I remember my first One Nation meeting. A cold Canberra night, the car park beside the library jammed solid with police and emergency vehicles.
Floodlights lit the plaza and showed a chanting, bearded, hate-filled mass of protestors. A blue line of police held them off at a barrier and in the small area behind mingled journalists, cameramen and budding politicans. A heady, exciting atmosphere.
What a difference four months makes! Same time, same place. The plaza was deserted in the warm evening light. We were fewer in number, certainly, but the protesters had been absent for months now. A reflection on the difference in the depth of our feelings, I suppose.
They knew of the branch meeting, but they just were not as organised as we were, and finding enough people to make a worthwhile show was beyond them in the days after university exams.
Perhaps the most telling point was the discovery of a piece of propaganda which listed reasons not to demonstrate, mainly because the publicity aided One Nation and the sight of solid middle-class citizens being assaulted by jeering layabouts merely boosted our support. Mainstream Australians, watching the TV news, might not have been stirred enough to join one side or the other, but if they had been asked to make a choice, they would not have picked the shouting and violent protesters.
Inside the hall, it was much as it had been four months ago, but quieter. We raffled a bottle of champagne, passed the hat around to pay for newsletter postage, and sold a few copies of Pauline Hanson's biography. There was less noise from outside, but the debate inside was far more livelier. Our topic for the night was native title, and a few myths got debunked as the discussion progressed. The emphasis was on presenting information rather than opinion and we had been busy for weeks beforehand researching the subject.
We broke up, put away the chairs, and chatted over coffee and anzac biscuits. The next meeting will be in Febraury after a holiday break. With lots of fresh university students in town and plenty of warning, perhaps our opponents can be persuaded to attend.
Outside, as the branch members dispersed, a police car cruised slowly by.
We waved him on.