Wayne Swan likens Hanson to Trump and says Labor must stop One Nation’s ‘dark, dystopic picture of the future’

Wayne Swan in 2023. Swan told Labor’s national executive on Friday ‘we will not shrug our shoulders’ as he discussed the threat of One Nation. Photograph: Jono Searle/AAP View image in fullscreen Wayne Swan in 2023. Swan told Labor’s national executive on Friday ‘we will not shrug our shoulders’ as he discussed the threat of One Nation. Photograph: Jono Searle/AAP Wayne Swan likens Hanson to Trump and says Labor must stop One Nation’s ‘dark, dystopic picture of the future’ Australian Labor Party president says authoritarian trends must not be ‘normalised’ in Australia Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Labor must not allow increasingly authoritarian trends in Australian politics to become “normalised”, ALP president Wayne Swan has warned, likening Pauline Hanson’s attacks on multiculturalism and journalists to Donald Trump’s hostile takeover of American civic life. “A toxic seed blooms into a garden of noxious weeds when we stop gardening,” the former treasurer said on Friday. Swan told a meeting of Labor’s national executive the party needed to resist One Nation at the next election like it did the former opposition leader, Peter Dutton, at the 2025 poll, preventing “a dark, dystopic picture of the future” becoming a reality. “People shrug. It gets normalised. Then it gets implemented. Then it just exists,” he said. “Now we can see the true nature of the threat we all face and we will not let it become the new normal. We will not shrug our shoulders. “We have seen overseas that it is harder to resist this dark brand of politics after it has taken root. Ask our friends across the Pacific. In cities like Minneapolis and Chicago, where they have seen the national guard deployed against their own people.” Ahead of handing over the Labor presidency at next month’s national conference, Swan said Hanson’s plans to shutdown SBS and move the ABC to a subscription model, and her push for Australia to be a “monoculture” were ominous. “This was all bad enough. And then she revealed her true colours when the culture war camouflage faded and the billionaire agenda of her patron, Gina Rinehart came to the fore. “Hanson said wage rises had gone too far. She said it was too hard for a boss to sack a worker. That the gender pay gap wasn’t real. “This is the thread that connects Rinehart, Hanson and Trump. Inequality lowers living standards. It poisons society. And then the power of big money threatens democracy itself.” Swan said Labor’s membership had dropped from almost 57,000 people in 2022 to about 51,500 in 2024, describing the current target of 65,000 members by 2029 as essential. Swan is due to be succeeded as ALP president by former Gillard government minister Kate Ellis in July. The major parties are grappling with how to push back on Hanson’s surge in support, with polling showing One Nation ahead of Labor and the Coalition on primary votes, and Hanson even leading as preferred prime minister. Hanson has struggled to define her plans to replace multiculturalism and attacked journalists for asking for an explanation in Canberra this week. The NSW Labor premier, Chris Minns, told ABC radio on Friday Hanson’s prescriptions for the country were “bullshit”. “I saw her on radio the other day saying ‘we don’t want sharia law, we don’t want multiple marriages, we don’t want gangs with machetes’, as if, if you support multiculturalism, you must be for sharia law. “That’s complete garbage. It’s the sort of bullshit she’s been peddling for some time and it’s just not true.” Minns called for Labor to “get in the ring” and fight for the success of modern, multicultural Australia. Explore more on these topics Labor party Wayne Swan Pauline Hanson Angus Taylor Australian politics news Share Reuse this content