Why Bill Shorten should be thanking Pauline Hanson

BILL Shorten was happily handing out the thank yous last night but he missed the one person who helped him push the Turnbull government to the brink.

Pauline Hanson made Bill Shorten not just look good, but heroic. Picture Kym Smith

OPINION

BILL Shorten had a happy list of thank yous to hand out last night, but he missed one. The jubilant Labor leader did not thank Pauline Hanson.

The battalions of Hanson followers helped Labor give Malcolm Turnbull’s Liberals a thrashing and make Mr Shorten not just look good, but heroic.

The great and grumpy rump of the electorate wanted to hurt the Turnbull government and didn’t mind if Labor was the collateral beneficiary.

Mrs Hanson is a political wind-up doll. She is a policy dolt and a self-absorbed poser. But she is a welcoming destination for the sullen and estranged section of the electorate which feels the “old parties” are not just refusing to listen to them, but are using them as cannon fodder in battles to protect the interests of others.

They sent their preference votes to Labor rather than the Government, particularly in Queensland and NSW.

Pauline Hanson is a welcoming destination for the sullen and estranged section of the electorate. Picture: AAP Image/Dan Peled

The Hanson hordes did more than scare Liberals. Government’s assistant minister for innovation Wyatt Roy has lost his seat of Longman where the One Nation vote was about nine per cent.

Liberal Ewan Jones lost the North Queensland seat of Herbert, where the One Nation primary tally was about 13.5 per cent.

By winning about eight per cent of the vote broadly, Mrs Hanson’s people could not win House of Representatives seats in her name, but they could influence who did.

This didn’t happen everywhere. The Medicare issue was critical in Tasmania, for example, where Hanson’s One Nation had no profile.

Mrs Hanson’s impact should not detract from Mr Shorten’s disciplined and cleverly crafted campaign, and the planning by ALP national secretary George Wright. Both men deserve their party’s applause.

Mr Shorten was given that applause last night when he told ALP supporters Malcolm Turnbull had no mandate to claim, a hint an energised Shorten Opposition would harass and disrupt.

Bill Shorten was joined on election night by his wife Chloe and children Rupert and Georgette and cousin Alexandra (left). Picture: Stuart McEvoy for The Australian

By contrast, Mr Turnbull’s 12.20am appearance was de-energised, the performance of a man uncomfortable with and mystified by his plight.

Mr Turnbull made a bleak attempt to pretend his government would prevail and appeared to blame skulduggery by Labor with fake Medicare texts for the Liberal collapse.

There was no acknowledgment of his own part in his own problems. And again, no mention of Hansonism.

In an ironic twist, Mrs Hanson’s victory was partly due to the Senate voting reforms introduced by the Turnbull Government which made it harder for micro parties to be elected based on backroom preference deals. This meant candidates who got a higher primary vote — like Hanson — were more likely to get a spot.

If Mr Turnbull heads a government with a tiny majority he must find a way to make contact with the ranks of the disillusioned who went for One Nation. Mr Shorten must, too.

Otherwise, there is the threat of deeper divisions in Australia and even a dangerous fragmentation of political communities at a time when stability and cohesion are needed.