More than 200 students are expected to gather on Parliament Lawns on Thursday for a protest against One Nation.
The Hobart Against Hate rally is scheduled for 2:30pm and has been organised by college and university students, with speakers travelling from across the state.
Organiser Cameron Locke-Sinclair said the protest was primarily directed at Pauline Hanson’s One Nation party and what students describe as “harmful rhetoric”.
He said students would speak about keeping Australia a place for all people and about the rights of those affected by the party’s policies.
“We as students and those whose lives will be dictated by the politics of today, believe our voices ought to be heard,” Locke-Sinclair said.
He said students believed it was the responsibility of those in power to leave behind an Australia for all people.
Pauline Hanson criticised similar student protests on the mainland last month, posting on social media that “schools should teach young Australians how to think, not what to think.”
“If you want to protest something, protest why your parents’ wages are going backwards and the cost of everything is going up,” she said.
“The Labor Greens government is selling out your future and you’ll inherit a weaker, poorer and less safe country.”
The Hobart protest comes as the party records its strongest polling in Tasmania.
An EMRS poll of 1,000 registered voters conducted on August 17 and 18 put One Nation at 21% in state voting intention, up two points.
The same poll had the Liberals on 26% and Labor on 23%, marking the second consecutive quarter in which the major parties’ combined vote sat below 50%.
Lee Hanson told Pulse last month the result was “amazing” and claimed it reflected Tasmanians seeking change.
