Labor hears battle cry against "far right populists"

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese delivered a speech at the Queensland Labor conference, warning against the rise of far-right populists and their potential threat to democracy. He accused hard-right parties like One Nation of peddling dangerous, divisive, and dishonest politics, and urged his party to defeat them for the sake of history.

Albanese criticized One Nation's policies, which he claimed included blaming Australians for being lazy and overpaid, and suggesting that domestic violence victims were partly to blame. He highlighted the party's previous success in Queensland in 1998, only to fall apart shortly after. Albanese argued that One Nation's coalition with the Liberal National Party (LNP) would be unstable, as they could not govern without each other.

He encouraged voters to seek hope and optimism for the future, rather than focusing on grievances, and pledged to be the party of progress and aspiration for all Australians.