The rise of women within populist-right politics complicates assumptions about representation, showing that putting women in positions of power does not determine the politics or values they will pursue.

For some time now, I’ve been writing about the need for more women in the rooms where decisions about war, peace, security and our future are shaped. I’ve argued that women need to be part of these strategic conversations because our experiences, perspectives and understanding of risk and security can be different. Decisions made without women at the table inevitably leave something important out.

What’s changed for me is that watching the rise of women within populist and radical-right politics has made the argument more complicated and, I think, much more interesting.

The numbers in Australia alone make it difficult to dismiss what’s happening as a fringe phenomenon. In April this year, RedBridge and Accent Research found that 28 per cent of Australian women voters nominated One Nation as their first preference for the House of Representatives, compared with just 9 per cent in June 2025. The Coalition’s support among women had fallen from 30 per cent to 22 per cent over the same period. The movement wasn’t confined to women, with dissatisfaction with the major parties, the cost of living and immigration featuring strongly across genders.

By September, polling had become more mixed, but Pauline Hanson and One Nation had moved well beyond the political margins, including winning a lower-house seat in Western Australia this year.

What interests me most is the response I hear from some women when I talk about Pauline Hanson. It isn’t simply an endorsement of every policy she represents, or necessarily a declaration that these women identify with the far right.

The phrase I keep hearing is much more revealing: “She’s saying something I have never made public before.”

There’s something important contained in those words because they speak to recognition before ideology.

A woman can hear someone articulate an anger, frustration, fear or sense........

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