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Coalition ‘mirroring’ One Nation policies

Albanese said in the last term of parliament, the Coalition were “shrinking in on themselves” and now are mirroring One Nation policies in terms of abolishing net zero and the need to act on climate change.

We’re seeing them adopt One Nation policies and shift to the right. And the problem here is that what that is doing is legitimising the hard right policies that One Nation advocate for.

You can’t fight One Nation by being a lighter version of them. Now people like the late Senator Ron Boswell understood that. John Howard understood that when he put One Nation last on how to votes. What we saw at the last election was a preference deal between One Nation and the Coalition. We’ve seen them become closer and closer as the Coalition have shifted to the right. What that does, it legitimises some of the hard right policies One Nation has.

The politics of just identifying grievance and not coming up with solutions is a cul de sac that doesn’t the country anywhere.

That’s why I’ve engaged with Canadian Prime Minister. But others as well in our region is so important. Australia can play a really important role, given our role as a Commonwealth nation, we’re a member of APEC, we’re a partner with ASEAN, we’re an important leader in the Pacific Island Forum. All of this means when you look at the global architecture, the role that we can play in our own region and around the world is of a stabilising force at a time where quite frankly there is a lot of turbulence and turmoil in the world.

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Source: www.theguardian.com

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