Colleen Harkin on The Rita Panahi Show Sky News Australia – 9 June 2026

Rita Panahi:

Joining me now for more on this is News Corp senior writer, Patrick Carlyon and Institute of Public Affairs research fellow, Colleen Harkin. Patrick, this is huge one in three voters more likely to back Labour if they get rid of the anchor that is just into Allan.

Patrick Carlyon:

Look, I think she’s gone, isn’t she really? She’s going to struggle to win her own seat. I mean, she’s unpopular with everyone, including Labour voters. And I think Labour on those numbers, when you’re at 23%, you’re not going to win anything, and you’re going to lose an awful lot.

So I think we will see this polling sort of propel a change of leadership coming days or weeks. You’ll probably get Ben Carroll, who’s a bit more right. He’s not quite as wrapped up. He’s not sort of held to ransom by the ideological indulgence. So really smashed Victorians for so long. So I think it’s the only way to go for Labour at this point.

Rita Panahi:

Do you think they’ll make that call? It’s a big call to replace the premier, Colleen, but she is dragging them down. This is not the only poll that indicates that. And the Labour left faction, the socialist left faction that runs the show in Victoria, will they be able to have someone from the right faction leading them? Because, internally, that’s going to be an issue.

Colleen Harkin:

Yeah. Look, I mean, there’s been talk about replacing Jacinta Allan for almost a year on and off, and negative 37 is very difficult to come back from. People have survived for periods of time with that level of negative approval rating. Julia Gillard, Tony Abbott. There’s been numbers of people who have been at negative 35 or thereabouts for a period of time, but they eventually get rolled.

Rita Panahi:

Yeah.

Colleen Harkin:

It’s difficult to see how she can survive this. I’m not sure, though, that a change of leader is going to solve the problems because Victoria’s looking at 11 years of a disastrous government, the crime, the corruption, the cost of living blowouts.

I think people are looking at a genuine wish for an alternative, and I’m not sure that just a change of face will be enough. If they’re going to do it, they have to do it soon because the election’s only six months away. And so if they do it too soon, there is time for people to recalibrate again. So it’s tricky for the Labour Party.

Rita Panahi:

But given how low a profile senior Labour figures have had in this state, really, other than the premier. If you went outside and polled your regular Victorian, they couldn’t name too many front benches.

Patrick Carlyon:

Not a chance.

Rita Panahi:

So, wouldn’t Ben Carroll need six months to really establish himself, have that credibility with the electorate before a poll?

Colleen Harkin:

Look, definitely. And I think that the Liberal Party would prefer for Jacinta Allan to stay in place-

Rita Panahi:

Oh, hell yeah.

Colleen Harkin:

… because she’s a-

Patrick Carlyon:

Yeah.

Colleen Harkin:

… much easier opponent. But I do think that in time it will be same, same. It’s all the same policies. He’s been there during that whole tenure as well. So it will take a little while for people to go – “Oh, fresh and shiny new thing,” but actually scratch the surface and what’s underneath it.

Rita Panahi:

And Patrick, you look at the figures, the two party preferred figures are great news for the Coalition, but their primary vote has also dropped. So this isn’t really love for what they’re offering. It’s more a loathing for state Labour and what they’ve done to this state that’s reflected in these figures.

Patrick Carlyon:

Look, the feeling against Labour is visceral. I keep using that word. And we saw that footage of Jacinta Allan knocking on doors, and her electorate, and sort of people abusing her. I mean, this is so deeply held, and it’s about the fact that this government has been so out of touch and so untrustworthy.

And I think for me, probably there are so many sort of points you can look at and say, “Well, it jumped a shark there or jumped a shark there.” I think the CFMEU stuff where Jacinta Allan came out and said, “Well, it’s not $15 billion that’s been fleeced by… from taxpayers, but I’m not going to have an inquiry to find out any more about it.” I mean, it is insane what this government has tried to get away with.

Rita Panahi:

Now we’ve had a mobile billboard causing all sorts of controversy. It’s been seen around Melbourne featuring the phrase Ditch the Witch alongside an image of Jacinta Allan, prompting a very strong backlash from Labour luminaries led by the premier herself and the prime minister.

