They say she’s a racist and that she’s not prime ministerial. In what the media admit are its ‘gotcha stakes’, she wouldn’t know – and couldn’t care less – who the Lower Slobbovian Head of State is. I am referring, of course, to Pauline Hanson. I have known her for years, and as the republican movement’s declared ‘perma-tanned, Indonesian-born blown-in’, I can say, with considerable authority, that the lady is certainly not for racism.

As for not being prime ministerial, I cannot recall a contender for that high office who, just from her presence, has forced the other two patriotic parties – the Liberals and Nationals – to choose new leaders who – unlike their Labor-lite predecessors – have views closer to hers, views far more consistent with those of most patriotic Australians. Nor do I recall a contender, especially from a political party alleged to have no policies, whose policies have actually resulted in the Coalition and even Labor being forced to change theirs. The best example is concerning the Albanese government’s gross abuse of the immigration power, where even Labor is being forced by One Nation’s policy at least to pretend to change.

Meanwhile, burdened by a wasteful government making citizens poorer, leaving the country defenceless, lying about taxation changes, letting terrorists return, and abusing the immigration power for electoral purposes, Australians across the political spectrum, including the 16 per cent of intending One Nation voters YouGov found voted Labor at the last election, are increasingly realising there may well be a solution.

With Labor’s support declining, the latest DemosAU model suggests that if an election were held now, the patriotic parties—One Nation and the Coalition of Liberals and Nationals – could take 76 House seats. That will probably increase for the simple reason that from here on, it is hard not to see Labor’s support declining significantly. By the election, and if the Coalition concentrates on fighting Labor, they are poised to win a majority.

It’s clearly One Nation’s determination to free the ship of state from the barnacles accumulated through decades of elite rule that is driving support for change.

A current example is the scandalous handling of citizens who aligned themselves with Middle Eastern terrorism. The public record is stark. First, approximately 40 Australians from the Syria-Iraq conflict zone, including with associated with or who fought for Isis, were allowed back under the Coalition. Recently, at least 16 adult so-called ‘brides of Isis’ returned to Australia with their children. Now, approximately 13 Australian men detained in Baghdad face imminent release and are expected to seek to return to Australia

Claiming untruthfully against the evidence that it did not assist in the return of the ‘brides’, the Albanese government is hiding behind its claim, unsupported by published legal advice, that the High Court would strike down any attempt to block their return.

Not only are these returns a grave threat to national security; in covering necessary surveillance, they impose an astronomical burden on the taxpayer of up to $58 million every single year. While the major parties dithered and hid behind undisclosed legal advice, Senator Hanson has taken decisive parliamentary action. Her Protecting Australians from Foreign Terrorist Fighters Bill 2026 anticipates the High Court’s current application of the separation of powers doctrine by empowering the Federal Court to issue exclusion orders. It also strengthens terrorism bail laws and grants the minister explicit passport-cancellation powers, making it a serious offence to facilitate the return of foreign fighters.

Senator Hanson has refused to accept fear of the High Court as an excuse for legislative impotence. She recently persuaded the Senate to refer the bill to the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee, with its report due on 7 September. As she argues, if the law is stopping the government from protecting Australians, just change the law.

Pauline Hanson’s decisive leadership reflects a deeper truth. There is a widespread feeling among Australians that their country has been taken away from them, and that there is something fundamentally wrong with the way in which this country is governed. As Jai Martinkovits and I wrote in our 2014 book, Give Us Back Our Country, there is a solution.

This is to make governments accountable not only in elections confected by political preselections, but by making them accountable 24/7.

Little wonder that Australians are increasingly turning to One Nation because they realise that the God-given promise of Australia – to be among the wealthiest and most civilised countries in the world – is being squandered by the political class.

The surge in support for One Nation since the election has had a superb effect. First, it put steel into the Coalition parties, making them better reflect their membership by choosing conservative leaders and adopting policies supporters want.

Second, One Nation’s rise has also raised the potential of returning the House to doing something more useful than merely indicating who won the election. The fact is that the House now functions as a government rubber stamp between elections. One Nation’s rise encourages a future return of the House to the original intention of the Constitution: making the government of the day accountable on the floor of the House of Representatives.

Thus, responsible government will be restored.

Third, the surge of support has allowed One Nation to become a significant force for returning to the original intention of the framers of the Constitution to create a real and not a fake federation, which our Commonwealth now sadly is. In her plans to abandon federal-state duplication, Pauline Hanson shows that she is one of the few real federalists in politics today.

Fourth, while the Constitution was also intended to be supremely democratic, as the six self-governing colonies already were, a final step was never achieved.

Our Constitution was approved by the people through ten referendums. But soon after Federation, our democracy was hijacked by a rigid two-party system. With Labor introducing a Bolshevik-style centralised caucus control, responsible government, as we have seen, disappeared.

Above all, with One Nation’s commitment to Swiss-style citizen-initiated referendums triggered by petitions of the people – a mechanism championed over a century ago by progressive South Australian premier Charles Kingston – we can see the Australian people playing their full role in controlling the politicians instead of giving them a blank cheque every three years.

Australians will, by then, have truly taken back their country.