Palmer and Hanson crash out of election despite high hopes and huge spending

Sydney Morning Herald

04-05-2025

But the 2025 results represent a big slump from Palmer's former United Australia Party, which gained 4.1 per cent of the national vote in 2022 after spending more than $120 million, but only managed to install Senator Ralph Babet.
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Trumpet of Patriots leader Suellen Wrightson, who appeared in the party's ubiquitous advertising, failed in her bid to win the NSW seat of Hunter. One Nation senator Malcom Roberts could lose his Queensland seat at this election and Hanson's daughter Lee is only a rank outside chance to claim a spot in Tasmania's senate ranks. Hanson herself remains in the Senate until 2028.
The Coalition under Dutton revoked former Liberal prime minister John Howard's decision to oppose Pauline Hanson's fringe views by placing her last on senate preferences.
The Liberals' how to vote cards this year instructed voters to preference One Nation first in 57 seats, while One Nation gave first preference instructions for the Liberals in about 12 seats. Both parties denied there had been a preference deal.
Resolve director Jim Reed, who conducts polls for this masthead, said the pre-election excitement over One Nation's influence was not 'visible from the primary vote results.'
'Things were being briefed out, including internal polling, saying it's not as bad as the published polls in marginals,' Reed said. 'It was, and then some.'
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This masthead's Resolve Political Monitor predicted that Hanson's party would receive 7 per cent of the national vote, with the likely final result within the margin of error.
Reed said Trumpet of Patriots prospects fell with Australians' opinions of Donald Trump, after the US president started a global trade war.
'Their strategy may have been OK for a certain portion of the electorate three or four months ago, but they either misread the mood or were unable to change their branding and policy,' he said.
Dutton aped several One Nation policies, including Hanson's derision of 'woke' school curriculums. Dutton said in the second last week of the campaign that he wanted to end 'indoctrination.'
'We need to stop the teaching of some of the curriculum that says that our children should be ashamed of being Australian,' he said during a leaders' debate on Channel Seven.
Then just days before the election Dutton said he had no plan to change school curriculum.
Also in the second last week of the campaign Dutton revved up the culture war over Welcome to Country ceremonies, arguing they were 'overdone' at events like sports matches and on Qantas flights and declared they should not be part of ANZAC day.