Nationals Michael McCormack and leader Matt Canavan, campaigning on dirty water. Photo: Michelle Kroll.
Make no mistake, One Nation has got the Coalition on the run.
We can all expect more policy from the Liberals and the Nationals that looks, sounds and smells increasingly like what One Nation has on offer, as the Coalition scrambles to claw back some of its heartland being taken over by Pauline Hanson.
The trouncing the Libs got on the weekend in the South Australian state election is reverberating through the halls of Parliament House and across every federal electorate in the nation.
The Nationals, for one, can’t appear before the media right now without being grilled about the threat of One Nation.
Nationals leader Matt Canavan held a press conference at parliament on Monday (23 March) on the premise of campaigning for better drinking water for the Riverina town of Narrandera.
Bottles of murky brown water were held up to make the point, but they could just as easily have been used as props to illustrate how the Coalition vote has turned to caca.
Canavan and his shadow water minister, Riverina MP Michael McCormack, may have been genuine in expressing their outrage over water quality in the tiny town (population: barely 4000), but they and everyone else knew the real point of the media event.
How One Nation affects the Coalition going forward, particularly in light of the SA election result, was among the very first questions asked.
The Nats leader was obviously expecting it and had his lines ready to go.
“The South Australian election shows what we all know, that people are very frustrated with the political process. They’re frustrated with political parties,” he said.
“We’ve got to deliver for people. We’ve got to solve these types of issues for people, and so that’s why I’m concentrating on that now.
“But look, it also shows that politically, when the conservative vote splits, the only winner is Labor.
“There are no second prizes in politics. There’s only one winner and, on Saturday night, the winner was the Labor Party. I congratulate them, but I commiserate for myself and the country … So I’m not popping champagne corks over the result. I’ll let One Nation do their victory lap. But what I’m doing today is not doing a victory lap.
“What I’m doing with Michael is doing a lap around regional NSW … to find out what these issues are and getting on with the job of getting them solutions.”
Attention has now turned to the 9 May by-election for the federal seat of Farrer, left vacant with the resignation of former Liberal leader Sussan Ley.
The Libs desperately want to retain it. The Nats would like it back (it was once held by former Nationals leader and former deputy PM Tim Fischer). High-profile independents have put their hands up. One Nation can taste it.
Narrandera falls within the electorate, which is why its water quality is suddenly drawing attention.
The point of the media appearance, however, seemed very much to be a public plea to One Nation over preference deals.
One Nation didn’t preference the Liberals in the SA state election.
In federal seats – in the imminent by-election and the still distant next general election, at least one Coalition party wants One Nation’s favour.
“I’m absolutely certain we’ll be exchanging preferences with the Liberal Party as we always do, so I can say that,” the Nationals leader began when asked about preferences.
“In terms of other parties, look, I’m always happy to have discussions. But, it’s got to be a quid pro quo. I want to have the Labor government defeated.
“I hope that other parties like One Nation think the same. That’s why we should be working together on things like preferences, but it’s up to them.
“In the South Australian election, One Nation did not preference the Liberal Party, and that put a lot of seats into the Labor column.
“So, we’ll wait and see what One Nation’s priorities are for Farrer. But our priorities are very clear. We want a change of government, and I think to deliver a change of government, you need to vote for a party of an alternative government.
“One Nation has traditionally instead sought to target the seats that are already in the conservative column. And it’s a competition.
“There’s no problem with people challenging us. But the actual goal is to change seats from the left-wing column, the Labor column, over to the right. And that’s what I’m staying focused on doing.”
So there we have it. The Nationals are again (still) courting One Nation and those who would give the grievance party their first preferences in the ballot box.
Australians can expect to see more attempts at preference deals between One Nation and the Nationals (and maybe even the Liberals) before the next federal election.
And we will certainly see more Coalition policy positions attempting to mirror how Pauline Hanson has tapped into a big slice of the electorate.
Original Article published by Chris Johnson on Region Canberra.
