Labor elder Wayne Swan issues election warning amid rise of One Nation as ALP conference enters third day
Labor's stance on the Middle East conflict and AUKUS will dominate the final day of the party's national conference, as it is warned not to ignore One Nation.
Labor’s outgoing president has issued warnings about the threat of One Nation at the next election, as the party prepares to debate some of its most contentious issues.
The final day of Labor’s national conference in Adelaide will centre on foreign policy and defence, with delegates to thrash out a stance on the Middle East and AUKUS.
Former federal treasurer and party president Wayne Swan said One Nation and its leader Pauline Hanson represented the latest challenge for the party.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.“Let’s not kid ourselves, the stakes are high,” he said at a dinner on Friday night where he was awarded a Labor life membership.
“As our friends across the globe have found, authoritarians can emerge in a flash.
“There are polls now suggesting the tide may be turning on Hanson ... the tide has not turned. We are engaged in the battle.
“The money has not gone anywhere, it has only changed horses.”
The threat of Senator Hanson has dominated proceedings at Labor’s triennial conference, with One Nation outperforming the government on a primary vote in several opinion polls.
Mr Swan said the conservative mantle once taken up in his home state of Queensland by former premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen was now in the hands of Senator Hanson.
“In Queensland, we know the shape of this fight,” he said.
“It runs through the late 80s with Joh, the original Pauline Hanson. We stopped his caravan rolling to Canberra when it looked like it had unstoppable momentum.
“It finds its expression today in the fight against Hanson herself.”
Uncertainty remains whether motions about the party’s position on Palestine and Israel will be debated in full view.
Backbencher and former minister Ed Husic, who said people would agree Israeli policy towards Palestine represented an “apartheid”, is set to introduce a motion pushing for stronger criticism of Israel.
Israel’s embassy to Australia issued a statement criticising Labor’s stance on the Middle East ahead of the conference.
Maria Poulos from the Australian Palestine Advocacy Network said she was hopeful of motions being backed.
“A lot of delegates support that strengthened language, so we’re asking Labor to do the right thing,” she told reporters in Adelaide.
“This is the time for Labor to do the right thing by Palestine and by international law.”
