Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has brushed off an opinion poll showing Pauline Hanson as preferred prime minister – declaring Labor is the only ‘serious’ party of government.
Speaking in Canberra on Monday, Albanese took a more cautious tone than last week’s scathing attack on the One Nation leader, claiming: ‘I talk about what I’m doing to deliver for Australians, and don’t engage in the sort of personalised politics that we are seeing’.
His comments follow the latest Resolve Political Monitor, released Sunday, which put Hanson ahead as preferred prime minister on 33 per cent, compared to Albanese on 29 per cent and Liberal leader Angus Taylor on 16 per cent, with 22 per cent undecided.
The same polling showed One Nation edging ahead on the primary vote with 29 per cent, narrowly in front of Labor on 28 per cent, while the Coalition slumped to a record low of 20 per cent.
Hanson’s rise has been amplified by an aggressive fundraising push, with One Nation’s ‘Fire the Liar’ campaign raising more than $4 million since launching last week.
Despite the numbers, Albanese dismissed opinion polling as a poor predictor of election outcomes, pointing to Labor’s victory at the May 2025 federal election as coming after months of surveys showing the ALP behind Peter Dutton‘s Opposition.
‘If you go back, some of you reported some things in February 2025, I encourage you to go and have a look and see how that stood up to the test of time when people had to make a decision about who is in the best position to actually provide effective government,’ he said.
Anthony Albanese (pictured) said that he would not focus on ‘personalised politics’
Rather than focusing on Hanson directly, Albanese pivoted to Labor’s policy agenda, particularly its response to cost-of-living pressures.
‘What I’m doing here is building homes for Australians. What I’m doing is delivering cheaper medicines. What I’m doing is opening urgent care clinics, now all 137 right around the country,’ he said.
He argued that voters were ultimately more concerned with outcomes than political grievance.
‘It’s easy to identify grievance. The issue is providing solutions,’ he said.
Albanese also slammed his opponents’ record in parliament, claiming they had opposed key economic measures, including wage increases.
‘We’ve increased the minimum wage every year that I’ve been Prime Minister, all of which has been opposed by the three right-wing parties in our Parliament,’ he said, referring to the Liberals, Nationals and One Nation.
The Prime Minister framed his government as one focused on governing for the entire country, not just specific voter blocs, amid growing fragmentation in the electorate.
‘We want to represent the interests of all Australians, whether they’re Labor supporters, Coalition supporters, Greens supporters, One Nation supporters,’ he said.
Pauline Hanson (pictured) leads Anthony Albanese as preferred PM in a recent opinion poll
What does Pauline Hanson’s surge say about what Australians want from their leaders today?
‘We seek to bring Australians together in a united way. We’ll leave others to seek to divide Australians and pit Australians against each other. That’s not my method.’
Albanese’s tone has shifted since last week, when he questioned whether Hanson was being truthful about how much money she had raised: ‘Did she, did she though? What evidence is there?’
Albanese also emphasised Labor’s outreach in regional Australia, where One Nation has traditionally performed strongly and is expected to benefit most from shifting voter sentiment.
‘We continue to engage in regional Australia, in urban Australia, everywhere,’ he said.
Despite the political challenge posed by Hanson’s surge, Albanese insisted that elections are ultimately decided on competence and delivery rather than momentum in opinion polls.
‘That’s what serious political parties of government are able to achieve when they’re focused on the needs of the Australian people,’ he said.
