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an Aussie's viewpoint on Australia's
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Since
October 1995
Pauline Hanson's One Nation register 78 candidates for Queensland state elections
Yesterday
state leader Heather Hill registered 78 One Nation candidates with
the Queensland Electoral Commission.
I was delighted to be invited to cover the historic event with only the Australian Labor Party placing more candidates in the upcoming election.
Picture on the right, Left to right: State Director Peter James, State leader Heather Hill and Mick Chapman carrying the briefcase holding the candidates nominations.
When the news about the large number of lodgements broke the major parties said that if One Nation holds the balance of power in Queensland that they will refuse to "do deals" forcing the state into another election.
Yesterday Heather Hill was quizzed by the media on this, "I would hope that the leaders of the major parties are adult enough to sit around the table," she said.
Ms Hill said that in the parliaments of Tasmania and the ACT no major party had controlled a majority for almost five years and these states appeared to have stable and workable governments.
She went on to say that the leaders of the major parties were insulting One Nation supporters in their continuing rejection of the democratic system that Australia enjoyed.
After saying on Sunday that he would not comment on One Nation again State Premier Rob Borbidge once again launched into the party after hearing that it had lodged 78 candidates for the upcoming election.
"They say that they will not support our budget or Labor's and therefore there can be no supply," said Borbidge.
"This makes parliament unworkable as we will not be doing deals.
Neither Mr Beattie nor I would be able to go to the Governor and ask permission to form a government because neither would be able to guarantee supply."
Sounds to me like the "B" team (Beattie/Borbidge) should go back to their sandpit to play sandcastles.
Ron Hardy - the Courier Mail: "Hanson 'war hero' exposed"
Yesterday I received a phone call from The Courier Mail's Neil Wiseman who wanted to contact the man referred to on the Queensland State Election pages, Ron Hardy.
This is what appeared on page one of today's Courier Mail:
The way Pauline Hanson's One Nation tells the story, supporter Ron Hardy is a hero. According to the Hanson Internet site, Mr Hardy's wartime exploits earned him the nation's highest military honour - the Victoria Cross - handed to him by the King of England.
The website claims Mr Hardy, who wants One Nation to win seats in the June 13 election, was a prisoner of war of the Japanese and worked on the Hellfire Pass.
He even endured an appendectomy at the hands of legendary was hero Weary Dunlop and then, three hours later, returned to work.
Ms Hanson could not hope for a better endorsement - if it were true. But it isn't. It seems to have no basis in fact.
One Nation deleted the endorsement from its website last night after admitting it had no evidence that Mr Hardy as a VC winner.
In fact, of the three surviving Australian VC winners, none is named Hardy.
And a search of War Memorial records by National Party Senator Bill O'Chee revealed the last non-Australian VC winner named Hardy was a British man who died in 1918.
Emergence of the false information yesterday triggered a series of attacks on the credibility of One Nation, which is performing strongly in polling for the state election and could even win seats.
Former Returned Services League president Sir William Keys said the false claims were an insult to war veterans and all Australians.
"The Victoria Cross is a hallowed recognition of great valour," Sir William said. "Some things are sacred."
Sir William said the misrepresentation was typical of One Nation which he said was a disgraceful movement run by "wretched people".
Premier Borbidge said the incident highlighted One Nation's lack of credibility. He said parties had to ensure information they presented about themselves was correct.
"Any attempt to mislead people is a breach of trust," Mr Borbidge said, "I find it particularly distasteful when such an attempt seeks to misrepresent the position of ex-servicemen."
One Nation spokesman David Oldfield said he was not aware the Hardy story had been placed on the Internet and had ordered it to be removed immediately.
Mr Oldfield said he had doubted Mr Hardy's story of being presented with a VC as a member of the British Army in Korea, but because he did not know it had been placed on the One Nation website he had not challenged the story for fear of upsetting Mr Hardy, whom he said was an old man in poor health.
"This is unfortunate but it has nothing to do with the state election," Mr Oldfield said, "It is a perfect example of how desperate they (the National Party) are."
When contacted last night Mr Hardy said he was ill and could not recall events of half a century ago. When read the quote of support Ms Hanson attributed to him, Mr Hardy said, "Who doctored that?".
The One Nation biography on Mr Hardy also contained basic errors of military history, including incorrectly placing Hellfire Pass in Singapore instead of Thailand.
My response:
I first met Ron Hardy at a One Nation meeting in January this year. He was introduced to me as a war hero who held a Victoria Cross for valour. This was apparently common knowledge at the meeting.
I, of my own initiative, sat down with Ron and quizzed him about the story and how he got a VC. We talked for about half an hour. After the discussion I asked him if he would mind if I used his story on the Internet as an introduction the Queensland State Web Site.
He said no.
