I went looking for One Nation’s policies. Here’s what I didn’t find

Ever wondered what’s behind the surge in the One Nation vote? Me too, so I decided to check it out.

Sure, I can get a million political analysts telling me voters are looking for an alternative, that they feel abandoned by the major parties. And even that voters are irritated by how ineffective our political parties are.

But I’m going to assume that in the end we are also looking for a political party which has policies in the areas we all desperately care about, when we aren’t responding to dog whistles about immigration. I went in search of those One Nation policies which might inspire my countrywomen and men to abandon their usual loyalties, to give up their allegiances to the red and the blue.

And what did I find? Nothing. I found nothing useful at all.

Sure, you can’t judge a party by its website – but it’s not a bad place to start. If I’m thinking about all the somethings which might make me vote a particular way, here are my top three; health, education, welfare. We don’t all have the same vibes though, nor are we all at my age and stage. What do researchers say we care about most when it comes to voting?

Number one at the 2025 election, according to the Australian Election Study (AES); cost of living. Then, in order, health and Medicare bound together; management of the economy, taxation, housing affordability and immigration trailing in sixth place. How do I know about those rankings? They are Ian McAllister’s speciality. He’s the co-director of the AES, which surveys political opinion after each election. Over 40 years, there has been one constant non-economic issue topping our election concerns – health. Management of the economy matters to all of us – and at the last election, Labor took over from the Coalition as having the preferred party policy on that crucial issue. Mind you, one-quarter of voters think it makes no difference who is in charge.

So what I found on One Nation’s site was shocking. Australian governments allocate nearly $200 billion to health expenditure. One Nation’s sum total health policy as outlined on its website, unless you count marijuana? Sixty-five words. That’s one word for every $3 billion of our money.

No mention of hospital funding. No mention of Medicare. A tiny nod to the challenges faced by our regional health workforce. Huuuge attention to medical cannabis but, um, no mention I could see of mental health nor of women’s health. Oops, I forgot the three videos on that health link. Oops, they have not much to do with health either. Oopsies all round.

I called two prolific One Nation researchers. They were