--- title: "Students protest across Australia against Pauline Hanson and One Nation" publication: "MediaBias News" url: "https://mediabias.news/politics/students-protest-across-australia-against-pauline-hanson-and-one-nation" api: "https://mediabias.news/api/v1/stories/students-protest-across-australia-against-pauline-hanson-and-one-nation" markdown: "https://mediabias.news/politics/students-protest-across-australia-against-pauline-hanson-and-one-nation.md" audio: "https://mediabias.news/api/audio/students-protest-across-australia-against-pauline-hanson-and-one-nation" category: "Politics" area: "Asia-Pacific" published: "2026-08-13T14:26:40.898Z" source_reported: "2026-08-13T09:20:11.000Z" updated: "2026-08-13T14:26:40.898Z" trust_score: 70 critic_score: 85 hype_score: 25 assessment_type: "coverage-and-source-reporting-analysis" fact_check_status: "not-performed" coverage_measured: "2026-08-13T15:15:50.201913+00:00" --- # Students protest across Australia against Pauline Hanson and One Nation *Thousands walked out of school in major cities to oppose One Nation policies and what they called racism* **Scores for the source reporting** (0-100, assessing the original journalism this article was written from, not this write-up): - Trust 70 of 100, higher is better. Multiple independent outlets name participants and police presence, giving corroborated facts and named sources. - Craft 85 of 100, higher is better. Quotes from students and Hanson, specific numbers and locations, and mention of future strike show solid reporting. - Hype 25 of 100, lower is better. Headlines are factual; language reflects protest content without exaggeration. Scored by MediaBias News; method at https://mediabias.news/methodology. **The short version** - Students in at least eight cities walked out of school to protest against Pauline Hanson and One Nation on 13 August 2026. - The largest gatherings were in Perth and Melbourne, where organisers said more than a thousand students assembled in each city. - Pauline Hanson responded by saying schools should teach students "how to think, not what to think" and criticised the Labor Greens government. - The National Union of Students helped organise the protests, which included chants and marches through city centres. Students across Australia walked out of school on 13 August 2026 to protest against Pauline Hanson and her One Nation party. The largest gatherings were in Perth and Melbourne, where organisers said crowds filled public squares. Protesters carried signs and chanted slogans opposing racism and far-right policies. The protests were organised by student groups, including the National Union of Students and Students for Palestine. In Perth, an organiser who identified herself as Leila told the crowd she was protesting against capitalism, war and Hanson. In Melbourne, students marched through city streets, blocking traffic. Similar protests took place in Sydney, Brisbane, Canberra, Adelaide, Wollongong and Newcastle. Pauline Hanson condemned the protests on social media before they began. She said students should instead protest the cost-of-living crisis and stagnant wages. "The Labor Greens government is selling out your future," she wrote. "Whether you know it or not, One Nation and I are fighting for you." Federal Education Minister Jason Clare and Victorian Premier Ben Carroll urged students not to skip school. ## Where the reports disagree on crowd size in Sydney WA Today and Brisbane Times reported that hundreds of students gathered at Sydney Town Hall. PerthNow and The Border Mail did not mention a Sydney protest. No other outlet provided a figure for Sydney. ## What the coverage left out None of the digests from the left-rated outlets mentioned the size of the Perth crowd. The right-rated digest from The West Australian did not include Hanson’s response to the protests or the planned second strike in September. ## Who covered it Shares of the 7 covering outlets with a published leaning rating: - Left: 57% (4) - Centre: 29% (2) - Right: 14% (1) 1 of 8 covering outlets carried no usable leaning rating and were excluded from those percentages. Coverage measured 2026-08-13T15:15:50.201913+00:00. **Coverage watch:** developing. Checked 6 times; 0 checks found a material change. Most recently checked 2026-08-13T15:45:21.875Z. ## How the sides framed it ### Left - The left-rated reports led on the scale and coordination of the protests. The Border Mail described students in Melbourne chanting "no hate, no fear, Hanson is not welcome here" and quoted a 17-year-old student who said Hanson "promotes herself as a person who's there for the working class" but "she's not." The report also noted that a second student strike is planned