19th November 1999

At what cost a flawed constitution?

Published in the public interest.

Yesterday I received a letter from Pauline Hanson's personal assistant, Cheyenne MacLeod,  dated 17th November 1999 informing me that

"your membership has lapsed and as it is well past the three month extension period, cannot be reactivated in its current form. (For the record, I have never received a renewal notice nor a reminder on the status of my membership).

"I refer to the Constitution of Pauline Hanson's One Nation..."

MacLeod then goes on to quote Rule 10 Clause 3 of the PHON Constitution....

The fact is that the Constitution referred to has no legal standing over me in Queensland as it has not been accepted by the party membership in this state and I remain a member of Pauline Hanson's One Nation Members Inc when the letter was sent to me.

Since  speaking out of my concerns  about the management of the party by the two Davids I have been inundated with information and stories from past and present members who have a valid axe to grind against them - complaints largely about the incompetence of Manly in administering the party.

Here lies the issue. I believe completely and unwaveringly in the party's ideals and fully support the party membership. However I have little faith in David Ettridge and David Oldfield who just magically appeared on the scene, like two Houdini's, and became key cogs in the One Nation family through the direct intervention of Pauline Hanson.

Hanson obviously believed that they would be able to build onto the foundation of Whiteside's formative "people's party", the Pauline Hanson Support Movement and has mistakenly, I now believe, put her complete trust in them.

The right to know about the PHON Constitution:

One Nation members will recall that the constitution designed on our behalf by the directors (Ettridge, Oldfield and Hanson) of Pauline Hanson's One Nation Limited for Pauline Hanson's One Nation was rejected by the membership at the 1999 National AGM. It has yet to be adopted some have rightly questioned why it has taken so long to "get right". We know that Pauline Hanson was not in favour of the constitution because she held nearly 3,500 votes and could personally have overturned the wishes of those who attended who wanted it re-written. She did not.

(Image right above: Pauline Hanson holds up her proxy sheet at the 1999 National AGM)

Which leaves the two David's as the instigators of constitutional clauses which had members screaming "This is not democratic!" and the reason why the costly Pauline Hanson One Nation Constitution is still in limbo.

I have been reliably informed that our lawyers who compiled the flawed Pauline Hanson One Nation constitution on the instructions of the two Davids, have already been paid the better half of $100,000 so far in relation to compiling this document. In fact the figure is estimated to be about $80,000! If this is true then you have to ask why it could be so wrong after such an enormous investment....

Of course One Nation's National Director David Ettridge has decreed that the party's official policy is not to answer any allegations that I might raise - so don't expect to hear answers on this matter here..... however a comprehensive audit of One Nation's accounts might bring up some really interesting results - including the actual costs to compile the tailor-made 2D-Pauline Hanson's One Nation "political party" constitution.

The true status of members in Queensland:

Members of Pauline Hanson's One Nation in Queensland need to know which part of the "political party" they actually belong to. Justice Atkinson ruled that they don't!

The members are effectively rendered as "fundraisers" and "party helpers" under an entity known as Pauline Hanson's One Nation Members Inc. which evolved from the original Pauline Hanson Support Movement founded by Bruce Whiteside in 1996.

How can this be true?

Because Pauline Hanson's One Nation Members' Inc is a separate Queensland legal entity, with its own Constitution, and still registered in Queensland with the State Office of Fair Trading.

Graphic right: Manly directed members to, unconstitutionally, move to a seperate entity in January 1999.  (Full story below)

Let us revisit what Judge Rosalyn Atkinson ruled when deregistering One Nation in Queensland:

1. Pauline Hanson One Nation Ltd ACN 079 986 913 (the company). There were five subscribers to the Memorandum and Articles of Association, Pauline Hanson, David Ettridge, David Oldfield, Andrew Carne and Stephen Menagh.

2. The unincorporated political party known as Pauline Hanson's One Nation of which Pauline Hanson, David Ettridge and David Oldfield were the only members.

3. The incorporated support group known after the 3 February 1998 as Pauline Hanson's One Nation Members Inc. By design the members voting rights of this group are obviously confined to the support group and they have no voting rights in the actual political party.

The confusion about where we belong has crept in because of a "directive" in December 1998 from Pauline Hanson's One Nation in Sydney and a later one in January 1999 (both from Claire Wright, branch co-ordinator) which instructed branches in Queensland to change their bank accounts from Pauline Hanson's One Nation Members' Inc to Pauline Hanson's One Nation (location) Branch.

Consider the dates of the requests, above, by Manly to change banking account details in light of Ettridge's comments when responding to the deregistration, where he says: "All persons contacted by the Queensland Electoral Commission confirmed that they were members of One Nation which is why our registration was granted back in 1998." Members were understandably confused not realising that they belonged to then, and now, an entity outside Pauline Hanson's One Nation as demonstrated in the graphic above.

[Pauline Hanson's One Nation Ltd is a company set up "to manage and conduct an (sic) political party", as stated in its Memorandum of Association. There are five subscribers signatures on the document dated 4 September 1997.]

The net result of this "directive" to branches, through their re-named branch bank accounts, is the belief that they belong to Pauline Hanson's One Nation "political party" in Queensland.

[Pauline Hanson's One Nation "political party" in Queensland which is administered by Pauline Hanson's One Nation Ltd.]

Pauline Hanson and Cheyenne MacLeod signed the documents to register the "political party" Pauline Hanson's One Nation with the Electoral Commission of Queensland (ECQ) on 15 October 1997. This same political party, "Pauline Hanson's One Nation", is currently deregistered pending next Tuesday's Court Appeal (Nov 23) in Brisbane. It was registered by the ECQ on 4 December 1997.

Because of the above, it would appear that we have little chance of winning the Appeal against the "political party's" deregistration despite David Ettridge's letter of assurance to members linked below.

My calls for the Manly office to fully inform members of the implications if the appeal is lost has fallen on deaf ears.

Status of the Pauline Hanson's One Nation constitution in Queensland:

Furthermore, because the DRAFT Federal and State Constitutions of Pauline Hanson's One Nation "political party" have not been ratified by the membership, we are still operating in Queensland under the State Constitution of Pauline Hanson's One Nation Members' Inc.

In summary, Pauline Hanson's One Nation Members' Inc.  (page two) in Queensland is a totally separate legal entity with its own valid Constitution, while branches have been ordered to change their bank details to reflect an entity operating under Pauline Hanson's One Nation "political party", without any prior consultation of the membership over this change.

The correct procedure to enlist members into the "political party" from Pauline Hanson's One Nation Members' Inc requires all members to vote on a "special resolution" to legitimise this move. This never happened. In other words members of Pauline Hanson's One Nation Members Inc were never informed of the implication of this name change or given the opportunity to vote on making this move.

Branches in Queensland should consider reverting back to "Members Inc." -- which falls under the original Pauline Hanson's Support Movement Inc. Constitution - so that their meetings are held legally and constitutionally.

I will leave you to make your own assumptions about where you stand today. It is important that One Nation members realise that we are apparently the only people being kept in the dark over the true position. The media already know, the legal system knows - we are not airing any dirty linen in public that they are not already aware of - so why then the secrecy when it comes to informing you?

Here is what David Ettridge had to say about the deregistration - the only official advice sent to members to date.