by Geoff Kay
January 2, 2000
This is part of a series of articles covering the previous year. A year when One Nation went to sleep. I hope to be able show you; issues and opportunities that One Nation let slip by, opportunities for positive publicity and opportunities for building a more inclusive and positive rapport; within the Party and with the public.
AUG-SEP
"One last thing... As there are elections coming up, we need volunteers for giving out How-To-Votes and for scrutineering on Saturday the 11th of September."
That was in last months Newsletter, and was mentioned at the last meeting. Well... as a Branch we have done fairly poorly, we only had to service 1 Ward in the election, as the others were being looked after by other One Nation Branches. Doing this at elections, isn't that hard or intimidating, it is just one day, not even a day, and only happens about 3 times every 4 years. Come on everyone, if we really want One Nation to succeed we have to try harder.
It's not enough, just to vote One Nation.
Six months on and still no "maiden speech." For someone who was going to shake the foundations of State Government, Dave is certainly taking his time. One can only hope that it will be a worthwhile wait.
Well.. For months now the enthusiasm and interest of the membership has been falling. This is not just limited to one branch. It has been happening all over One Nation. The main question on everybody's lips seems to be:"What are they doing?"
I wrote most of the following, before the last Federal election, before I had officially joined One Nation. It has only had minor alterations since:-
"Variety is the spice of life", "the best of both worlds", "strange bedfellows", these and other phrases describe the makeup of One Nation. It is a coalition of Labor, National, Liberal and Independent, supporters. In fact, it is "a recipe for disaster". There are many things which have the potential to derail One Nation. The politics of its supporters, impatience, unreasonable expectations, lack of communication, broken promises, undemocratic behaviour, cronyism and more... all will impact upon the Party in the negative. The biggest challenge for the leadership of One Nation, is to minimise the impact of these, "enemies within the party."
The setback at the 1998 Federal election, (One Nation's seemingly poor results), will be to some supporters, a sign that "the writing is on the wall," for One Nation. Some members will see it as not only the battle being lost, but the whole war. This, their impatience for change and great disappointment at the result, will cause them to seek to find another answer. The majority of these supporters will probably "jump ship" back to the party they used to support. Still others will seek to start another party or run as independents. If the Party's integrity stays in tact, these reactions will help no one, "Rome wasn't built in a day". As the '98 federal election falls further into the background, those that remain faithful to the party will start to reflect on what they perceive as mistakes that were made during the election and they will look to the "party hierarchy" for answers and accountability. This is a good thing, but we need to stop short of "throwing out the baby with the bath water."
In the lull between elections many supporters will start to look within the Party for answers themselves. It is at this time that individual political differences will become more apparent to One Nation's supporters. It is at this time when the party will be most vulnerable to attack, from within and without. While it is still fair to say that the majority of One nation supporters are ex-Coalition supporters, it must be remembered that this is because the majority of support for One Nation has come from the Queensland rural sector. Where I live, the majority of supporters are ex-Labor supporters. Just how "ex" they remain depends greatly on the party leadership. It must provide core values and a vision of the future that will bind all its supporters together, it must maintain it's integrity, or it will surely fail. One Nation's original values, the original message and hope it gave those who joined to support it must be maintained. Past political allegiances must be forgotten, and the focus for all supporters must be to the future, they must be patient.
Well... As you can see, INTEGRITY, plays a big part in maintaining unity within a political movement. Sadly, Pauline Hanson's One Nation, has been struggling with it's, since inception.
LEADERSHIP plays a big part in maintaining unity within a political movement. Sadly, the Leadership of Pauline Hanson's One Nation, has failed to satisfy many members... The ORIGINAL message of "True Democracy" that One Nation espoused to many supporters has been forgotten by them. The ultimate betrayal being voiced by the one person that we all had faith in.
"PEOPLE COME UP TO ME ALL THE TIME AND SAY; 'WE WANT DEMOCRACY.' DEMOCRACY IS MOB-RULE."
How sad the day, when the "good" fall... and the faithful are betrayed. How sad, that a right and just cause... should be brought to nought, by the folly of a few...
The Referendum.
Still no action on the Referendum... One Nation as far as can be seen, have not entered the race. Were they asked not to? An official position on the Preamble and the Republic has not filtered down to the membership. No directives or literature on the issues have come to our branch from Manly. Just bad communication? Who knows...
Branch members have differing views on the issues, but the overwhelming majority support the "NO" camp. Branch members have taken it upon themselves to contact the local "NO" organisation an offer their services on the day.
Opportunities Go Begging...
Media Watch...
Michael Duffy
The Daily Telegraph
September, 3rd 1999
The loony tunes are beginning to be played in the republic debate. this week we saw some Republicans talking about getting the High Court to ban lots of Australians from voting in the Referendum, on the grounds that they were born in Britain.
This is on the assumption that they would favour the Monarchy.
What a great idea! Let's do it, I say. But to be consistent, we will also have to ban all those immigrants who were born in Republics, because they too might be "biased", in their case, in favour of a Republic. So let's silence the Greeks, the Italians, the Vietnamese... but hang on. We can't do that - it would be racist wouldn't it?
I have a solution. Why not interrogate all Australians, and ban any group that tends to favour one side more than the other. For example we already know that South Australians are largely against the Republic, so we could ban the entire state.
And I've been noticing that people with beards tend to be Republicans to a man. So out with the beards.
Seriously, though, you can see where this lunacy would end up - we would have no one left to vote in November. This, of course, is what happens once you start banning people and generally interfering in the democratic process.
Well... Again Michael Duffy stands up to be counted. Where were One Nation? It would be cynical of me but: Maybe we were putting all our focus and energy towards the upcoming... "Maiden speech." Maybe...
We have 2 Senators. One in particular could not be considered, the "shy retiring type". Why is it that they are saying nothing? Surely, a "maiden speech" does not take precedence over the future of a country. Maybe I just have... my... priorities wrong?.
IF DEMOCRACY IS MOB-RULE... CIR WILL HAVE TO BE DUMPED FROM THE PHON PLATFORM. (or has it been already)???
IF DEMOCRACY IS MOB-RULE... ATSIC DO NOT HAVE TO BE ACCOUNTABLE FOR ANYTHING.
IF DEMOCRACY IS MOB-RULE... THE UN CAN FORM ANY TREATIES THEY LIKE WITH OUR GOVERNMENT, WITHOUT OUR PERMISSION.
IF DEMOCRACY IS MOB-RULE... (AND IT IS A BAD THING, PAULINE...) THEN YOU SHOULD NEVER HAVE STOOD FOR ELECTION.
WHY IS IT THAT THE EXECUTIVE SEE BETRAYAL EVERYWHERE...
BUT TURN A BLIND EYE TO THEIR OWN?
Geoff