In the heart of Victoria's Latrobe Valley, voter anger is palpable.

The Yallourn coal-fired power station, the town's biggest employer, is closing in two years; the housing shortage is acute, sending prices beyond the reach of many who live in the area; and crime is on the rise.

Liberals, Nationals and Labor beware - many residents here reckon the major parties have abandoned the regions, and an area that was once a thriving hub for young families now has a bleak future.

In this hotbed of social and economic discontent, voters are turning in their droves to One Nation. So great has the shift been that Yallourn North - an 1800km drive all the way down from Ipswich, west of Brisbane, where the Pauline Hanson story first began 30 years ago - has become One Nation's top stronghold.

One out of every three of the 446 voters who walked through the gate of Yallourn North Primary School on May 3 last year put a “1” alongside One Nation's Gippsland candidate Gregory Hansford's name, putting him ahead of Nationals MP Darren Chester and Labor candidate Sonny Stephens The Yallourn North booth was one of three nationwide where One Nation finished first on primary votes - and that was at an election where the party recorded a national vote of 6.4 per cent.

When The Australian published the most recent national Newspoll earlier this month with One Nation in second place on 27 per cent primary vote, residents of Yallourn - along with those of Kooralbyn, west of the Gold Coast, and Jerrys Plains in the NSW Hunter region - could have been forgiven for thinking “what's all the fuss about?”.

They had already voted that way - and more, in Yallourn North's case - nine months earlier. And if One Nation's vote has increased fourfold nationally, as Newspoll suggests, imagine what the situation in Yallourn is now.

Allison Martin, who lives in the nearby town of Glengarry, is effusive about the changing political tide and says she is “100 per cent One Nation”.

“Everyone that I speak to just wants One Nation and I just say, Pauline Hanson, you go girl!” Ms Martin says. “I've been online and have just joined the One Nation party. Even my mum wants a One Nation shirt; I'm going to order it for her online.”

Ms Martin explains that a large factor in her voting One Nation is the past four years of high migration numbers.

“I'm not anti-immigration at all, but we need to be more picky,” she says. “We don't have enough housing for the people we've already got. Our doors have been open for too long.”

She also says crime is a huge concern after a new home was broken into with an axe in a nearby town. “It's just really scary, I've got grandkids that live in the local area and I worry about them,” she says.

Ms Martin says that if she could speak to Senator Hanson she would tell her that police need more powers and to be able to lock up repeat offenders.

“Those other parties are running scared because they can see the tide is turning, the people have had enough.” she says. “I think a lot of politicians forget they are representing us.”

Across the whole of the electorate of Gippsland, One Nation finished with 14.4 per cent of the primary vote - not enough to challenge Mr Chester's hold on the traditional Nationals seat.

But One Nation wouldn't need a fourfold increase in its vote in the eastern Victorian electorate to claim it. If Senator Hanson's party reached a primary vote in the high 30s and the vast bulk of its gains were from the Nationals, it would likely pick up enough Labor and Greens preferences to get over the line.

Mr Chester said people were upset “as a result of years of traditional jobs disappearing” in the regions. He said if he could speak with the community in Yallourn North he would tell them “I hear you and I share your concerns”.

One Nation state director Bianca Colecchia said her party would not leave the regions to “fend for themselves”.

“They've been taken for granted for far too long and the major parties have forgotten about their interests.” Ms Colecchia said.

“One Nation will ensure the survival of the coal industry. It is essential to the livelihood of the local community.”

When The Australian asked One Nation to nominate seats it hoped to win, given its 27 per cent primary vote in national polling, a spokesman said the party would not disclose target seats. But analysis by The Australian suggests Gippsland would be one of four Nationals-held seats where One Nation would have a strong chance with such a surge in support, alongside Capricornia and Flynn in Queensland and Parkes in NSW.

A fifth Coalition seat that would be in peril is Liberal-held Wright in southeastern Queensland, where the residents of Kooralbyn put their One Nation candidate, Natalie Davis, first last May with, as it happens, 27 per cent of the vote. Wright returned the highest electorate-wide One Nation vote across the country, with 16.3 per cent. The other booth that put One Nation first last year was Jerrys Plains in the Labor-held mining seat of Hunter, where Stuart Bonds also won 27 per cent of the vote.

Back in the Gippsland, the imminent closure of Yallourn power station is emblematic of the problems many regional towns are having as the Albanese government hits the accelerator in its bid to achieve ambitious renewable energy and net-zero-emissions targets. Yallourn was originally scheduled to close in 2032 but the date was brought forward to mid-2028, just months after the likely next federal election, due by May of that year.

Walking through the town with only three establishments - an op shop, a grocery store and the pub - feels eerie.

A closed-up shop called “Josephine's” that has an “opening soon” sign on its window has graffiti scribbled over the frontage that asks “when?”

Yallourn North Hotel's new owner, Amy Eickenberger, says she “definitely” believes more people in the town are swinging toward One Nation because of unemployment and lack of opportunities.

She says many residents' parents and grandparents worked here, which was why people are upset the town is collapsing. “It's their heritage” she says.

Op shop volunteer Nicole Camp says the power station's imminent closure is having an immense effect - “everyone around here works at the power station” - and if she had any advice for the next One Nation candidate, it would be to “look after the rural people and our power stations”.

She says locals are particularly concerned about crime, given unemployment rates will likely skyrocket once Yallourn closes.

With a South Australian election just over three weeks away and a Victorian election in November, the southern states will provide two litmus tests of One Nation's surging support in the polls and whether disaffected conservatives will cast their vote the same way on polling day as they have indicated in polls.

Any major party that thinks One Nation is just a Queensland phenomenon better start thinking again - and soon.