Politics with Michelle Grattan: Sarah Hanson-Young on why progressives need to ‘take on’ One Nation

Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young. Mick Tsikas/AAP Published: September 2, 2026 11:10pm EDT First elected to parliament in 2007 at the age of 25, Sarah Hanson-Young is now the Greens’ longest serving federal politician. Asked to compare this current term to the Albanese government’s first three years in power, Hanson-Young said the Greens had been busier negotiating with the government. She said new Greens’ leader Larissa Waters’ philosophy was to “get stuff done”. In the current Senate, the government is forced to deal with either the Coalition or the Greens to get legislation through. But when the government recently passed its gambling and National Disability Insurance Scheme reforms, they chose the Coalition over the Greens, much to the minor party’s frustration. To discuss the Greens’ view of how they’re travelling halfway through this term, Hanson-Young – currently the party’s arts, communications, environment and water spokesperson – joined The Conversation’s politics podcast. I’ve been doing this some time now. And you know each prime minister is different, but every term is even different for each prime minister. And how the prime minister of the day interacts with the Senate, particularly at a time [when] we obviously have balance of power in the Senate. This term we have had to spend a lot of time in negotiations. That wasn’t the case last time […] we weren’t in sole balance of power then. […] I think [Larissa Waters’] approach to things […] is she wants to get stuff done. She said that from the beginning. And she wants to do that and we are doing that. But we also have to stay true to our values and that means standing up for people who are finding it pretty tough and pretty rough right now. Especially when the government makes excuses for not doing things. On gambling reform Hanson-Young said vested interests had won out on gambling reform for now, but the push for greater reform will only get stronger due to public pressure – especially hearing the stories of “regular Australians who are hurting and have suffered” because of gambling addictions. Let’s be really honest. Anthony Albanese never wanted to do this. He’s been dragged kicking and screaming to have to look like he’s doing something, because the vested interests are clearly at the core of this for the Labor government. They’ve got their claws into Labor and the Liberal Party. And the passage of that legislation – I mean, it is so poor. It is going to be so useless. It’s all window dressing. […] The vast majority of the community wanted to see those [gambling] ads gone. Whether they gamble or not, they wanted to see those ads gone and they’re not going to be gone. So the clamour and the fight is going to continue. And I know just so many people are disappointed that the Labor Party did not have the spine to take on the vested interests in that space. On voter disillusionment Hanson-Young said Australia was politically “fracturing all over the place”, forcing all politicians to work harder to engaged with voters. People are angry, people are frustrated. [The] cost-of-living crisis is having an impact and particularly on the most vulnerable. People are looking around and they’re saying ‘this system isn’t working for us’. The political system that we were told to believe in and had experienced now is just not working for them. It’s certainly working for some people; it’s working for the big corporations, it’s working for the vested interests. […] And I think what’s happening is that there is a frustration of people, not just that the system’s not working when they need it the most, but then they’re hearing from government all these excuses about why the system can’t be fixed. And I that’s a big driver of the discontent. […] I think over the next 12 months, we are going to see a large number of Australians look at the major parties and go, ‘that’s not for us’. Some of them are already […] being picked up by One Nation. But those who actually want a kinder, fairer Australia are going be looking at the Greens. On One Nation’s rise Hanson-Young argued One Nation – which has risen in popularity to challenge to both the Coalition and Labor in the polls – is more than just a threat to the major parties. The Greens’ vote is actually up. So I don’t think One Nation is a threat to our [Greens’] Senate seats. But […] One Nation is a threat to the type of nation we want to be. And I say that without apology. […] There is real grievance out there, that is absolutely true. But Pauline Hanson isn’t dealing with the grievances […] She’s one of the savviest, trickiest politicians in this place and pretends otherwise. She punches down on people, she punches down on Indigenous communities, she punches down on migrants, she punches down on single parents and single mums, she punches down on gay and lesbian Australians – and then has the gall to turn around and complain when she gets called out. I think there is […] a kind of hand-wringing from some in progressive quarters to say, ‘oh, we can’t take her on’. Well, I just say rubbish. She has to be called out and taken on. Her voters, and those who are looking at One Nation because they’re frustrated with the system, their grievances are real. But Pauline Hanson is a phoney. Want to write? Write an article and join a growing community of more than 232,400 academics and researchers from 5,606 institutions. Register now