Saturday 26th April 1997
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Pauline Hanson's One Nation Official home page.Pauline Hanson's Offical Home Page. Extracts from Pauline Hanson's book "THE TRUTH". Now don't get me wrong, I don't agree with what he is alleged to have done (ie rort the system) but I find it quite remarkable that in a country where we are all supposed to get a "fair go" that on the other hand absolutely nothing has been done "visibly" by authorities about the Packer allegations by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Four Corners Programme - or for that matter, neither has any follow-up been attempted by the mainstream media.
From this you can draw one of two conclusions:
a) The allegations against Packer were completely incorrect and required no further investigation or media coverage,
or b) The journalists in this country have either been muzzled or are yellow-bellied and not worth giving any credence to at all.
Now let's dig a little deeper - the feeding frenzy (which is the description often applied to a pack of Australian journalists attacking a soft target) is quick to denegrate Senator Colston, Pauline Hanson, or any "authorised" target. On the other hand I have heard first hand the frustration of reputable Australian journalists who write an explosive story on a "protected" target and nothing ever gets published.... Now you draw your own conclusions but let us read between the lines in two articles heading up the front page of today's Weekend Australian Focus.... both are attacking the credibility of a "soft" target - Pauline Hanson.
The lead is by Senior Reporter, Paul Kelly, entitled "The Challenge of Pauline Hanson - Extreme views the Right must reject". (With a sub-heading "The time has come for members of Australia's conservative intelligentsia to declare their unambiguous opposition to the Hanson phenomenon".)
The article starts:
"With Pauline Hanson's One Nation party pulling large crowds and, according to the latest Newspoll, attracting the same level of voter support as the Australian Democrats, it is time to draw some of the harder lessons from Hanson's ongoing legacy."
In this opening statement Kelly a) brings in an element of doubt by saying "according to" and b) makes his intentions that a well orchestrated attack on Ms Hanson is to follow with reference to "it is time to draw some of the harder lessons from Hanson's ongoing legacy".
The article continues:
"Since these phenomena won't disappear Hanson-type groups will become fixtures within a more fragmented political system."
"Hanson is not important in her own right. Indeed her inability to work with her advisesr and organisers is a negative pointer for any political success. But Hanson symolises an alienation within part of the community caused by a conjunction of forces - globalisation, economic restructuring and social changes - where people need scapegoats to explain their frustration.
The public discrediting of Hanson is complete - right at the very start without any reference to what she stands for or why she pulls the support that she does. There is no balance, no "other side of the story", nothing.... The rest of the article (the majority of a broadsheet page) continues justifying Kelly's point of view and I won't bore you with it - because the logic is totally one-sided.
The other article by Robert Manne picks up the theme with an opening gambit of:
"The manifesto begins with the movement's sacred texts - Hanson's speeches and press releases. It concludes with the speech delivered by Bruce Whiteside at the launch of the Pauline Hanson Support Movement."
"I have often wondered, idly, what a politically significant extremist of the Right might look like in contemporary Australia. After reading what looks like the One Nation party's manifesto, Pauline Hanson: The Truth, I have a clearer idea.
What "looks like" then becomes fact... without any basis on which to support the accuracy of the statement.
The article then goes on to denegrate Ms Hanson's credibility by taking selective extracts from the book - none of those referred to in extensive extracts taken from "THE TRUTH" on the net are even referred to, no, just parts of paragraphs, words and sentences are used then extensively examined in a negative light.
In fact, rather like this commentary here...
So why not use this sort of investigative journalism into the affairs of Packer after the Four Corners report or take on Murdoch over his warrant of arrest for fraud in Israel you might ask?
Quite simply because it would cost Kelly, Manne and the editor of The Australian newspaper their jobs in the short term and their careers in the long term - and they both know it.
The master of the pack has a tight hand on the leash (it is well known that Murdoch personally reads all his group's papers every day).... and, sadly, those who hold the leash in this country want to control even more. And what about defamation action by Packer companies to shut up the ABC? Is this just another symptom of Packer and his puppets? Move aside the Ewings and "Dallas", move aside....
Did you read about Packer and the prostitute Heidi Fleiss?
In case you missed the first link here is another that A CURRENT AFFAIR didn't see... what a scoop or should it be what a loss of career opportunity!
