A majority of surveyed Australians approve of Pauline Hanson's leadership of One Nation, giving her a higher job approval rating than Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Opposition Leader Angus Taylor, according to the latest Guardian Essential poll. The poll also reveals that the rightwing populist party is outperforming the Coalition for the first time in primary votes.
Approval Ratings Breakdown
The poll, conducted last week among 1,067 Australians, found that 23% of respondents strongly approved of Hanson's performance as One Nation leader, while 29% said they approved. Only 11% disapproved and 23% strongly disapproved, resulting in a total of 52% approval and 34% disapproval.
Hanson's approval was positive across all age groups: 48% approval among 18–34-year-olds (35% disapproval), 50% among 35–54s (34% disapproval), and 58% among those aged 55 and over (34% disapproval). She also received strong support from men (56% approval, 34% disapproval) and women (49% approval, 35% disapproval).
Among political affiliations, 33% of Labor voters, 61% of Coalition voters, 21% of Greens voters, and 97% of One Nation voters approved of Hanson's leadership. Regionally, her highest approval was in Queensland (59% approval, 30% disapproval), followed by South Australia (53%–32%), New South Wales (52%–34%), and Victoria (50%–38%).
Comparison with Albanese and Taylor
In contrast, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese received 41% approval and 51% disapproval, with 10% strongly approving and 31% approving, while 22% disapproved and 29% strongly disapproved. Opposition Leader Angus Taylor had an evenly split rating: 34% approved (7% strongly, 28% approving) and 34% disapproved (21% disapproving, 13% strongly disapproving).
One Nation Surpasses Coalition
For the first time in the Essential poll, One Nation edged ahead of the Coalition on primary votes. Using Essential's 'primary plus' metric, Labor leads with 30%, One Nation is second with 25%, the Coalition has 24%, the Greens 11%, independents 5%, and 5% are undecided. This trend has been reflected in other polls, including Newspoll, since at least October.
Peter Lewis, executive director of Essential Media, stated: 'The One Nation vote remains high and for the first time we can see that it's more than 50 per cent of all voters approving of the job she is doing. Pauline Hanson's popularity is clearly a factor.'
Broader Economic Pessimism
The poll also highlighted widespread pessimism about Australia's direction. Fifty-four percent of respondents believe the country is 'on the wrong track,' while only 30% say it is 'heading in the right direction.' This marks a steady decline since mid-2025, with March showing 33% right direction and 53% wrong track, and February at 34% and 49% respectively.
Economic concerns are paramount: only 14% expect the economy to improve in the next six months, 55% expect it to worsen, and 31% expect no change. Lewis noted: 'There has been a sharp decline in confidence in the economy over the next six months as the impact of the Iran war bites.'