We went outside and I took his picture (as used in today's Courier Mail) to go with the story.
I never doubted Ron Hardy's word. Why should I? It was my decision and my decision alone to place his story and the image on the state web site. The decision had nothing to do with any of the One Nation executive.
I stand totally behind the quotes of support that Hardy gave me at this time. His being a supporter, and clearly identified as such, is hardly grounds for a "lack of credibility" in what One Nation says. However, the story was published at a time when this old man, who might not have a VC but still might be a war hero, is extremely sick.
When this was brought to the attention of Neil Wiseman he said callously, "Sorry, it's too late. I have spoken to the Premier and we are running the story."
Last night I removed the reference from the state page during an update about the lodgement of One Nation candidates at the Queensland Electoral Commission.
Now let us compare this trivial issue to the shredding of the Heiner documents by the Australian Labor Party's Goss government in 1990.
The documents included evidence of child abuse at Brisbane's John Oxley Youth Detention Centre.
In a comment by Courier Mail reporter on Monday he states, "The story that is emerging from the ruins of the aborted Heiner inquiry is a damning inditement on both sides of politics.
The failure of the Coalition Government and the Previous Labor Government to properly investigate and act on the problems buried in the aftermath of the inquiry shows an appalling failure to do what should be among a government's paramount tasks - protect the children of our society.
The children at the centre of these claims are wards of our state, the troubled, the disheartened and the self-destructive. They were those most in need of protection.
Why is it that the materials unearthed in just five days by former police commissioner Noel Newnham and this newspaper could not be extracted previously?
It was a Labor bureaucracy, steeled with the blessings of a Labor cabinet, that elected to shred the results of the inquiry, a controversial decision based on highly contested reasoning.
Staff transfers out of the detention centre were the only outcomes of the dispute. The wound that began it all was left to heal itself.
However, it was the Coalition in opposition government, which allowed the murky machinations behind the affair to fade from public scrutiny.
By ignoring calls for further investigations from barristers chosen to fathom the alleged criminality of the matter, the Coalition showed a lack of will to find the truth.
The Heiner affair is a terrible stain on all sides of politics.
Evidence to Mr Heiner in 1989 included the following:
In a classic attempt to re-write history Labor state leader Peter Beattie said, "The National Party government at the time didn't set up the inquiry with the proper legal protection.
"Because it was fatally flawed these matters weren't investigated and National Party incompetence cost these people their dignity."
It was Beattie who sat in on the Cabinet meeting in 1990 which authorised the shredding of the Heiner documents in 1990.
Now what was it that Beattie said about my placement of Ron Hardy on the web page?
"Any attempt to mislead people is a breach of trust," Mr Borbidge said.
I wonder why he is not as concerned about his Government's and the Labor Party's systemic breach of trust over the Heiner documents.
Aboriginal "Sorry Day"
Well today Australian's are supposed to be saying "sorry" to Aborigines for something that we have not played a part in and over an issue which is understood and misrepresented by the media.
The Herald Sun voteline on whether people would be saying "sorry" or not today revealed this interesting result:
| No | 2,445 |
| Yes | 158 |
Says it all I believe.
You want the truth on the "stolen children"?... you will find the truth here.
Making the
news" -
Here are the facts that are freaking the ALP and the Coalition in Queensland:
| Party | April-May 1998 | Jan-Mar 1998 | 1995 Election |
| ALP | 41 | 41 | 42.9 |
| Coalition | 39 | 39 | 49 |
| One Nation | 10 | 5 | n/a |
| Others | 6 | 10 | 4 |
| Greens | 2 | 2 | 2.9 |
| Democrats | 2 | 3 | 1.2 |
Subject: Brand X marketing - you lucky lot.
Do not feel angry with all the negative attention from the press, it is really very good for you.
In the US years ago soap adds used to compare their product to "Brand X" product until some one decided to market a real brand X. The result was that Brand X's market share was better than the average of the other products.
You are the beneficiaries of brand X marketing. One Nation is now the most often heard name in the media, it is heard more than labor, Coalition, National Party, Liberals --- -result is I predict a land slide victory for One Nation.
For those who do not feel inclined to vote for a major party they now have you to vote for.
Suggestion --- make the statement that "Politicians have had enough time to learn what is happening in this country and have done so little to help improve things for Australians, they do not deserve to be in parliament." We are there for giving our preferences against the sitting member. This will ensure that those who get elected will do their job for the people of Queensland. Save this to the very last minute and make an exception for independents and a few politicians who have tried to look after their electors. They can not all be that bad.
Best regards
Trevor Croll
I am barracking for One Nation all the way....
The Therese Theile letter posted a few days ago...see responses below
Subject: Introducing Therese Theile
Ladies and gentlemen, presenting Therese Theile, RN.
