Inside Politics

This week independent MPs Zali Steggall and Allegra Spender announced they would form a new political party, Community Strong Australia.
Steggall was successful as the first teal candidate, winning the prize seat of Warringah on Sydney’s north shore from former prime minister Tony Abbott in 2019.
Spender took Sydney’s blue-ribbon electorate of Wentworth from Liberal David Sharma in 2022.But the leaderless Community Strong is a high-risk strategy, as all other teal MPs have declined to join.
Today, Steggall is a special guest on Inside Politics with Jacqueline Maley to talk about, amid the fracturing of the Coalition and the rise of One Nation, why now is the right time for Community Strong Australia.
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The hottest ticket in Australian politics this week was Pauline Hanson's first address to the National Press Club, which happened on Wednesday.
The Press Club, set up in the early 1960s, has become a rite of passage for any aspiring political leader. But Hanson has been an outsider, and the Press Club represents the type of institution she rejects, so until now the One Nation leader has never made an appearance there.
Her speech, as Inside Politics host Jacqueline Maley and chief political commentator James Massola discuss, was extraordinary for her position on Australian culture, late-term abortions, Muslim migration and her attack on female journalists.
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With the budget backlash era moving on to something like begrudged resignation, or budget fatigue, we’re expecting Treasurer Jim Chalmers to soon make a few announcements around the tax changes.
While this bubbles along, the only story in politics continues to be One Nation.
Inside Politics host Jacqueline Maley and chief political correspondent Paul Sakkal debate whether the media and the near-daily reporting on polls are driving more support or exaggerating Pauline Hanson’s true popularity in Australia.
Outside of this, the hard-right party purportedly raised $1.5 million in a single day via a crowd-funding campaign called Fire the Liar. And the Coalition is squabbling over whether to preference One Nation in the next federal election, which is still two years away.
In the meantime, Labor by way of Foreign Minister Penny Wong says in the face of chaos, the government wants to go back to basics and focus on health, education and all the policies it says the other parties are lacking in.
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This week polls showed, for the first time, One Nation ahead of the major parties and Pauline Hanson as preferred prime minister in second place ahead of Angus Taylor.
Today we're talking about her strategy, her chances in the lower house and any parallels with the United States. Is it time to take Hanson seriously?
And the week would not be over if we didn't mention submarines - but second-hand ones this time. Was this always the intention as the government is saying? We'll unpick it.
Today's episode is hosted by Jacqueline Maley, with guests chief political correspondent Paul Sakkal, and foreign affairs and national security correspondent Matthew Knott.
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The debate on the rise of Pauline Hanson is shifting rapidly.
This week, for the first time, polls are showing One Nation's primary vote has risen above the Labor Party's.
A conversation that focused on One Nation and the Coalition swapping preferences has now shifted to more profound questions about the long-term configuration of the right flank of Australian politics.
Hanson is yet to face the full force of scrutiny on her policies, her position on race relations and whether her party really is a credible governing outfit.
Pauline Hanson joined chief political correspondent Paul Sakkal for this bonus episode of Inside Politics, recorded in Parliament House on Wednesday.
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