European immigrant voters are significantly more likely to vote for One Nation than those from other parts of the world, with the exception of South Africa, a new poll shows.
The Roy Morgan analysis, published on Tuesday, found that 36% of South African immigrants intended to vote for Pauline Hanson’s party, as did 30% of those from Italy, and 29% of those born in mainland Europe as a whole, compared to 25% of the Australian-born, and 24% of all voters.
The figures, drawn from interviewing conducted with a representative cross-section of 26,418 voters during the first seven months of the year, also showed that 24% of voters born in New Zealand, and 23% of those born in the United Kingdom, supported One Nation.
But voters born in other parts of the world were far less likely to support One Nation, with the party seeing the lowest support from mainland Chinese (5%), followed by Nepalese (6%), Pakistanis, Vietnamese and Sri Lankans (all 7%), and Indians (8%).
Of those from Asia as a whole, and the USA and Canada, just 9% would vote for One Nation, along with 10% of Malaysian-born voters, 11% of all Africans with South Africa excluded, 12% of those from Central and South America, 16% of those from the Philippines, and 17% of voters from the Middle East.
The analysis also found that Asian-born voters were more likely to support the two major parties than average, and that more support Labor than the Coalition.
Labor support was highest among immigrants from Vietnam (57%), Nepal (52%), Sri Lanka (49%), mainland China (46%), Pakistan (46%), Malaysia (44%), and India (43%), and lowest in the Philippines (38%) – all higher than the average of 38%.
Pakistani immigrants were the one exception when it came to major party support, with 32% intending to vote for far-left party The Greens – almost three times the average of 13%.
“This is likely due to prominent Greens Senator Mehreen Faruqi, the first Pakistan-born Australian elected to Federal Parliament,” the polling company stated.
Support for the Coalition was highest from voters born in mainland China (34%), India (33%), Nepal (30%), the Philippines (30%), Vietnam (29%), Malaysia (29%), and Sri Lanka (27%).
Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine noted support for One Nation was also high among voters from Greece and Israel, and said the stark differences between how immigrants from different countries vote had major implications for upcoming elections.
“The different voting intentions of electors depending upon where they are born is an important element for political parties to consider as we approach key State Elections in Victoria (November 2026), New South Wales (March 2027), and a Federal Election due to be held by September 2028,” she said.
One Nation unveiled a new immigration policy on Monday, promising net negative overseas migration for three years followed by a cap of 130,000, a 750,000 reduction in the number of temporary visa holders, the deportation of illegal immigrants, and a ban on 26 “do not travel” countries.
Header image: Left, right, Pauline Hanson with supporters (One Nation).
