24th September 1998
I suppose it is an election campaign and I suppose we should get used to hypocrisy at every turn. But do we have to be fed it so conspicuously and unapologetically?
Can you remember when the Liberal party were being portrayed as the devil incarnate for even contemplating exchanging preferences with One Nation?
Can you remember the hullaballoo?
Can you remember the front page stories about this wimp John Howard not having the guts to send One Nation packing. In fact it was going to be the dirtiest job since Dad and Dave got caught in the farmyard if John Howard's Liberal's shared preferences or spoke of preferences with One Nation but then suddenly we learnt that the ALP in Queensland at the Queensland election handed out cards asking those who voted for the One Nation party to give them, the Labor party, their preferences.
Mr Beazley would say well that's not quite the same as having candidates exchange preferences. The semantic niceties escape us I am sure. Here was the Labor party saying the Queensland election campaign, "If you vote Green, One Nation or Democrat give us your preferences". Isn't it funny that the media doesn't take exception to that.
Now we learn that in Bronwyn Bishop's New South Wales seat of McKellar the Democrats have made an approach to One Nation to share preferences.
The Democrat candidate has approached the One Nation candidate in order to beat Bronwyn Bishop. So its okay to use preferences to beat a high profile Liberal but it is absolutely disgraceful in the front page stories day after day if the Liberal party used One Nation preferences to defeat someone like Kim Beazley
Its okay to attack Bronwyn Bishop with any stick at all - even One Nation preferences but it is no good if that tactic is used against Kim Beazley. No wonder the public have such low regard for the process.
I'm Alan Jones