Barnaby Joyce is in advanced talks to defect from the Nationals to Pauline Hanson’s One Nation party.

Joyce, who represents the NSW regional electorate of New England, declined to comment when asked if he would change parties.

Hanson did not deny the ongoing discussions when asked by this masthead on Friday afternoon.

“If Barnaby wants to come to One Nation, I’d be happy to have him,” she said, also suggesting other MPs in the Coalition who were disaffected could join her party. [...]

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[–] Ilandar@lemmy.today 4 points 1 week ago (1 children)

It's surging because the Coalition vote is collapsing.

[–] HalfEarthMedic@slrpnk.net 4 points 1 week ago (1 children)

This is exactly the point that a lot of the mainstream media are missing in their coverage.

There are exactly as many weird racist cranks voting as there always was but they are abandoning the Liberal party party for One Nation. At the same time centrist voters are abandoning the Liberals for Labor. The overall political shift is to the left, not the right and what remains of the right is more extreme and less credible.

[–] Ilandar@lemmy.today 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

According to RedBridge, the biggest shift to One Nation is among Gen X men. Kinda interesting because I already associated that demographic with cooker culture and now they seem to be making the shift to cooker politics as well.

[–] HalfEarthMedic@slrpnk.net 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

That's interesting and counterintuitive to me, although it fits with a lot of the commentary around right wing politics. I have quite a few Gen X male friends.

As I'm laying in bed a bit tired and trying to organize my thoughts about this I have to remind myself that it can both be true that the biggest shift to One Nation is Gen X men, and that most Gen X men are kind and reasonable people who don't vote for One Nation.

I wonder how much is a conservative shift with age as that group enters their 50s.

[–] Ilandar@lemmy.today 2 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Yes, I've wondered exactly the same. Will that be millennials like me (not actually me though lol) in another decade? Again, a lot of the polling so far suggests that us and zoomers move to the right slower than previous generations, but we are still young enough for a big shift later in life. I do feel like there is a certain age at which men often become quite grouchy and stubborn, which are conditions that can lead them down the right wing populist rabbit hole.

[–] HalfEarthMedic@slrpnk.net 2 points 6 days ago

FWIW I don't think anyone actually moves to the right as they age. I think that a certain type of person is unwilling to move forward as the world does.

Someone who came of age in the 90s lived in a world where casual racism and sexism was more acceptable, being suspicious of the gays was fairly normal, transgender rights were unheard of, and the people with solar panels and electric cars really were eccentric cranks. If you were a fairly unenlightened but middle of the road person then and are offended by having your fixed views challenged then you're a right wing crank now.

If you have even a remotely open mind then you'll be okay.