18th October 2000
Background:
David Ettridge sent the letter below headed "Your latest rubbish" in response to the allegations raised in my latest book "INSIDE ONE NATION" (See http://www.gwb.com.au/inside.htm for overview and ordering details).
My response is below his letter.
Scott Balson
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Subject: your latest rubbish
I have watched your disintegration with disappointment. You are now so demented as to be ready for full time hospital care and regular medication. Someone read parts of your latest alleged 'book' to me and it is so far from being accurate that it should be displayed under fantasy if you can get any bookstores to carry it. I wont be buying one because we already have enough toilet paper at our house. Your obsession is very sad and whether you can see it or not it has destroyed your life. You should get over this period of trauma and focus on something positive and rewarding rather than being totally overtaken by your delusions. You are not an author of 'best sellers' as your web site claims. You are simply displaying your frustrations and obsessions for all to see in a very public manner, much to the amusement of journalists and others. There can be a very free life outside of politics as I have rediscovered. You should try it too because putting all your time and energy into publishing childrens books will not pay your rent and lift your spirits. Your efforts are of no consequence to anyone.Get over it Scott before it destroys whats left of your life. I used to appreciate our friendship and the effort you put into One Nation but it has consumed you to a point where you should now let go and return to planet earth. regards, David Ettridge.
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Dear David
Thank you for your email of 18th October.
I once valued our friendship too when I believed that your involvement with Pauline Hanson's One Nation was driven by a sincere desire to help Australia out of its woes. It was not. You are the primary reason the One Nation vision grasped by so many people in this country went off the rails. You ripped the guts out of the dream for a political alternative when you stripped the company which drove the party of its hard-earned funds. You have never been anything more than an opportunist and "INSIDE ONE NATION" accurately records how you did this.
I am delighted that you find the expose about your questionable management of One Nation's finances worthy of drawing this predictable response by you (see above). The Freedom Movement is better served without the charlitans, like you, who once presided over One Nation. We can now get on with saving Australia through new political parties not blighted by your hands.
I am looking forward to the day - hopefully in the not to distant future - where you will be called to account for the missing One Nation millions. Financial accountabilty to the membership of One Nation, like moral accounatbility, are values foreign to your ilk. How sad it is that the Australia/Israel Review got it so right when they exposed your questionable background in 1998 and I, like so many others, looked the other way because we believed in you at that time.
Scott Balson
Author INSIDE ONE NATION
Well said, Scott
What a patronising twit Ettridge is - obviously well-practised as the bully of lower school: never made it to upper school, obviously. The sort of posing pratt that infests the toilet blocks of private schools, hoping that some of the elitism will rub off....
Ian Turton
yes scott.
I agree with you.
It was obvious to me even before I learned that he came from the Liberal
Party.
Etteridge has destroyed "One Nation".
Cheers
Jim
I received your email re David Ettridge's denigration of your new book. I
want to encourage you to just tell him "to go to hell." He has proven now
what I have suspected for a long time — along with David Oldfield too.
And I hope that you pursue him further about the missing millions of dollars
from the One Nation coffers. I am also of the opinion that all our forces
should reunite somehow since the thing at stake is our very existence as
a free and sovereign nation. It seems stupid to me that the people fighting
this battle are so splintered and divided. I think some sort of conference
(now the 2 Davids have been exposed and are gone) should take place to lay
down some ground rules for the conduct of all groups within some sort of
coalition. If Pauline Hanson can't see the necessity of this then she has
the consequences of her future on her own head. I just hope this happens
and that both you and Jeremy Lee will get involved.
Sincerely,
John Clay.
HEAR HEAR
Spot on Scott!!
Really miss the old ANOTD
Regards
Bob From Bundy
Whiteside responds to Bob from Bundy
· What method and action did you implement to guarantee the silence of Pauline Hanson as the third member of the One Nation Executive?
· Given that the voluble Hanson has lashed out at ALL her associates, don't you think it remarkable and suspect that she has not said anything less than favourable of David Ettridge since you deserted One Nation? What is SHE scared of?
· Given that you claim that you left One Nation in good shape, can you justify this statement by accounting for the millions of dollars that went through the cheque book that you controlled. What are YOU scared of?
Judging by the response to Scott Balson's allegations contained within Inside One Nation …plenty.
