CANBERRA, June 25 — Pauline Hanson is finding that more attention doesn’t always mean more influence. The One Nation leader has been making a visible push in recent months, including a press conference in February 2025 where she outlined a plan to let parents split their income for tax purposes. But here’s the moment that tells the real story: after she finished her speech and asked if there were any questions, she was met with silence.
No reporters had shown up. It’s a striking image of where Hanson’s party sits in the current media and political landscape.
The senator has certainly increased her public visibility — she’s been out front on various campaigns, including one to “fire the liar” — but that hasn’t translated into the kind of press corps attention that typically signals political relevance. Think of it like a store that’s put up a big new sign but still has empty aisles. The foot traffic isn’t following.
The practical upshot for One Nation is that visibility and scrutiny are two different things. Hanson is getting more of the former, but the latter — the daily grind of reporters covering your every move, asking follow-ups, holding you accountable — that’s been harder to come by.
In plain terms, it’s tough to shape the national conversation when nobody’s in the room to write down what you said. This dynamic matters because the media landscape itself is shifting. Traditional newsrooms are stretched thinner than ever, and political coverage increasingly prioritises the major parties and the most immediate horse-race stories.
Minor party figures can generate viral moments online but struggle to command the kind of sustained, in-person coverage that used to be standard. For Hanson, that means her message reaches supporters directly through social media and her own channels, but the filter of independent journalism — the questions, the fact-checking, the context — is often absent. That cuts both ways: less scrutiny, but also less amplification.
What to watch next is whether Hanson can translate her visibility into actual leverage. The February 2025 moment — a press conference with no press — suggests that the gap between being seen and being heard is wider than ever.
