Political attitudes, policies and the radical right: has the emergence of a radical right party mainstreamed radical right discourse and attitudes in Australia?

Populist radical right parties continue to establish themselves as credible options within the party systems of liberal democracies across the globe. Whilst a radical right party has not penetrated the Australian political system as successfully or as consistently as has been seen in Western Europe, we are also not immune to their appeal. The emergence of Pauline Hanson in 1996 is indicative of this and her rhetoric and policies were seen as prototypical of the radical right. Despite the rapid disintegration of the One Nation Party, the underlying grievances and insecurities that Hanson tapped into continued to fester beneath the surface. Her successful re-emergence and election as a senator in 2016 have once again sparked debate surrounding race and identity within Australian society. This thesis therefore seeks to investigate the role that the emergence and re-emergence of a radical right party such as Pauline Hanson’s One Nation has had on the Australian mainstream. Has the presence of a radical right party resulted in a lunge to the right? Or, as suggested by some scholars, has it had little impact at all? An examination of change and continuity in the policies of political parties as well as in the political attitudes of voters will underpin the analysis of this phenomenon.