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July 23, 2026
Senior Liberal conservative James Paterson says populism risks destroying the institutions underpinning Western civilisation and the Australian way of life, in a repudiation of Pauline Hanson and her One Nation movement.
As he laid out a path to shield Australia from the damage of populism from both the left and the right, Senator Paterson on Thursday night told universities that a Coalition government would be a “walk in the park” compared with more extreme parties that showed open contempt for experts.
Senator Paterson implored universities to open their doors to conservatives and classical liberals, and prioritise research in the national interest.
He also warned judges that they must get back in touch with the public, saying political outbursts from members of the judiciary and lenient sentences for criminals were undermining the nation’s confidence in law and order.
The opposition defence spokesman on Thursday night joined Liberal leader Angus Taylor in pushing back against the rise of One Nation and other populist right and left movements that have a “total lack of regard for our institutions”.
In a commencement address to the 2026 Ramsay Postgraduate Scholars before they head to Oxford and Harvard universities, Senator Paterson said populism was a “package deal” that tied understandable resentment about the economy and elites with radical policies and conspiracy theories.
While not naming One Nation or its leader by name and making it clear he was worried about populism across politics, Senator Paterson said a Hanson-esque government-imposed monoculture was alien to Australia and voters should be wary of “foreign concepts” of cultural uniformity.
Speaking at the NSW State Library in Sydney, Senator Paterson said: “The risk today is that understandable discontent with Australia’s recent economic performance – a solvable policy problem – is used as a vehicle to trash our political, legal and social institutions which have underpinned our progress, prosperity and harmony for centuries”.
“Australians struggling with the cost of living have not suddenly embraced conspiracy theories about chemtrails, the federal reserve, school shootings, 9/11 and pharmaceutical companies,” he said. “But populism is a package deal. Voting to express your reasonable frustrations with the established parties of government brings with it a lot of baggage.
“The danger is these anti-establishment parties don’t just mine grievance about poor economic performance. Whether on the populist left or right, they bring with them a much broader wagon of grudges and resentments.
“And they are most often defined by a total lack of regard for our institutions more broadly.”
Senator Paterson, who recently won the McKinnon Prize for federal political leader of the year, also called out the politicisation of high-profile legal cases, without naming Ben Roberts-Smith, who has been charged with the war crime of murder.
“I am gravely concerned about … the rule of law. One of the few things that separates a free and ordered society from domestic anarchy is the belief that a justice system will ensure wrongdoers are punished fairly,” he said.
“Decisions of our justice system are more routinely becoming sensationalised. As you know, there is a high-profile prosecution of a former Australian soldier before the courts, following allegations of war crimes. I have not ventured any opinion on the merits or otherwise of the case because, unlike some of my parliamentary colleagues, I do not want to run the risk of contempt of court.
“Nor should any of us want to do anything which undermines the presumption of innocence or a fair trial. But we have recently seen this case become so politicised – literally – that a photo of an accused person was displayed at polling booths as a tactic to generate votes. To say this is a regrettable trend would be a gross understatement.”
On the broader undermining of Western society, Senator Paterson said it was imperative to “address our economic underperformance to remove the main driver of populist discontent”. The Victorian senator also said the nation must “defend and, where necessary, reform the institutions of Western civilisation so they can survive this disrupted era to be passed on to future generations”.
“The reason why universities are not better funded and supported by our political system is because they have lost the broad social licence to sustain public support through the political cycle.
“And the reason for that is a significant proportion of society – particularly those who identify with the centre-right of the ideological spectrum – feel estranged from our system of higher education. Classical liberals and conservatives believe their perspectives are unwelcome, at least in the humanities departments at universities across Australia.”
Senator Paterson said universities must drive urgent reforms and “ensure there is a diversity of views, especially in their humanities faculties”. Universities must also “prioritise research in the national interest and tell the Australian people who ultimately fund it about this critical contribution”.
“If any other group in society was as under-represented among their faculty as conservatives and classical liberals, every university would establish a working group, hold a symposium, host an international conference, impose quotas or targets and launch a new scholarship to fix it.”
After Senator Hanson used a recent National Press Club address to endorse a “monoculture”, Senator Paterson said “two things can be true at the same time”.
“That Australia is a multicultural country. Also that it’s reasonable to disagree about whether the policies that underpin multiculturalism are working well, or not.”
“One thing that would be totally alien to our history and political culture would be a government-imposed monoculture. We should be very wary of those on the right who want to import foreign concepts of cultural uniformity.”
He said “moral relativism displayed by some on the left, who seem to believe the only distinctive feature of Australian culture is we have no culture at all, is not a recipe for a cohesive society”.
“I do not agree with those who argue that ‘diversity is our strength’. Diversity in and of itself is not a strength. There are many diverse countries today which are not strong at all. Our strength is that despite our diversity, we have generally been a harmonious and cohesive society.”
“This is thanks to pluralism. In an Australian context, that means we can – and should – insist on the respect for and adherence to shared Australian values as part of any successful embrace of multiculturalism.”
Senator Paterson said that included “respect for liberal democracy, the rule of law and the rights and freedoms of others – including religious liberty and freedom of speech”.
“If we don’t, we run the very serious risk of descending into a nation of tribes,” he said.
Senator Paterson also took aim at Confucius institutes, including one at Melbourne University that only recently closed after operating for 17 years.
“That institution was – charitably – a soft-power initiative by a foreign authoritarian government which has been accused by human rights groups and the UN of committing crimes against humanity in targeting ethnic and religious minorities.
“If anything has compromised the integrity and independence of Australian universities in recent decades, it has been their dependence on the People’s Republic of China, not a donation from a deceased Australian businessman (Paul Ramsay) whose foundation supports the study of great books.”