Finally let us remember that there has been a falling out between Hanson and some of her advisers like Bruce Whiteside - who is angling for a piece of the action of Channel Nine's Sixty Minutes.
Reading between the lines the above articles are dangerous because they lay the groundwork for Hanson's new detractors, like Whiteside, when they bubble up to the top in the media limelight - because they will get it - because Hanson is not in the pay of the establishment.
And when their moment of glory comes watch the media explode with front page headlines trying to discredit One Nation.... Sadly, I don't even have to predict this - the deceit that represents Australia's mainstream media and many of its journalists.
The Royal Australian Planning Institute and the Australian Institute of Valuers and Land Economists said native title posed no threat to land management or planning on pastoral leases.
The report states, "The property rights of pastoral lessees continue no less secure than previously, and any attempt to extinguish or modify the common law rights of native title holders on such grounds is ill considered.
"Extinguishment or modification of the common-law rights of native title holders would be an undesirable precedent if any action was taken to reduce or remove the compensation to be paid."
The Queensland United Graziers Association chief executive, Mick Prendergast, attacked the comments as "emotional clap trap".
"In 1993 the Government, the rural industry and the Aboriginal groups agreed native title should be extinguished by pastoral leases and all we want is for that agreement to be delivered," he said.
The Australian Defence Force (ADF) has warned the government that it needs to prepare against any future threat of military attack or aggression by our Asian neighbours to the north. The ADF report states "The current risk of such conflict is not high but nor is it negligable, and it has grown in recent years."
ADF strategists are particularly concerned about the capability of Asian countries armed with advanced fighter aircraft, surface vessels armed with anti-ship missiles and high tech command and control communications equipment.
Extensive political commentary and links can be found on Palmer's Australian Politics page.
Dear sir,
Keep up the good work, I am amazed at the lengths the media is going to to try and descredit Pauline Hanson. It just shows that the fat cats are scared of something. Perhaps Australia has at last found someone who will "Keep The Bastards Honest"
Murray Hallam
Subject: Oh, the usual.
You know, at first I was skeptical about Pauline Hanson. She claims to want equality for all, but at the same time seems to take every opportunity to incite racial hatred. Take that crack about aboriginies and cannibalism. I mean, okay, maybe they DID eat people once, but what's that got to do with the price of eggs in China today? It seems that the only reason that she brought that up is so we can feel justified in telling the aboriginies how they should run their lives- "Come on, you Abos, you're gonna be white like US!".
But today, I realised Hanson was right. Asians, Aboriginies, Europeans, are all getting it way too easy through affirmitive discrimination. First Labour, then Liberal, got soft on them and now they're running amok. Why did I only realise this today? Because today was the start of the first race riots, as predicted by Ms Hanson.
I was appalled to see fifty million Asians- who all got here through our lacklustre immigration policies, swamping the streets, stealing letter boxes and slashing tyres. One of them punched me in the face before taking my girlfriend's purse. Naturally I informed the police, but all they said was, "Sorry mate, can't touch 'em. They're Asians. Mr Howard says we have to let them do what they want".
Next a large group of drunken Aboringines (or "Aboriginals" as Ms Hanson can't help but call them) broke into my house and took their dogs into the kitchen. The disease was absolutely rampant. Of course, they'd only had a beer each, you know how they can't hold their grog. After helping themselves to the contents of my fridge, they smashed my toilet and raped my girlfriend thirty one times. I was most upset at this. Again the police wouldn't touch them, even though they all had criminal records stretching back to 1926. This wasn't Mr Howard's fault, though, it was Paul Keating. As I write this I am hiding in an old bunker near Fort Scratchley. You can possibly guess why I'm hiding here. Pauline Hanson's worst fears have been confirmed. Civil war has broken out in Newcastle. The sides are clearly drawn: White vs Asians and Aboriginies. I can't get any food because every time I stick my head out of the bunker, an Aborigine or Asian tries to shoot it off. You may ask, why hasn't Australia declared martial law? You guessed it. The army can't touch the Asians and Aborginies. Those darn bleeding leftist fat cats and bureaucrats. And social workers. And probably uni students to. And I tell you what, the unemployment is shocking, too. You can bet that Ms Hanson gets my vote at the next election.
Bob the Ever-Happy Jalapeno Pepper:
Kieran O'Donoghue
Have a good one.
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