The ‘Great Reset’ conspiracy in Australia

The report examines how conspiracy theories regarding the World Economic Forum (WEF) and its 'Great Reset' initiative have permeated Australian politics. It identifies the role of right-wing media, specifically Sky News, in promoting these narratives, which claim the WEF is a 'hidden hand' orchestrating pandemic measures to achieve sinister goals. The document details how these theories transitioned from social media to formal politics through figures like Senator Pauline Hanson and other right-wing politicians, eventually evolving to link the 'Great Reset' to issues such as net zero emissions and housing policy during the 2022 election cycle.

• The 'Great Reset' conspiracy is a flexible collection of narratives claiming the World Economic Forum (WEF) and Klaus Schwab are orchestrating COVID-19 lockdowns to achieve goals such as economic collapse, Marxist rule, or a corporate surveillance dystopia.
• In Australia, right-wing media—particularly Sky News programs like 'Sky After Dark' and 'Outsiders'—played a significant role in spreading these narratives, including claims that the Great Reset aimed to use pandemic restrictions to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2030.
• The narrative entered formal Australian politics through the actions of One Nation and other right-wing figures; notably, Senator Pauline Hanson introduced a Senate Motion on 11 November 2020 arguing that the Great Reset would devastate Australian economic wellbeing and individual freedoms.
• As pandemic restrictions eased, the conspiracy narratives in Australia evolved, with the 'Great Reset' being linked to other topics, most notably Labor's housing policy during the 2022 election campaign.

APA

Institute for Strategic Dialogue (2022). The ‘Great Reset’ conspiracy in Australia. https://www.isdglobal.org/digital-dispatch/the-great-reset-conspiracy-in-australia/

Chicago

Institute for Strategic Dialogue. The ‘Great Reset’ conspiracy in Australia. 2022. https://www.isdglobal.org/digital-dispatch/the-great-reset-conspiracy-in-australia/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Institute for Strategic Dialogue |title=The ‘Great Reset’ conspiracy in Australia |date=19 May 2022 |url=https://www.isdglobal.org/digital-dispatch/the-great-reset-conspiracy-in-australia/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{instituteforstrategicdialogue2022great, author = {{Institute for Strategic Dialogue}}, title = {{The ‘Great Reset’ conspiracy in Australia}}, institution = {Institute for Strategic Dialogue}, year = {2022}, month = may, url = {https://www.isdglobal.org/digital-dispatch/the-great-reset-conspiracy-in-australia/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }