Risks in dealing with One Nation: minister

The One Nation deal in Western Australia is risky and may not be transferable to the federal level, says a senior Liberal.

One of the most senior Liberals in Western Australian has talked down a future preference deal with One Nation at a federal level, warning of risks to seats.

Social Services Minister Christian Porter has given a lukewarm endorsement of WA Premer Colin Barnett's decision to do a deal with Pauline Hanson's party ahead of this Saturday's state election.

Mr Porter said the deal done by the WA Liberals was purely aimed at "enhancing the prospect" of Mr Barnett's government being returned.

"In a perfect world, other decisions might be made," Mr Porter told Sky News on Thursday.

"This is a practical deal and deals have to be done to return the best government."

He said preference deals never represented an endorsement of another party's policies.

One Nation has been criticised for questioning the value of childhood vaccinations, endorsing Russian leader Vladimir Putin and railing against Muslims.

"There are a lot of things about One Nation that are not particularly admirable," Mr Porter said.

He said inner-city seats in WA would be at risk because of the deal.

Asked whether the WA deal should be replicated at a federal level, Mr Porter said: "It's a deal for the moment, in the place."

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has urged greater scrutiny of minor party policies, after polls show one in four voters has turned away from Labor and the coalition.

Mr Turnbull told a business forum in Sydney on Thursday minor parties' policies were not closely examined because voters did not see them ever likely to form government.

"(But) they should," Mr Turnbull said.

Greens' policies in relation to the US alliance and drug decriminalisation deserved attention for their negativity.

"What we have to do is focus on mainstream policies, our mainstream values ... doing everything we can to enable hard-working Australian families and their businesses to get ahead," Mr Turnbull said.

He plans to work with the independents and minor parties in the Senate, all of whom deserved respect.

"We have to woo them, persuade them, to support our measures if we can't get the support of Labor and the Greens."


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Source: AAP


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