Jacinta Allan:

Having the privilege of standing here as premier and having the opportunity to call out sexism against women in all its forms, it actually in positions like mine, it demands that response.

Anthony Albanese:

What worries me is the misogyny that’s involved there. The sexist campaign targeting the Victorian Premier is totally unacceptable and has no place in public life. What I don’t want to do is to have a press comment in this courtyard after a tragedy.

Rita Panahi:

And liberal deputy leader, Jane Hume, was similarly appalled by the image.

Jane Hume:

I agree with both the premier and the prime minister. I know that sounds unusual, but sexism has no place in politics.

Rita Panahi:

Now let’s hear from One Nation leader, Pauline Hanson, for her take.

Pauline Hanson:

Suck it up, sweetheart. Right. If you’ve seen what’s happened to me over the years, I remember years ago, Tim Fischer called me a witch, and I should be burned at the stake.

Rita Panahi:

Colleen, I wonder why she’s surging in the polls. That’s authentic, and it’s also politically savvy because people hate politicians playing the victim and feigning outrage at an image. I mean, Victorian Labour doesn’t even know what a woman is. How can anything be sexist?

Colleen Harkin:

Yeah, correct.

Rita Panahi:

I mean, why are witches gendered? I mean, surely witches can be whatever they want to be.

Patrick Carlyon:

Yeah.

Colleen Harkin:

And I think the issue here, too, is that you scratch the surface and it’s just so performative because Labour have, was it Vaghela who complained about bullying within her own party, that they instantly dismissed Grigorovitch, providing references for sex offenders and domestic violence abusers.

The Labour Mean Girls and what they put Kimberley Kitching and Linda Reynolds and Fiona Brown through. It’s just so hypocritical to stand there and say that you can’t say anything nasty about women. The other thing is that like, so how come a female can’t be criticised? Who says they can’t be criticised? I’m completely with Pauline Hanson on this one. Suck it up.

Rita Panahi:

Yeah. And using colourful language to criticise politicians, whether it’s calling Dan Andrews a dictator or all sorts of other terms that you could say are gendered. When it applies to leftist woman, Patrick, it seems to be a different standard.

You can attack conservative women in whatever terms you like, be as colourful, be as cruel as you like. But if it’s a left-leaning woman, then it’s, oh, outrageous. It’s obviously sexist, misogynistic. It’s going to set the sisterhood back decades. And we saw that with Julia Gillard. And interestingly, she’s had something to say about this Ditch the Witch image as well.

Patrick Carlyon:

Julia Gillard was, what, 15, 16 years ago when we were having that discussion about the rhetoric. I think it’s unwelcome for the simple reason that it gives Labour luminaries something to talk about. It gives them a distraction. I don’t think most people would sort of go for this kind of rhetoric.

I don’t think most people would think, look at that and say, “Oh, fair enough.” I think it’s too far, but it’s not part of sexism. This sort of use of this language is not being used by everyday politicians or everyday people. It is a complete distraction, and I think it’s unhelpful because of that.

Rita Panahi:

It is, but I reckon the average person, whatever their politics, doesn’t see that and feel any sort of sense that it’s bigotry and it’s unacceptable in modern discourse. I mean, we’re fairly robust when it comes to politics and I think a term like witch I’ve heard plenty worse. Now, the Labour Party, they never waste a crisis. They are begging supporters to donate $27 each to try and stop the rise of One Nation.

Monday’s news poll showed One Nation overtaking Labour on primary votes, 31 to 30%. Labour headquarters posted an ad campaign to Instagram and Facebook, reading, “Please don’t scroll past this. If everyone’s seeing this contributor $27, we’d have the resources to prevent One Nation from turning polling momentum into seats.” Well, Patrick, that’s pretty clever, I guess. You take bad news story, and you turn it into a donation drive.

Patrick Carlyon:

What I find weird about this is I think they’re asking for between $10 and $27.22. It’s so precise. “I don’t want to ask-“

Rita Panahi:

It is.

