If I had legs I'd kick you

The eternal Hanson grift is given a new lease of life

Australia is not America but Pauline Hanson is. She makes Peter Dutton’s attempts to emulate Trumpism look like mere dalliance. Hanson is the real MAGA McCoy. As the push to establish her and her party as a viable Opposition gains momentum—and make no mistake, that is exactly what is happening—it’s worth remembering that Hanson would happily do to Australia what Trump is doing to America.

Illustration from a manuscript of Jörg Wilhalm Huter’s fight book showing a variation on the man-in-the-pit duels that were figured in various 15th-century manuscripts, ca. 1523.

Hanson’s admiration for Donald Trump extends well beyond rhetorical flourishes. It encompasses direct personal engagement, explicit praise, and systematic policy adoption. It would be unfair to accuse her of merely aping his policy positions because in many ways she predates him, just as John Howard did. On the One Nation website, she makes the same point: “Australian politics may differ from the United States landscape, but w…