Last night I attended yet another One Nation meeting, one of many held in the region surrounding Canberra. All over Australia, branches are starting up, gaining members, holding regular meetings, learning the nuts and bolts of politics and putting in place a revolution.
I watched history being made last night. Ian Leahy was voted in as the inaugural President of the Queanbeyan branch, leading an executive equally inexperienced. For a person who had never felt the need to stand up in public and talk about politics, he delivered an excellent speech which drew thunderous applause from the audience.
Ian is a lifelong Labor voter, but he's had enough. His fellow executive members are equally incensed. It is astonishing to see ordinary citizens, people who until a couple of years ago would no more make a political speech than fly to the moon, put their hands up as leaders in a people's revolution.
Make no mistake, this is a grassroots political movement. Pauline Hanson's power comes from her ability to say what is in the hearts of her listeners. There aren't the political platitudes, the smooth performances of the established strutters upon the political stage - just a bunch of ordinary people, fed up with being fed rubbish by self-interested hacks.
Pauline Hanson isn't in this game for the money, or the glory. If you ask her, she will tell you that it's been a struggle from start to finish, and there are only two things that keep her from chucking it all in.
The first is the belief in Australia as the land of the fair go. You don't have to tell Pauline that Australia is one of the most tolerant societies on earth. She knows this, and she is committed to an inclusive nation, one embracing many cultures living and working together as one people.
The second is the extraordinary support she receives wherever she goes. She listens to the people, and they tell her she is doing the right thing. There is not another parliamentarian in the country who receives the constant flow of good wishes that she does. Nor the flood of willing recruits from the ordinary people of the nation.
So, in a way, I was watching history being made.
But Ian Leahy, despite the warmth of his words and the honest expression of his feelings, was not the man the television cameras had come to film. Nor was it Adam Miller, the endorsed candidate for the Federal seat of Eden-Monaro.
No, it was another ordinary Australian, a man with Welsh and Irish ancestors who also happens to be a very unmistakable Aboriginal Australian from his jet black hair to his red, gold and black flag scarf and dot-painted vest.
A man with a lively sense of humour and a down to earth manner, he was also making his first public speech as the guest speaker for this meeting. Standing behind a lectern decorated with a poster of Pauline Hanson, he cut a striking figure.
He held the audience spellbound as he related a tale of violence, of discrimination, of threats, and of millions of dollars. Percy knows where the bodies are buried. He can tell you exactly how and where the millions of dollars intended to raise Aboriginal living standards are going.
Percy Duncan has an impeccable history as part of the Aboriginal Industry. He spent many years working his way up, working for his people, working for the equality promised in the 1967 referendum.
He ended up as the Treasurer of a land council controlling vast acreages and funds. There was eight million dollars in the bank when his term came to an end, but a few months later it had all vanished, and he alleges some of the land council officers could help explain where it had gone.
It's just the tip of the iceberg, says Percy. He has a network of friends and relations with similar stories across New South Wales and across Australia.
Percy has the evidence. Percy, like Pauline, has the support of the people. Not just the Aboriginal folk who were denied the community resources that eight million dollars could have bought, but the support of all decent Australians.
We'll be seeing more of Percy Duncan. On TV news shows, talk shows and current affairs programs. Like Pauline, he has had the courage to stand up and speak against what is wrong. Like Pauline, his message is worth hearing. And like Pauline, he will not be popular with the political elite. He has no kind words for politicians of either side -- both let down the people by allowing this sort of rorting to go on.
"Is Pauline Hanson correct when she speaks of an Aboriginal industry run by an Aboriginal mafia?" I asked. "Yes, exactly.", he replied.
Percy is the man to know. He is the crack that will bring down the whole shonky edifice. He knows where the money is going. By his example he will inspire others to stand up and speak their minds. The Aboriginal leaders are denying Pauline's "mafia" claim and challenging her to produce the evidence.
We'll be seeing a lot more of Percy Duncan. I am glad that I was privileged to hear him give his first speech. I hope he makes it all the way into Parliament. We need representatives and leaders who are not afraid to speak out against corruption and injustice.
Standing ovations are not rare within political parties. But if you told the protesters outside that the One Nation members inside were clapping their hands raw for an Aborigine, they wouldn't have believed it.
Peter Mackay
Canberra
17 July 1998