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Saturday 10th May 1997

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Pauline Hanson's One Nation Official home page.

International:

The rowdy rent-a-crowd mob broke into the meeting while Concerned Voters Association of Tasmania spokesman, Chester Somerville, began opening the meeting to launch the Tasmanian branch of One Nation. A meeting attended by Pauline Hanson at the Hobart City Hall.

The protesters started shouting "shame, shame, shame" and heckling Mr Somerville as he spoke. After about a 20 minute delay during which the protesters battled with guests Mr Somerville announced that Ms Hanson would not speak.

"Obviously democracy is not allowed to exist in this place even from one of your own (Tasmanians)," he said.

Ms Hanson is scheduled to hold a public meeting at lunchtime in Launceston today.

In an interesting report on the One Nation meeting at Hervey Bay on Thursday the Courier Mail makes much in today's paper of an incident in which an Aboriginal, Russell Currie, and his neice, Tracey Cave, were barred from the meeting on the basis that it was a private meeting. It appears Mrs Cave's white husband was allowed entry to the meeting ten minutes later without being questioned.

The article is directly under the brief comment about the calling-off of the Hobart meeting (see above) and carries the same amount of copy as this article under the heading "Aborigines 'barred' from party meeting."

I quote from the Courier Mail:
Mr Currie said one elderly white man entering the meeting said, "Get out of my way, coons."

"Then the organiser on the door said, 'No one called you a coon.' Then they let Mr Cave in and wouldn't let me in.

"It was a public meeting I was barred because I was black," Mr Currie said.

"One bloke stood with his foot out and I said, 'If you don't move, I'll break your foot'."

Racial tensions boiled over at the meeting, at which protesters called Independent MHR Pauline Hanson's supporters "Nazis".

Mr Currie said he was one of about two hundred people who staged a peaceful protest outside.

He said when two other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders had entered the meeting, he and Mrs Cave thought they would too "to see where's the policies".

Mr Currie said he was told he was barred because he was not wearing a collared shirt.

"But I was wearing shoes, jeans and a collared shirt with pockets under a jumper," Currie said.

Just pause and reflect on the focus of the article above... an alleged, regrettable, comment by an elderly white man against an Aboriginal protester who, by his own admission said, 'If you don't move, I'll break your foot', - but the other side is not given - and we have a story carrying as much weight as the disgraceful actions of hundreds of protesters in the Hobart launch of One Nation.

Who do the media think that they are trying to fool?

We will carry a comprehensive report on the Hobart meeting in due course.

Following the withdrawal of his passport by the Australian authorities Spanish fugitive Christopher Skase has now applied to become a Spanish citizen on the basis that he is a displaced person - seeking asylum on political grounds.

A spokesman for the attorney general Darryl Williams said last night, "Skase is still an Australian citizen and Australian authorities will seek to take action against Mr Skase in having him respond to the charges against him if the opportunity arises."

Talk about media bias.... well I guess who can blame Ray Martin for his cushy but lengthy questioning of the new kid on the block in Packer's empire - son James on Channel 9's A Current Affair last night.

In what was obviously a "wonderful opportunity" for the Australian population to get to know young "just another Aussie" James Packer. Martin obviously did not put a foot wrong... Packer saying more than once "I'm pleased you asked that one" then responding with obviously well rehearsed answers.

We were told about his love of sport, his friendship at arms length with News Limited's Lachlan Murdoch, how wonderful and generous (to a fault) dad Kerry is and a scoop - all about James' new love a girl by the name of Kate Fischer... when asked if he would propose to her on the program James looked peevish and said "You've got me on that one..."

Made the whole family blanche....

Young convicted fraudster Peter Foster who is serving time in a Gold Coast jail is apparently the victim of a British plot schemed up by the police in Britain.

Foster's defence lawyer Chris Nyst said that his client had helped to uncover corruption amongst prison guards and police in Britain and they were now embarking on a "let's get square" operation.

Yeah, and pigs do fly...

Political:

The NFF's solicitors, Corrs Chambers Westgarth told the NFF in May 1996 that the Federal government's failure to legislate on total extinguishment was "predictable" as "Such legislation would attract a challenge under the Racial Discrimination Act, if not the Constitution or would risk a raft of claims for compensation."

Opposition Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander affairs spokesman Daryl Melham said yesterday that the advice proved that the NFF was was running a scare campaign. "The real agenda is now out," he said.

"The National Party and the NFF want to upgrade their pastoral leases to freehold. It's a massive land grab."

You say:

Dear Paul and Darren below,

I am happy to talk about my support for One Nation. In fact I have a page about the factors behind GWB's support for Pauline Hanson's One Nation.

I will add one further comment, I had no desire to get involved in politics in the past - because I despise the lies we are told. Ms Hanson's burden is a massive one and she should be heard. Are the minority giving her this democratic right?

Imagine the outcry by the establishment if the shoe was on the other foot and, for example, public or private ATSIC meetings had to be cancelled because of (obviously) racist protesters..... are all Australians equal in this country, are we One Nation... I think not.

Whether you agree or disagree with Ms Hanson's views she has blown some fresh air into the political arena but some would recognise it not.

Editor.

Subject: Pauline Hanson

Organization: Monash University

Dear Sir,

Much of the commentary in your site is directed towards deflecting critiques of One Nation with the fairly stock response of "if you had read what she said..." I won't offend your sensibilities with four-letter words or uninformed abuse.

I will, however, ask the following things. Neither the maiden speech (which I have read on many occasions) nor the launch speech (also thoroughly examined) provide anything in the way of coherent political philosophy. Note, I am not talking about policy, because whilst Pauline has precious little of that to offer, I think it is misdirected to begin talking about policy when the basic questions of political philosophy go unasked. So what is Pauline's political philosophy?

Other than some vague sentiments of unity through nationalism, free speech and free political action for all, social restriction and disenfranchisement of some to redress a perceived disenfranchisement of others and a fixation with historical "truth", there appears to be little other than inarticulate crying for attention behind Pauline's politics.

Perhaps you could fill me in as to what precisely her political philosophy is, on what traditions it draws, how it conceives of itself as operating, the status it has vis-a-vis institutions and social movements, and the types of social formations it seeks to install.

At a really basic level, it seems to me that Pauline is just really confused about politics and power, and has no understanding of complex modern states. I might add that I find her politics abhorrent.

Do you think that Pauline is just a convenient omnibus for a loose coalescence of rightist, nationalist, conservative groups to gain higher profile? Is there anything distinctive about the media virus that is Pauline Hanson? Do you find her iconography, rhetoric and sentiments disturbingly similar to any one of a number of fascist movements of the twentieth century? Would she survive if someone wasn't playing puppet master? Do you think she reflects a deeper Australian racism present in all levels of government?

Enough for now. Some quick biography about myself: I'm a white, middle class male. I attend a university and have a respect for historical research and factual investigation, but I am not so naive as to believe that I can find the "truth" as if it were a nugget to be dug up. I highly recomend the works of Henry Reynolds and Stephen Muecke for all those interested in ethnography and Aboriginality.

Yours sincerely,
Darren Wright.

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