One Nation has built on the racism of its original anti-Asian platform by linking Australia’s secular society to its Christian origins and presenting Islam as incompatible with this way of life.
Populist politicians are on the march, first in Latin America, then in Europe and the US. They are on both the left and right, and their policies vary, but their approach carries the same risks.
The rise of left-wing populism challenges those who flatly denounced right-wing populism as undemocratic. Populism can appear as a democratic force in some contexts and anti-democratic in others.
It is widely predicted that far-right parties will be the big winners of the 2014 European elections. Some polls have even suggested that the French Front National, the Dutch Party for Freedom, the Austrian…
Elections for the European Parliament in the Netherlands have traditionally been described as either “dull” or “extremely dull”. They were overshadowed by national elections in 1989 and 1994, and in 1999…
One month to go until the 2014 European Parliament (EP) elections. The candidates have been chosen, the posters printed and the media interpretation of the results (probably) decided. “A wake-up call for…
The rise of the Tea Party in the US and the electoral success of both nationalist populists in Europe and the Abbott government in Australia demonstrates there are many parties with positions described…
News that an anti-Islam lobby group, the Q Society of Australia, plans to launch a political party to contest the next federal election should be cause for alarm. Based on the principles of Dutch MP Geert…
Like many others, including Christoph Blocher – the de facto leader of the Yes campaign – I was surprised by the result of Switzerland’s February 9 vote on stopping “mass immigration”. Polls suggested…
Dutch populist politician Geert Wilders sure knows how to attract controversy. He also really, really hates Islam. Here in Australia on a speaking tour organised by the anti-Islamic Q Society, Wilders…