Another historic win for One Nation + Is male fertility really in crisis?

**Sacha Barbour Gatt** (0:07)
Hi, Sacha Barbour Gatt with you. Happy Monday and welcome to The Briefing. In what's been dubbed the spermageddon paper, researchers are warning us that the world is in the grips of a male fertility crisis. But what does an Aussie reproductive doctor make of this conversation?

**Giselle Crawford** (0:23)
There's increase in emphasis on early, thorough male fertility evaluations rather than treating the male partner as an afterthought and thinking of fertility really purely as a female issue.

**Sacha Barbour Gatt** (0:35)
A deep dive into infertility rates among men and what's being done about it is coming up in the second half of this episode. But first, it is time for the headlines with Chris Spyrou on Monday, the 31st of August.

**Chris Spyrou** (0:49)
Morning, Sacha. And that's crazy. August is almost over. September starts tomorrow.

**Sacha Barbour Gatt** (0:53)
Spring is springing.

**Chris Spyrou** (0:54)
Wild. We're going to start with a new poll out today. And One Nation has once again claimed the top spot as Australia's most popular party. Support for Pauline Hansen's party has risen to 30% ahead of Labour on 29 and the Coalition on 19
And that's according to the latest news poll. The survey of more than 1200 voters was conducted last week, with the results dropping this morning after the right-wing party recorded an historic win in Western Australia in a by-election over the weekend.

**Sacha Barbour Gatt** (1:23)
One Nation candidate Luke Hurtigine has become the party's first ever lower house member in WA after winning the safe Labour seat of Secret Harbour. The 39-year-old gym owner had this to say after the win.

**Tanya Plibersek** (1:35)
The people of Secret Harbour have sent a message. A message that will send shock waves across the entire country.

**Sacha Barbour Gatt** (1:48)
Voters delivered an 18.6% swing against Labour in the Outer Perth electorate. A result both One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce and leader Pauline Hanson were out celebrating yesterday.

**Chris Spyrou** (1:59)
It's just marvellous.

**Sacha Barbour Gatt** (2:00)
We're all really happy about it.

**Giselle Crawford** (2:02)
The people are fed up with the major political parties. They want change. They desperately want change.

**Chris Spyrou** (2:07)
Speaking of the majors, they are well and truly on notice. This being the second major by-election that they've won. You know, the first one being Susan Lee's seat of Farah. That's that candidate, David Farley, who's now, I don't want to say running a muck, but you know, causing a bit of a stir. Making headlines in Canberra. And while Labor State Premier Roger Cook still enjoys an overwhelming parliamentary majority, he says the message is not lost on him or his party.

**SPEAKER_6** (2:35)
The voters of Secret Harbour have spoken, and we will listen.

**Tanya Plibersek** (2:39)
This campaign has been reminded that Western Australians are doing it tough.

**Chris Spyrou** (2:42)
Meantime, Anthony Albanese has resorted to similar rhetoric we've heard before.

**SPEAKER_6** (2:47)
Parties like One Nation have no serious answers to problems which are there.

**Chris Spyrou** (2:53)
While some within the Liberal Party are taking aim at state leader Basil Zemplas, who repeated throughout the campaign that a loss for Labor, even to One Nation, who they preferenced, was a win for the party.

**SPEAKER_6** (3:04)
My message to colleagues across the country who want to go down that pathway, well, no, let's fight for what we have lost.

**Chris Spyrou** (3:12)
That was Shadow Home Affairs Minister John O'Donniam there.

**Sacha Barbour Gatt** (3:15)
Big result, hey. Talking about this result, the Libs finished a distant third. They weren't even, you know, wasn't even barely worth mentioning in the results. But yeah, an 18% swing against Labor is significant. And as you said, this is the second time we've seen One Nation claim a by-election. I do wonder though, maybe because it's a by-election, it's not the full, you know, big everyone goes to the polls at the same time, whether maybe voters feel differently about how they can exercise their right to democracy and they're saying, well, I'm going to do it in this one because, you know, this feels like a clear message to the majors. And I can kind of say that in this space.
I'm seeing this as a sign of what's potentially to come though in 2028 And it could be quite a vitriolic election, I feel. I think it's going to be quite heated.

**Chris Spyrou** (4:04)
Important to note as well, this is a state by-election in WA. The one that David Farley won, that was a federal seat.
The big test that people are eyeing though now is November Victoria, that state election. That's going to be very interesting to see what happens. Political watchers were out and about on the weekend saying, the thing that we should all be taking stock of is the fact that One Nation is dropping a candidate that no one's ever heard of, doesn't have much political experience, and they're getting voted in purely because they're attached to that One Nation brand. So whether or not that's something we continue to see come November, I've resorted to doing it again, guys.