18/06/2026
We thought about responding directly to Pauline Hanson’s National Press Club address, but honestly, she is not worthy.
What is worth our time are the women in her crowd, quietly wondering whether One Nation might be the answer.
So here it goes.
To the women of One Nation:
We are probably more alike than Pauline wants us to believe.
We are angry too, angry about rent, groceries, insecure work, kids who cannot afford homes, parents waiting for care, disabled children treated like paperwork, women being murdered, and a country that underpays us, underprotects us, undervalues us, then tells us to calm down.
So yes, we understand the anger.
But Pauline is selling a dodgy miracle product: shampoo, oven cleaner and national rescue plan in one bottle.
And the product is blame.
She tells you multiculturalism is the problem, but multicultural Australia is in your home, workplace, hospital, school, aged-care centre and neighbourhood.
She attacks abortion rights, but pregnancy is healthcare, poverty, violence, choice, survival and sometimes devastating medical news.
She talks about NDIS “rorts”, but women are the ones caring for disabled kids and ageing parents, begging systems to see their love ones as human.
She denies the gender pay gap, questions women’s domestic violence claims, and once said women would “get themselves pregnant” for paid parental leave.
That is a politician who suspects women when we need support.
Pauline is what the system uses to protect the real culprits: corporate landlords, billionaire influence, wage suppression, fossil fuel donors and political cowardice.
Your anger is real, but Pauline’s answer is dangerous. She turns women’s pain into someone else’s punishment.
We are not asking you to stop being angry.
We are asking you to aim your anger accurately.
Tax billionaires, build public housing, raise wages, fund women’s safety, protect healthcare.
And for the love of every tired woman holding this country together: do not vote racist.
📸: Mick TsikasThe Canberra Times.
Art: Mums4refugees