Patrick Carlyon:

“… too much because of the cost-of-living crisis.” And I think this is backhanded recognition that One Nation and Pauline Hanson are fair dinkum. They are the real deal, and they ask… they are panicked within the ALP. This is what this says.

Rita Panahi:

Oh, they’re absolutely panicked. And yeah, why that precise amount? Do we know why they’ve come up with that? Is it some way to, I don’t know, dodge some reporting of… Oh no, you’re surely –

Colleen Harkin:

No, I think it’s just a barrier to allow people to feel like they can contribute without it being a cost-of-living issue. Between 15 and $20 doesn’t seem to be too much.

Rita Panahi:

So I wonder if a focus group assessed, “Should we go $25 or should we go for a $30 is too much?” How much money did they spend to come up with a $27 figure?

Colleen Harkin:

But it also goes to show just how afraid Labour are. I mean, they’re sitting with a 94-seat parliament, and this is-

Rita Panahi:

Wow.

Colleen Harkin:

… what they’re doing. The election’s not due until May 2028.

Patrick Carlyon:

Yes.

Colleen Harkin:

So they are spooked, and so they should be. I mean, the rise of One Nation, it is a definite movement, so they should be afraid, but it does show you just how afraid these major parties are. They’re not the major parties anymore, have to stop using that language.

Rita Panahi:

Well, this is the thing. You’ve got one nation that was polling, what, 6% a year ago, now overtaking the Coalition and Labour in a number of polls. I think Labour can no longer pretend this is just a phenomenon that’s damaging the Coalition. It is taking votes from Labour as well, Patrick.

Patrick Carlyon:

Yes, absolutely. And I think you look at the budget and you look at the mistrust that came in when Albanese said, “We’re not going to mess around with CGT. We’re not going to mess around with negative gearing.” A year later is messing around with it.

And I mean, it just shows that lack of trust for the mainstream parties is just so prominent now, isn’t it? And people have turned to One Nation. It’s sort of like they’ve been true to themselves for 30 years, and we like what they have to say.

Rita Panahi:

Now, a New South Wales renter has claimed she was ordered to take down the Australian flag from her home during a routine inspection. Have a listen.

NSW Renter:

This morning, we had a routine house inspection, and the first thing that the real estate said when she got to the front door is, “I’m going to have to take this Australian flag down before I can start the inspection.” I just looked at her and said, “What? Okay, sure, whatever.” Obviously, she proceeded to tell me that she doesn’t have an issue with it’s whatever, but the owner believes by having it up, our house might become a target.

Rita Panahi:

Patrick, you can’t fly an Australian flag in Australia. I mean, it’s come to that, has it?

Patrick Carlyon:

It’s-

Rita Panahi:

And I wonder if the real estate agent would’ve asked her to take, say, a Pride flag down or an indigenous-

Patrick Carlyon:

Yes, exactly.

Rita Panahi:

… flag.

Patrick Carlyon:

The tenant made that point, and the fact it is so sad, it is such an indictment that the Australian flag, I mean, we’ve… Anzacs fought for it. Olympians wave it around when they win. I mean, it is a unifying sort of symbol, and the idea that it has somehow become so divisive or so offensive to some people that it makes a target of a property is really sad.

And I do think… In saying that, I do think it has shifted back a little bit since Bondi and since the fact that Australians want Australians to have Australian values, which is decency, fairness, all the obvious things. I do think it has started to shift back, but that’s an indictment.

Rita Panahi:

But there is this polarisation where if you’re flying an Australian flag, you can make some assumptions about that household, like you can in America. They say, if you see an American flag on the porch, you know that’s a Republican household. It’s probably not going to be Democrat. And I think increasingly-

Patrick Carlyon:

Yeah.

Rita Panahi:

… we’re seeing those lines here, Colleen. We’ve run out of time. Patrick Carlyon, Colleen Harkin, thank you so much for your time.

Colleen Harkin:

Thank you.

This transcript with Colleen Harkin talking on The Rita Panahi Show News Australia from 9 June 2026 has been edited for clarity.