Pauline Hanson's Press Club Speech: A Return to Old Themes with New Targets

1. Same old message, new target

Three decades ago, Hanson used her first speech to federal parliament to argue that multiculturalism should be “abolished” and Australia was at risk of being “swamped by Asians”.

She made similar claims on Wednesday, only this time pointing the finger at “radical Islam” and non-English speakers for allegedly eroding the national identity.

“We cannot be a multicultural society. We are a multiracial society, but we must be monocultural. Australians must live under the one cultural umbrella,” she said in a prepared speech that ran for more than 50 minutes – far longer than most press club addresses.

Asked if Australia was in danger of being “swamped by Muslims”, Hanson said: “Not if I get any say in it.”

Hanson pointed to a series of “facts” to justify her argument, including 2021 census figures that found 23% of people spoke a language other than English at home.

“How can you generate social cohesion if people can’t speak the language?” she said, ignoring the fact that fluent English speakers might use another language at home.

2. The climate change ‘hoax’

In loud echoes of Donald Trump, Hanson directly blamed the “hoax” of climate change for driving up energy prices and, in turn, cost-of-living pressure.

Hanson’s solution? Ban wind and solar farms, cancel Snowy Hydro 2.0, end subsidies for renewables, double down on fossil fuels and build a nuclear reactor.

The One Nation leader didn’t rule out taxpayers underwriting a nuclear power plant, reviving a concept that voters comprehensively rejected at the last federal election when Peter Dutton proposed it (albeit on a much larger scale).

The cost of nuclear power has consistently been found to be more expensive than a mix of renewables and storage, while the construction of overseas reactors has routinely blown out in cost and timeframe.

As for Hanson’s assertion that renewables were helping to drive up prices, the most recent CSIRO GenCost report found that the cost of generating electricity in a grid powered by 82% renewables – which is the Albanese government’s target – would be a third cheaper than current wholesale electricity costs.

3. A Donald Trump-style attack on the media

Speaking of the US president, Hanson’s verbal assault on the media was straight from the Trump playbook.

She vowed to defund SBS – declaring “there’s no need for it any more” – and turn the ABC into a subscription service in the capital cities, mimicking Trump’s hostility to public broadcasters.

Hanson launched a personal and unfounded attack on Guardian Australia’s Sarah Martin, whose reporting has exposed, among other things, Hanson’s repeated failure to declare gifts and the unravelling of One Nation’s network of local branches.

“I’ve never seen a person that’s such a trashy journalist, and what you put out all the time, you’ve got this obsession with constantly trying to pull down myself, my party, or Mrs [Gina] Rinehart,” she said after Martin asked if the One Nation leader had a role in her daughter’s employment in the office of senator Sean Bell.

Hanson also told the political editor at SBS, Anna Henderson, she would be “without a job” when asked about her proposal to scrap the broadcaster.

Hanson said she welcomed the heightened scrutiny of One Nation and its policies that naturally comes with its rise in the opinion polls.

Yet in the next breath, she sought to set the terms of the scrutiny she was willing to tolerate, telling journalists they didn’t have licence to “pile on” or “delegitimise” her party.

She was evasive when asked if she would commit to holding daily press conferences that would be open to all media during the election campaign, which is routine for the prime minister and opposition leader.

4. ‘Too many abortions in this country’

One Nation’s website states that it wants to reduce the gestational limit for abortion without specifying what that limit should be.

Asked to clarify her position on Wednesday, Hanson said that 20 weeks was too late for an abortion as she called for a national debate on the issue.

“I’m not against people in circumstances – women that need to have an abortion for medical reasons, or for some circumstance, I’d rather educate women to use contraceptives than to go through an abortion. Too many abortions in this country,” she said.

5. The champion of the workers?

Hanson’s self-styled image as the battlers’ champion has been challenged by her political opponents, who have drawn attention to her history of voting against pro-worker laws as evidence of her hypocrisy.

Her recent criticism of an increase to the minimum wage was depicted in a banner briefly unfurled behind Hanson during her speech, a stunt that the leftwing activist group GetUp has taken credit for.

Hanson defended repeatedly siding with bosses when confronted with her voting record.

“Is it really working for small business out there?” she said.