Australian right-wing leader Pauline Hanson says multiculturalism has failed
By Renju Jose
SYDNEY, June 17 (Reuters) - Australia cannot be a multicultural society and immigration policies have put the country in crisis, Pauline Hanson said on Wednesday, as the right-wing leader enjoys a surge in support for her One Nation party.
Hanson, whose policies have drawn comparisons to those of U.S. President Donald Trump, blamed the centre-left Labor government for "this immigration catastrophe", saying a recent influx of migrants had pushed up house prices, making it unaffordable for families.
"Undeniably, immigration or migration policy has our country in the state of crisis. At the centre of this crisis is the utterly flawed policy of multiculturalism," Hanson told the National Press Club in Canberra, in one of the veteran lawmaker's highest-profile speeches to date.
"We cannot be a multicultural society. We are a multiracial society. But we must be monocultural," she said, adding that she was gravely concerned about "radical Islam".
Almost one-third of Australia's 28 million population was born overseas, according to the Bureau of Statistics, double the proportion of the United States or France.
Hanson refused to start her speech with a customary acknowledgment of Australia's Indigenous communities, a practice she called "divisive".
A banner highlighting Hanson's opposition to pay rises for workers was unfurled behind her as she was speaking and was quickly removed by organisers, while protesters gathered outside.
One Nation, which wants to emulate President Trump's aggressive deportations in the U.S., proposes mandatory visa cancellation for criminal offenders, withdrawal from the U.N. Refugee Convention, tighter visa rules and a longer wait for Australian citizenship.
An opinion poll conducted for the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper on Monday showed Hanson had overtaken Prime Minister Anthony Albanese as Australians' first choice for the top role.
Founded in 1997, the party was long seen as fringe but Hanson's headline-grabbing comments and hard line on immigration have drawn more support, recent polls show.
Australian media have also compared One Nation's rise with Nigel Farage's Reform UK amid gains for right-wing parties globally. One Nation has polled ahead of both Labor and the conservative coalition opposition in some recent surveys, a sharp shift in a system long dominated by the two major parties.
Despite the gains, Australia's preferential voting still favours Labor, and some data suggest it would likely retain power if an election were held now. Under the system, votes are distributed until a winner is declared.
One Nation currently holds only one lower house seat, which it secured in a May by-election in the rural New South Wales seat of Farrer, defeating a conservative Liberal Party candidate in a historical stronghold for the coalition. The party has four of the 76 seats in the upper house Senate.
(Reporting by Renju Jose in Sydney; Editing by Alasdair Pal and Lincoln Feast.)