She's one of the 'younger, more intelligent' voters. Unlike the 'poorly educated' 'over 40s', who 'hanker back to the 1950s', she's 'tertiary (sic) educated', and a Registered Nurse! But unlike the downtrodden nurses of yesteryear, she's 'more professional, competent, clear thinking and intelligent....the most important part of health care....one of the most well respected and trusted members of society....'
So perhaps modesty isn't one of her virtues, but that's for the 'ordinary people' who respond to 'very simplistic' ideas and support those crafty enough to make politics sound 'easy'. No, Therese Theile is definitely one of the younger generation: modern, sophisticated, knows what other age-groups are thinking, knows all about firearms, and is absolutely chock full of herself.
So there you are, over-40s. There's the product of your education tax dollar: a conceited, arrogant, condescending, thoroughly indoctrinated, bigoted, ill-mannered, narcissistic pain-in-the-arse.
Graham Strachan.
Subject: Response to Thiele letter
The letter from T. Thiele posted on yr page on May 25th contains a number of inaccuracies and logical errors(logical fallacies) that, I believe, need addressing.
MS Thiele castigates the ON Party 'pro-gun' stance. She conveniently overlooks the fact that the ON Party 'pro-gun' stance is merely the policy and laws that were in place prior to the so-called Port Arthur massacre and which, by and large, were adhered to by a majority of Australian states, irrespective of political persuasion. These gun-laws were changed by political whim without any input from the Australian public in the form of a mandate: either by referendum and/or electoral ballot. We were constantly told by the 'media' that the public was 'demanding' tough new gun laws and yet the pro-gun demonstrations around the nation consistently outnumbered the anti-gun demonstrations by a factor of 10-to-1.
The causal relationship between high gun ownership and crime has never been conclusively established. In fact, in certain parts of the USA where the carrying of guns was legislated as _mandatory_(barring conscientious objections) the actual crime rate plummeted(I cite the instance of Kenneshaw County, Georgia). Furthermore, it begs the question: Australia has _always_ had a high level of gun ownership. In fact, following the Second World War, this country was _awash_ with guns. Yet, their were no instances of random shootings. Clearly, other factors are involved. To relate gun ownership to _high crime rates_ is to commit the fallacy of 'false cause'
MS Thiele also states that 'gun ownership is a privilege: not a right', a line of argument frequently trotted out by the media. Well: says who? The Constitution of Australia, as far as I know, is completely silent on the issue of gun ownership. So where does this line of argument originate? In fact, a case can be made that the Commonwealth of Australia is still subject to the British Constitution of 1689: in which case, gun ownership _IS_ a right. This notwithstanding, there is no legal or constitutional basis(apart from the whims of politicians and the media) to say that 'gun ownership is a privilege: not a right'. MS Thiele is _just_plain_wrong_ on this issue.
MS Thiele also tries a variation on the logical fallacy 'argument from the future'. According to her, 'future generations' will pay the price of 'slack gun laws'. Without first establishing a causal link between gun ownership and crime, the argument is vacuous. You could just as easily say(indeed, probably with some degree of correctness) 'future generations will pay the price of increasingly violent videos'.
Next follows a long rant about Pauline Hanson's supposed comments on tertiary educated RNs and police. I seem to recall that RNs and police were not tertiary qualified up until relatively recently, but that most major public hospitals, at least, coped quite well. The current crisis in the public health system would seem to indicate that tertiary- educated RNs aren't making a _hell_ of a lot of difference. Once again, other factors(like government funding and privatisation of resources) are involved.
MS Thiele concludes with a _glaring_ fallacy on the lack of support for ON Party from young, tertiary educated people. Several invalid assumptions are involved here:[i]most young people are tertiary educated(what about the large number with technical and/or trade training); [ii]very few people over 40 have tertiary education(reasonable public access to tertiary education, because of Austudy or its predecessor and low non-compulsory 'up-front' tertiary fees) has been available since the mid-70s: which would put a large number of people indeed in the over-40 tertiary educated bracket;[iii]if you currently have a tertiary education _no way_ you would support ON Party(really? perhaps the _real_ question is: how come? Maybe the current nature of tertiary education should be critically examined. What are people actually taught nowadays in universities that would _automatically preclude_ them from even considering _certain viewpoints_. I detect the noxious odour of _policitcal correctness_[aka:'brainwasing'!] I put it to MS Thiele that [apart from certain technical areas like medicine, engineering and computer science] there is _currently_ a major moral, philosophical and ethical crisis within the academy that ill-behoves those who currently have tertiary qualification to make 'value judgements' on any subject at all. I would recommend that she read 'The Closing of the American Mind' by Professor Allan Bloom and/or 'Reaon in the Balance: The Case Against Naturalism in Science, Law and Education' by Professor Phillip E. Johnson. She might then gain a better perspective on reality. Perhaps a course in basic logic would help also!)
