Monash University Media Release
Monash University experts discuss the planned rallies across major Australian cities tomorrow (Thursday 13 August), as high school and university students walk out of classrooms to protest the rise of Pauline Hanson and One Nation.
Monash experts discuss how One Nation’s messaging resonates (or doesn’t) with young people, students’ engagement politics and civics education, as well as disruption to schools.
Dr Benjamin Moffitt, Politics and International Relations, Faculty of Arts says:
“One Nation’s rise in the polls doesn’t just affect those who can vote, it also affects young people. Many of them can’t cast a ballot yet, but they’re the ones who’ll live longest with the climate the party is trying to create, and who see its messaging aimed squarely at the diverse, multicultural Australia they’ve grown up in. Walking out of class is how they get a say that the ballot box doesn’t yet give them.
“This kind of youth mobilisation against the radical right isn’t unique to Australia. In France, high school students have repeatedly walked out and blockaded their schools to protest the National Rally: in 2017, again in 2022, and during the 2024 snap election. Germany saw huge youth-led demonstrations against the AfD after its ‘remigration’ plans came to light, and tens of thousands turned out against the FPÖ-led coalition in Austria. What’s distinctive about the Australian case is that One Nation isn’t a new arrival – it’s been a fixture for nearly thirty years – yet it’s now drawing the kind of organised student response more often seen in response to Europe’s insurgent radical-right parties.”
Read more of Dr Moffitt’s analysis and opinion
- One Nation/populist party messaging resonating (or not) with young people
- The rise of One Nation
Associate Professor Zareh Ghazarian, Head of Politics and International Relations, Monash School of Social Sciences says:
“The planned walkout to protest One Nation will be polarising in the community. One thing that cannot be ignored, however, is that young Australians continue to be at the forefront of political engagement in this country.
“The recent re-emergence of One Nation as a political force has made a big impact on Australian political parties. The Coalition appears unable to counter One Nation’s ability to attract voters at their expense, while Labor continues to be exposed to the One Nation electoral threat.
“While the planned protest will provide a platform for young people to have their say, it will also further lift the profile of Pauline Hanson and One Nation and demonstrate how the party continues to impact the political and policy debate in Australia.”
Read more of Associate Professor Ghazarian’s analysis and opinion
- Students’ engagement in civics education and politics
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I am disturbed by Hansonism, but in a long education career, one sees all, from the “sublime to the ridiculous.” Certainly some ex-students got to uni. chairs and Long Bay. How low can we go? Murdoch instincts, and the money oligarchs, seem to require utter ignorance, unawareness, submission, Adolfian obedience, and all that stinks, so, sharpen up! Supporting an undereducated idiot is brainless futility.