchel is the editor of The Conversation Australia. If you are enjoying the series, please consider donating to The Conversation, an independent, not-for-profit news organisation. Or, you can subscribe to one of our free newsletters.

It’s never held government, or even opposition, yet One Nation’s managed to exert an outsized influence on the public policy agenda. From borders to migration, multiculturalism to Indigenous affairs, the far-right party has mastered mainstreaming and captured the masses fleeing the Coalition. In the fourth instalment of The Making of One Nation, we speak to Josh Sunman, Associate Lecturer in Public Policy at Flinders University and Tim Bale, a Professor of Politics at Queen Mary University of London. This episode was written and hosted by Ashlynne McGhee and produced and edited by Isabella Podwinski. Sound design by Michelle Macklem. Misha Ketchel is the editor of The Conversation Australia. If you are enjoying the series, please consider donating to The Conversation, an independent, not-for-profit news organisation. Or, you can subscribe to one of our free newsletters.

We’d all like deeply considered policy and informed debate to be at the heart of politics, but unfortunately controversies and scandals tend to steal the show. For most parties, scandals are disastrous: they lose seats, ministers and elections — but not One Nation. It's weathered defections and punch-ups (including a memorable smearing of blood on a Senate door), jail and chaos, and thirty years on it's surging. This is a party that doesn’t just survive the chaos, but cultivates it and capitalises on it. This episode was written and hosted by Ashlynne McGhee and produced and edited by Isabella Podwinski. Sound design by Michelle Macklem. Misha Ketchel is the editor of The Conversation Australia. If you are enjoying the series, please consider donating to The Conversation, an independent, not-for-profit news organisation. Subscribe to The Conversation's free newsletters.

You might remember this line in Pauline Hanson's maiden speech: "I'm afraid we're in danger of being swamped by Asians." It wasn't the first racist comment she'd made in public and it certainly wasn't the last. Over the years, her enemies have changed and she now targets Muslims and elites, but it's the same tactic and it's infiltrated Australian politics. This episode was written and hosted by Ashlynne McGhee and produced and edited by Isabella Podwinski. Sound design by Michelle Macklem. Misha Ketchel is the editor of The Conversation Australia. If you are enjoying the series, please consider donating to The Conversation, an independent, not-for-profit news organisation. Subscribe to The Conversation's free newsletters.