Is One Nation the worker’s friend? Or a fully owned subsidiary of Gina Rinehart, as Jim Chalmers suggested?

There is a right-wing populist surge across the world - in the US (MAGA), UK, Italy, France, Germany and Australia.

There is a common feature in this surge. Many people feel that they have been ’left behind’ by wealthy elites, and the failure of mainstream political parties like the Liberal Party and the ALP. ‘The system is working for them but not us!’ They have channelled this ’left behind’ resentment by supporting populist leaders, who tap into their resentment, but offer them little to address their real concerns.

They are being misled.

Much of the populist language, that plays into this resentment, blames migrants, Asians and Muslims. Who could forget Pauline Hanson’s “How can you tell me there are good Muslims?” comment

It is a common feature of the human condition that the outsider can so easily be made a scapegoat. And that is what One Nation is doing.

Populous leaders are invariably funded by wealthy private and corporate interests. As a result, these populist ’leaders’ espouse policies that serve the interests of their wealthy donors, rather than working people and voters they attract. That is the story of One Nation. The structural power of capital now runs most western societies. One Nation is a useful cog in........

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