Canavan: One Nation can't stay on same page with just six MPs

Queensland Senator Matt Canavan has taken aim at One Nation's policy credibility, saying the minor party cannot maintain a consistent position even with only six members of parliament — as he makes the case that the Nationals remain the authentic voice for regional Australia.

Canavan, who was elected Nationals leader on a platform of directly challenging One Nation's growing support base, told 4BC Radio the cracks were already showing in Pauline Hanson's operation. He said at last week's Bush Summit, he sat beside Hanson and watched her outline three separate migration policies within the space of three minutes.

"One Nation now with six members of parliament can't seem to keep on the same page," Canavan said. "They just got six. They're half a dozen. And their migration policy is a complete mess."

The senator, a former Resources Minister and once Barnaby Joyce's closest political ally, is navigating a delicate balancing act. Joyce — now a One Nation MP — has been drawing on his Nationals record to build his new party's credentials in the bush, pointing to major infrastructure wins like the Rookwood Weir in Central Queensland as proof of his regional legacy.

Canavan pushed back on that framing, recalling a heated disagreement with Joyce over funding for the project. "I remember having a massive shouting match with him once when that wasn't going to be funded. Eventually I convinced him that it should be," he said, before acknowledging Joyce did ultimately deliver the water storage project under the Coalition government.

Rather than wage a direct war on One Nation, Canavan is betting his "hyper Australia" pitch can win back disaffected voters. The platform centres on scrapping net zero emissions targets, cutting taxes — including indexing tax brackets to inflation — slashing migration and ending what he calls the demonisation of coal, oil and gas.

"We should be the richest nation in the world with all the resources, the energy, the farms we have," Canavan said. "We should be going gangbusters, and we're not."

He described the Albanese government as one that has "doubled down on failure" and dismissed its energy transition agenda as the central driver of cost-of-living pressures. Canavan said his policy program — cheaper energy, lower taxes and reduced migration — was the only credible pathway to lifting living standards for everyday Australians.

The senator pointed to grassroots enthusiasm as evidence the Nationals can still compete for voters currently flirting with One Nation. He held a packed community forum in Trangie, a small town about an hour west of Dubbo, after the Bush Summit, drawing more than 100 residents.

"I'll freely admit that a good half of those — maybe even more — would be answering One Nation in the polls right now," he said. "But they are still listening."

Canavan said his approach was straightforward: get out into regional communities, answer questions and make the case that the Nationals, not One Nation, can deliver real policy change from a position of genuine power in government.