Ahead of South Australia’s election this weekend, One Nation inches up the polls.
South Australia’s election looms heavy over the Australian political landscape, as the major parties lose their regular supporters and voters turn to the fringes.
Despite consistent outrage, stunts, and censures, Pauline Hanson is still here. Once a fringe party deserving of every joke thrown its way, One Nation has been lurking in the shadows of Australia, waiting for the perfect moment of political instability to strike.
Hanson began in politics on the principle of opposing multiculturalism, diversity, or really anything not-white.
She entered parliament in 1996 as an independent, after being expelled from the Liberal party for being too racist, and set the scene with a Maiden speech littered with xenophobia.
Such a shock to the system was her brazen discrimination that many doubted her ability to be in politics, and moreso, stay.
In the present day, it seems things are finally on the up for Hanson and Co. The Guardian’s recent poll revealed that more than half of Australians would vote for One Nation, a quarter backing her definitively.
Over in South Australia, polling continues to back her. Recent addition to the party Barnaby Joyce believes they could win the vote “in many seats.”
The One Nation SA candidate is Cory Bernardi, who once linked gay marriage to the social acceptance of bestiality.
He does not regret saying this, in fact he “100%” stands by it, but would’ve avoided letting it slip publicly.
Such comments saw Bernardi forced out of the Liberal party after 13 years with the party. One Nation is prone to adopting political defectors, Federal MP Barnaby Joyce the most recent to jump ship from The Nationals to cuddle up with Hanson.
Due to Australia’s preferencing system, Joyce predicts One nation “will poll number one in many seats,” but may not win overall. The increase is still a win for the party and Hanson’s plan to win big at the 2028 election.
By winning smaller seats in local council elections, One Nation can win momentum and bag some upper house seats, thanks to the Coalition’s instability.
Victoria’s election at the end of the year will become their next focus, despite its Greens/Labor history.
One Nation’s polling increase may appear as a random spike, but as ABC NEWS Verify revealed last week, countless foreign facebook accounts have been sharing AI-generated content of Hanson.
Videos and photos show Hanson battling it out with characters like Anthony Albanese, news reports and her senate colleagues.
Though her real-life honesty and strict immigration policy appeals to certain voters, could her digital counterpart be doing the true heavy lifting?
When asked why they were voting for One Nation, supporters told the ABC “immigration, that’s the main one, we’ve got to sort that out.” Another said “a lot of my workmates actually, behind the scenes, support [One Nation]”
In the digital world, Facebook commenters swoop in to praise and protect Hanson.
In one fake post, Pauline Hanson apparently files charges against Anthony Albanese at “the international court” for “concealing terrorism warnings in Bondi,” complete with an AI photo of the two in heated debate.
Comments read “you’re a trier Pauline and I hope you are successful for all Australians” and “still voting for her.”
In another bizarre AI post, Hanson stands outside some kind of a stadium, holding a sign asking “Do you love Pauline Hanson? Be honest with me.”
Comments read “Yep more than ever,” “you go girl,” “She’s a legon,” “The Bedt For Autralia,” “y allll waaays for ever.”
It seems her die-hard fans typed a bit too quickly to fix their typos. Many commenters dream of her taking out the top job and becoming prime minister, living it up in the lodge.
Pauline Hanson has a digital sister, and she’s dominating the polls. She can win every debate, love every voter, and always be right. As South Australia heads to the polls, will they be thinking of the real Hanson, or the polished one they saw on Facebook?
Australia does not have a specific framework for AI content posted online. Regulations that currently govern AI exist as suggestions, rather than enforcements.
The government has nudged AI developers to place labels and watermarks on generated content. But bots, videos and posts, like of Hanson yelling at Waleed Ali, do not need to be clearly labelled by law as AI.
For the majority of voters across Australia, social media is the main source of information. For South Australians scrolling Facebook, the AI content is difficult to avoid.
Foreign accounts managed by bots in Vietnam or Sri Lanka proliferate the fake stories, to then push viewers to an external site covered in ads. Thus, they profit off of the curious viewer.
As One Nation vies for a 2028 win, gaining seats in this Saturday’s election puts immense force behind the party. If successful, the battle will not be over on Saturday, but the win would embolden them the rest of their campaign trail.
Early voting over the weekend saw the state’s highest number of early voters turning out. Over 67,000 votes have been issued on the first day alone.
“I’m not the same woman who came out of my fish and chip shop,” Hanson announced last week. She’s right, she is both an AI hero and ridiculously offensive politician at once.
Now we wait to see what South Australia voted for.