Abuse, denigration and personalised attack are no counter to serious charges. The Court is your avenue Mister Ettridge, but you and I both know that you haven't got the 'ticker' to try.
Bruce Whiteside
Founder of the PHSM.
The above email was sent to David Ettridge for response on 21st October 2000. His responses can be seen at this link
Re David Ettridge's letter to Scott Balson
The significance of the vituperative language of David Ettridge appears to have been lost on both Scott Balson and his readers.
It is said the best form of defence is attack, but in this case the form of attack underscores a very guilty and troubled mind.
Given the nature of Balson's allegations, there surely is a case for Ettridge to pursue him through the legal system; a course that any man with a clear conscience would naturally follow. So why resort to abuse through a website? If Scott is demented as Ettridge claims what is the point in even trying to communicate with him. The answer of course is simple. It is the only avenue that Ettridge has to vent his spleen.
It is my reading of Ettridge's infantile comments that Balson's allegations hold more than an ounce of truth, hence the knee-jerk reaction. I don't believe that Ettridge would risk the option of taking Balson to court and that really is the crux of the irrational outburst.
Having read "INSIDE ONE NATION" and the comments of others I have to say that in my opinion the man who holds the key to seeing justice done is not Balson or Lee as one of your writers suggest, but Whiteside who it appears not only gave Mr Sharples ammunition to bring One Nation unstuck but also provided the turning point in Scott's own association with the Hanson machine.
One can only surmise, in the light of Ettridge's letter to Scott, the true extent of this man's treatment of Whiteside. What I cannot understand or comprehend is why this man was ignored when it appears as early as February 1997, he was drawn not only to reject Ettridge but to label him a conman, which to this day has apparently gone unchallenged.
In the light of this I would advise your readers to say without fear what they really think of David Ettridge, remembering that the tone of his letter reflects much of what has become today, the impossible, unapproachable and untenable Pauline Hanson.
It should also be noted that Hanson herself whilst lashing out at David Oldfield has refrained from attacking Ettridge. The question is: What does this man have over Hanson to buy her silence.
Alan Mayle
It sounds like the conspiracy theorists are still around.. "What does this man have over Hanson to buy her silence."
Alan, where have you been?
On 8th September 2000 on 2GB radio, an agitated Pauline spoke of David Ettridge leaving her "holding the bag on a number of occasions." (If you're that interested in more mainstream news items, you can run a search with one of the newspapers.. any further back than 4 weeks and you'll probably find you have to pay for the privilege.)
In a letter from Pauline Hanson, dated 16th October, 2000.. she requests that Oldfield, Ettridge and Burston are to be excluded from the party - they are no longer members.
"David Ettridge resigned as a director and secretary on the 11th of February 2000. I had no knowledge of this until 23rd of September."
Regardless of the fact that this statement from Pauline is quite astonishing (actually the whole letter is that way), it shows that Ettridge is basically silent compared to Oldfield. Pauline didn't know that Ettridge had left, whereas *everyone* knows if Oldfield even leaves the room, let alone the party - Ettridge has been described as the "estranged former One Nation Director".. whereas Oldfield is really just strange. He continues to run to the media, waving law suits at whim, and whatever other snippet he can dig up.
It was David Oldfield who on the 30th September at
a State Executive meeting...
"demanded his right to speak which he was allowed to do. He began
with a two-hour discourse of denigration of Pauline Hanson which he described
as 'what you need to know about Pauline.' He spoke at excessive length about
Pauline's faults, his perception of her mental state and of her future prospects.
He alleged Pauline had no future in politics because soon she would be jailed
and would be facing many legal matters." (Extract from letter from
Jim Millar, NSW President)
It would stand to reason with this kind of swill pouring from his mouth, Pauline is going to 'lash out.'
As for Ettridge... he's taken to slumming it with us cronies on this here web site. In short, he's old news.
Shondra Briton
PS How exactly is Whiteside going to "see justice done."...?
Whiteside responds to Shondra Briton... and Shon's response to Whiteside at this link. Here is an extract:
A lot of water has gone under the bridge since that time and I have every reason to hate the guts of Pauline Hanson! The indisputable fact is that the PHSM that I created for the people was stolen, from the people. On it was built a sham organisation that has raised millions of dollars that have gone unaccounted for. Hanson gave her consent to that theft. What followed was totally dishonest and fraudulent. If Hanson disputes this then let her take me to court. She is implicated to the hilt!