The world discovers Pauline, thirty years late

SMH · Staff reporter · Monday 11 May 2026

The world discovers Pauline, thirty years late

Foreign media frame Hanson as Australia's Farage. She's been running the same act since 1996 — the world's only noticing now because populism finally has a global distribution deal.

The foreign press has discovered Pauline and decided she's our Farage, which is flattering to Farage. Hanson's been doing this routine since Howard was still pretending not to know her — the world's just caught up because populism's now a global franchise with branded merchandise. We exported the wool, the iron ore, and apparently the template.

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