Students in Canberra, Australia, staged a protest on Thursday against the One Nation party led by Pauline Hanson. The demonstration, titled ‘Students Say No to Hanson,’ was organized by anti-capitalist high school students at Garema Place from 1 PM to 3 PM. The protest was sparked by One Nation’s recent announcement of a net-negative migration plan aimed at reducing temporary visas by over 750,000 within the next three years.
This protest on September 17 served as the second phase of the student movement that began on August 13. Earlier in August, high school and university students had left their classes to protest against One Nation and Hanson’s policies in cities including Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane. According to reports, hundreds of students participated in those demonstrations in each major city. This time, protests also took place in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Darwin, and Hobart.
According to reports, over a thousand students joined the protest in Sydney, where demonstrators voiced strong opposition to Hanson’s immigration proposals. Hundreds were also present in Melbourne. On September 14, One Nation unveiled its net-negative migration plan, which aims to cut over 750,000 temporary visas in the coming three years and forms the core of the party’s immigration policy.
The Thursday protest saw student participants condemning One Nation’s immigration, multicultural, and social policies. Following the August demonstrations, this latest protest was organized at the call of the National Union of Students and various student groups. In some locations, tensions escalated between One Nation supporters and protesters, prompting police intervention.