for September. - The Border Mail included comments from former Victorian Greens leader Samantha Ratnam and highlighted the National Union of Students’ claim that Hanson had voted against better education policies. The digests from the Illawarra Mercury and Bendigo Advertiser focused on local protests, with the Mercury noting students chanted "go to hell" at One Nation supporters. ### Centre - PerthNow, one of the two centre-rated reports, led with the size of the Perth crowd and the language used by protesters. It quoted an organiser saying, "I am here because I hate capitalism, I am here because I hate war, and I am here because I f***ing hate Pauline Hanson." The report also included Hanson’s response, in which she said One Nation was fighting for students’ futures. - The digest from WA Today reported that hundreds of students gathered at Sydney Town Hall but did not include details about other cities or Hanson’s response. ### Right - The West Australian’s digest repeated the PerthNow report almost verbatim, including the description of the protest as "rowdy" and the chant "for Pauline Hanson to go to hell." It did not include Hanson’s response or mention protests in other cities. **Provisional coverage gap:** right. The watch is not closed, so this is not yet a settled blindspot finding. ## Factuality profile of the covering outlets These are published factuality ratings of the outlets, not a verdict on whether this story or its claims are true. - high: 4 - unknown: 3 - veryHigh: 1 ## Verification scope This page compares coverage and scores the source reporting. It is not a ClaimReview verdict on whether the underlying event or claim is true. ## Original reporting this was written from - [PerthNow](https://perthnow.com.au/wa/thousands-of-wa-students-skip-school-for-rowdy-say-no-to-pauline-hanson-rally-in-perth-cbd-c-22721354) — Thousands of students skip school for rowdy Hanson protest - [The Border Mail](https://bordermail.com.au/story/9329386/hanson-not-welcome-students-skip-class-for-protests) — 'Hanson not welcome': students skip class for protests - [The Sunday Guardian Live](https://sundayguardianlive.com/world/perth-protest-latest-live-news-students-rally-against-pauline-hanson-and-one-nation-why-is-the-protest-being-held-key-demands-explained-260266) — Perth Protest Latest Live News: Students Rally Against Pauline Hanson and One Nation; Why Is the Protest Being Held? Key Demands Explained - [The West Australian](https://thewest.com.au/news/wa/thousands-of-wa-students-skip-school-for-rowdy-say-no-to-pauline-hanson-rally-in-perth-cbd-c-22718075) — Thousands of students skip school for rowdy Hanson protest - [illawarramercury.com.au](https://illawarramercury.com.au/story/9329907/pauline-hanson-one-nation-targeted-by-angry-uow-student-protest) — 'We should be f---ing furious': Hanson protest at UOW turns confrontational - [The Bendigo Advertiser](https://bendigoadvertiser.com.au/story/9329802/bendigo-students-rally-against-pauline-hanson-one-nation) — Bendigo students walk out of class to protest against Pauline Hanson - [WA today](https://watoday.com.au/national/students-gather-for-say-no-to-hanson-protest-20260813-p60o3g.html) — Students gather for “Say no to Hanson” protest - [Brisbane Times](https://brisbanetimes.com.au/national/students-gather-for-say-no-to-hanson-protest-20260813-p60o3g.html) — Students gather for “Say no to Hanson” protest ## Questions **How many students protested against Pauline Hanson?** Organisers said more than a thousand students gathered in Perth and about 1,300 in Melbourne. Smaller protests took place in at least six other cities, including Sydney, where hundreds were reported. The exact number of participants across Australia is unclear. **What did Pauline Hanson say about the protests?** Pauline Hanson condemned the protests on social media, saying students should protest the cost-of-living crisis instead. She also said schools should teach "how to think, not what to think" and claimed One Nation was fighting for students’ futures. **Which cities saw student protests against One Nation?** Protests took place in Perth, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Canberra, Adelaide, Wollongong and Newcastle. The largest gatherings were in Perth and Melbourne, where organisers said more than a thousand students assembled in each city. --- MediaBias News — https://mediabias.news. Reproduced from https://mediabias.news/politics/students-protest-across-australia-against-pauline-hanson-and-one-nation. Please cite as: MediaBias News, "Students protest across Australia against Pauline Hanson and One Nation", https://mediabias.news/politics/students-protest-across-australia-against-pauline-hanson-and-one-nation