The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, will use a speech at the second day of NSW’s Labor conference to attack what he says is a rightwing “axis of grievance” forming between the Liberals, Nationals and One Nation.
One Nation loomed over the first day of the 2026 NSW Labor conference, with the premier, Chris Minns, warning the party needs to “climb Everest” to stay in power amid the rising threat posed by Pauline Hanson’s party at next year’s state election.
In response to a federal Liberal frontbencher’s comment this week that her party might need a “rebrand” to win back voters, Albanese is expected to tell Labor delegates this morning:
double quotation markThe problem is not their [the Liberals] brand – it is their product. It is not their sales pitch – it is their policies. It is not what they call themselves – it is who they are. It is the race to the bottom that all three rightwing parties are caught up in. They are the axis of grievance. Each trying to be more anti-fairness, more anti-worker, more anti-aspiration.
This is why, for all the shifts in the landscape over the years, the fundamental contrast in Australian politics remains the same. Our opponents only ever define themselves by who and what they are against. We are defined by what we are for. By our enduring Australian values of fairness, aspiration and opportunity for all. And by what we do to give those values life and weight and meaning for all Australians.
