South Australia, Farrer, and the latest opinion polling have put One Nation ahead of any third force in Australian politics in the past 80 years, even the Greens and the Democrats, let alone the Australia Party, the United Australia Party, the Centre Alliance, or the Nuclear Disarmament Party all of which have had parliamentary representation.
It is tectonic that a minor party is now polling higher than one or even both major parties. We have less than two years to see how it will play out in a federal election and how well Australia's institutions, especially the Parliament, the media, and the political parties themselves can cope.
It is especially important because One Nation regularly displays destructive Trumpian characteristics, such as accepting expensive aircraft as donations; accepting other large donations from the big end of town; prattling off ill-thought-out xenophobic and nativist policies; swinging between inconsistencies with impunity; ignoring valid criticism; attacking norms; and so on.