James Hughes
Subject: Ordinary Australians
Poor Therese Theile. She'll eventually blush for shame at having written such patronising nonsense, and illogical patronising nonsense at that.
First she claims to be an 'ordinary Australian'. In the next paragraph she says that the simplistic views of ON appeal to ordinary Australians because they don't 'really follow politics and the political system, so someone who makes it sound 'easy' is surely going to make an impact'.
Come again? I would suggest that ordinary Australians (is she one or not?) are too smart to be brainwashed into believing that there is any difference between the Liberal and Labor parties. They can see their country being sold out from under their noses in the uncritical, bi-partisan acceptance of globalisation, and they don't like it. That is why people are attracted to ON. They actually think. They don't swallow the Liberal-Labor party line.
Tertiary education is indeed a wonderful privilege, but not all professions need university degrees. Most professional education in Germany is conducted in the old College system which served Australia so well till Dawkins came in and wrecked it. The old two tier system of colleges for professional training, and universities for more theoretical study and research made a lot of sense and was more economical. Ms Theile writes, "Hospital training simply did not give nurses adequate theoretical knowledge to be able to keep up with rapidly advancing medical, scientific and legal knowledge to be able to be a safe, competent practicing [sic] nurse".
So who now cleans up the mess? Rubs backs? Sits with a labouring woman? Comforts frightened children? Surely no highly educated woman, especially one who is so concerned with her status and dignity, is going to do such work. If university educated nurses are so much better at their jobs, why are the rates of infections so high in hospitals? It is well known that hidden cameras have revealed appalling hygiene among many doctors and nurses. Non-university educated Matron would never have stood for it!
Antonia Feitz
Subject: Back to School.
In response to Therese Thiele's comments , allowing for the arrogant swagger of youth, and contrary to her self perception as an intelligent 30 plus university trained graduate, there is no experience for life skills of which she appears to have a limited grasp. in most societies, age was a valued commodity, representing experiences and knowledge that can only acquired by living it. The continued correspondence to this page of anti One Nation advocates without exception , refer to their "superior tertiary trained intellectual capacity". Please!!!! A university education is fine but is not an automatic "rite of passage" to intelligence , merely skills and as you say , "theoretical". there are a lot of professional "dunces" running around, who do not know the meaning of logical analysis, trust me. As a sporting shooter and twice a recipient of medical incompetence, i can speak from experience. A comprehensive study in 1995 found that hospital complications and injuries were responsible for 18,000+ deaths and over 16% of all patients permanently disabled. compared to 114 gun deaths , assault , accident etc(suicides are not included because it was a choice situation, even so guns are not the preferred method even then). So i assume , with your superior intelligence , as against us mere mortals who cant tell our ass from our elbow, you should be able to figure out that you have a lot of catching up to do to get your own house in order!!! Yes we know that you are there to save lives, but similarly , if a policeman, using his issued firearm, in the process of preventing a crime were to fire upon a criminal and wound and kill 15 innocent bystanders , he would hardly be slapped on the back for his achievement. in addition , I have amongst my acquaintances, people who are ON supporters, shooters , and are University graduates as well. The singular difference being that they worked their way through the ranks, not flipping pages or attending demonstrations for the dopiest of causes. So perhaps you should go back , reduce the battle field number of casualties directly caused by incompetents in your profession, re learn how to think for yourself rather than parrot your left wing professors, then come back and lecture us old geriatrics!
! R.Darben
Dear Editor,
The attached text file is an example of the elite's deception we face all the time. Aussies have a marvelous opportunity to put a stop to this kind of tactics, by supporting Pauline Hanson's One Nation candidates. Good on ya!
kypd,
john hamilton - USA
Another perfect day in paradise.
Have a good one.
Recent stories exclusive to (how to) subscribe/rs of the Australian National News of the Day:
Taking on News
Limited at the Australian Press Council in Sydney.- 23rd May 1998
Launch of One Nation's
Queensland leadership.- 22nd May 1998
Protest over
closure of National Australia Bank branch in Ipswich - 21st May
1998
Pauline Hanson meets the people of Blair - 20th May 1998
Unethical trifecta
expose Courier Mail's intellectual prostitutes - 9th May 1998
MIGA - son of MAI
exposed - 8th May
Just me and Pauline - 5th May
One Nation breakfast
- 4th May
Just who are the
Mont Pelerin
Society - 3rd May
The Internet and
the DEATH of the MAI - 30th April
Launch of Pauline
Hanson's re-election campaign - 29th April
Second One Nation
protest surprises Bob McMullan - 28th April
Sultan
of Brunei buys up big tracks of Australia - then negotiates Indonesian
"settlements" 25th April
Maritime
Union of Australia win in the Federal Court 22nd April
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