As they sift through the wreckage of last weekend’s Secret Harbour by-election in WA, political strategists from both sides of the fence are asking themselves the same questions.

Who exactly are these legions of new One Nation voters and what has driven them to join Pauline Hanson’s rampaging orange army?

And, more importantly, what do they need to do to win them back?

A survey this week from pollster John Utting and former Labor adviser Bruce Hawker of 1014 One Nation voters has provided some fascinating answers.

The results confirm many of the general assumptions about why so many voters are peeling away from the major parties.

But they also deliver some hope for the Liberal, National and Labor parties that a considerable proportion could be lured back.

The traditional parties just have to listen to what these disaffected voters are saying and respond in ways that provide practical solutions that are in keeping with their political values.

In other words, don’t just try to become One Nation-lite. Be better, more effective versions of yourself.

The survey builds a profile of the average One Nation voter.

He is most likely male, aged in his late fifties, lives outside the major cities, is most often a tradie who didn’t go to university, owns or is paying off his own house, only speaks English at home and describes his cultural identity as: “Australian”.

Just 38 per cent of One Nation voters are women and the largest age cohort of both genders is over-65. Only 17 per cent are younger than 35.

Seventy per cent either voted for another party at the 2025 election or didn’t vote at all.

Thirty-eight per cent voted for the Liberals or Nationals and 17 per cent for Labor.

The one issue they nominate more than any other for driving their change in voting preference is immigration.

It is the subject that now defines the political battle among the parties to become the rightful custodians of Australian patriotism.

An almost three-quarter majority of respondents say they want migration numbers “substantially reduced” and foreigners banned from buying Australian homes.

The same majority wants the Welcome to Country banned.

“You’ve got people who want to tell us what sort of country this is going to be. Nobody asked us whether we wanted the country changed so much!” one respondent says.

“You walk through parts of the city and it doesn’t feel like the same place,” says another.

“If you object you’re a racist, so most people say nothing and vote quietly,” adds another.

But there are other parts of the One Nation platform that the new converts are much less comfortable with.

Its policies on abortion, domestic violence, the minimum wage and Donald Trump are big turn-offs.

Many disagreed with Pauline Hanson’s recent comments on limiting a woman’s right to choose, that domestic violence was “a two-way street” and her positions against minimum wage rises and in favour of greater powers for bosses to sack “lazy workers”.

All those issues fall within Labor’s traditional agenda. Expect Anthony Albanese and his ministers to run hard on them as the 2028 election nears.

More than half of all One Nation supporters don’t like Pauline Hanson’s close alliance with Donald Trump.

Expect to hear his name raised more frequently, too.

Former Coalition supporters say they would have another look at the Liberals and Nationals if they took strong stands on limiting migration and addressing the cost of living.

Opposition Leader Angus Taylor has promised to deliver deep cuts to migration when he eventually releases his policy.

But that presents another dilemma. The challenge for him is to change policy without changing the character of his party so much that it drives away the more progressive section of his base that has stuck with him during the stampede to One Nation.

And there is a softness in Pauline Hanson’s support.

Fifty-two per cent of respondents say they are “absolutely certain” of voting One Nation at the next election, which means 48 per cent aren’t.

That is where the opportunity lies for the Coalition and Labor.

There are opportunities and risks for all parties, but after the major party shellacking in Secret Harbour the enormity of the challenge is no secret to anyone.

Mark Riley is the Seven Network’s political editor