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an Aussie's viewpoint on Australia's
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Since
October 1995
Shock Horror! Nats to put One Nation ahead of Labor!!
Just to add to the confusion that has reigned over the last few weeks the state National and Liberal party last night decided to put Pauline Hanson's One Nation before the Australian Labor Party.
News Limited's Courier Mail have been at the forefront of a systemic campaign to try to intimidate the Coalition to put their traditional foes, Labor above One Nation... with that most reviled of journalists, Terry Sweetman, even going so far as to refer to the Nazis in the same breath.
Of course, Sweetman typifies the profile of what New York Times chief of staff, John Swinton, refers to as an "intellectual prostitute"..
While the change of heart by the Liberals comes after the newspaper's active lobbying to get them to put One Nation last the Nationals have always had a problem with the idea... as it would have further destroyed their falling support base which is now lower than that of One Nation in Queensland (see heading "Issues affecting the Queensland State election" below).
One Nation has, in the meantime, made it quite clear that they are not going to allocate preferences. To do so would be foolish as the support base for One Nation comes from all sides of politics - including a large number of traditional Labor supporters.
Last night National Party state director Ken Crooke warned, "If people voting for One Nation exhaust their preferences they will elect a Labor government and bring down the Coalition."
In Canberra John Howard was getting in on the act suggesting that Labor was encouraging One Nation voters not to allocate preferences.
State ALP leader Peter Beattie, never one to shy away from a photo opportunity, said, "I'd imagine that principled, decent Liberals around the state will be appalled and the business community will be absolutely stunned. They (the Coalition) are not fit for office."
This statement by Beattie follows growing outrage over the Goss cabinet's corruption in ordering the shredding of the Heiner inquiry documents (Beattie was a member of that cabinet).
The Coalition statement defies all the claims by Liberal branches seeking exposure in The Courier Mail over the last few weeks by publicly saying that they would put One Nation last.
There will now only be one seat where the Liberals will put One Nation last.... Sunnybank, where an Asian stands as their candidate in this largely Asian area.
What has freaked both major parties is One Nation's growing support and the lodgement on Monday by the party of 79 (not 78) candidates in the Queensland state election.
One Nation spokesman David Oldfield said yesterday that the Coalition had, at last, come to their senses. He confirmed to me that he had been approached by senior Coalition members endeavouring to secure a preference swap, but had refused to entertain the idea.
Heather Hill holds open forum at the Ipswich City
Council's Barry Jones theatre in the
Global Information Centre.
Last night Pauline Hanson's One Nation held a public meeting to discuss One Nation policies and the dangers of globalisation. Heather talked about family policies and drew a large amount of interest and support for One Nation's new gun policies.
I was asked to talk about the MAI, FSIA, MIGA, UN Draft Declaration on the rights of Indigenous peoples and UN agreement on fresh water. The Internet links used at the meeting can be seen here.
Channel 9's A Current Affair covered the meeting as part of a story that they are doing on Queensland's One Nation leader.
Below are some images taken at the meeting. Left to right: Scott Balson; Heather Hill (State leader); Collene Hughes (Bundamba) and Jack Paff (Ipswich West).
Political correctness yelps.
One of the most divisive, ill-informed and extreme articles that I have ever read has appeared in today's Courier Mail. This politically-correct classis is written by an Asian Democrat candidate in the upcoming state election.
It also imposes obligations as well as conferring rights - the right to express one’s own culture and beliefs involves a reciprocal responsibility to accept the rights of others to express their views and values. Hanson ignores such principles and makes a simple-minded comparison to Ireland and Bosnia as reasons for opposing a multicultural Australia.
Without the migrant community, One Nation will simply exploit the division between urban and regional Australia, which could result in urban Australians turning against regional communities because of misconceived notions of wealth and mismanagement within farming and regional communities.
And some words of Common sense from Alan Jones on Channel 9's Today programme:
How far are we prepared to go in this country in caving into minorities and sponsoring idiocy? I had a call on my radio programme about the Red Cross saying that the organisation had banned the saying of prayers at meetings.
When I checked it out I was offered a memorandum which says and I quote ‘We should times stick to the principles of Red Cross, we must strictly observe that we do not discriminate as to the nationality, race, religious beliefs, class or political opinions of individuals. Therefore it is felt that, although it has been a common practice for branches, in particular, to say grace or prayers during the course of a function we should not under any circumstances display a religious preference or bias.
The memorandum goes on to suggest that instead of prayers meetings use a ‘friendship statement’.
On a couple of points:
Does this mean that in all the years of great Red Cross tradition and the saying of prayers that the Red Cross has been guilty of discrimination and bias. In the eyes of whoever drafted this nonsense that must be the view.
Which leads to the second point. If we have ‘friendship statements’ instead of saying prayers then perhaps the Red Cross ought to recognise that we still live in a society the majority of whom are Christians who believe in the practice of prayer. If the Red Cross can’t bring itself to this reality and act consistently with the view of the majority of Australians the Red Cross might find that all its proud traditions are at risk as the public decide to withdraw support for an organisation that simply doesn’t seem to have the courage of its history or its convictions.
I’m Alan Jones
Even Blind Harry can see what is happening in Australia. It is fine if you are non-mainstream Australian to maintain your religious beliefs, political opinions and culture but a crime for born and bred Australians to try to retain the same ideal.
This is the land of the politically correct. The divisive land of the likes of Anthony Lee.
Forward to the past
Extract from article by Graham Strachan:
Globalism, resisting this trend, wants to collectivise them again, herd them all together, eliminate their autonomy, and force them to participate in a ‘global economy’, a ‘global neighbourhood’, even a ‘global religion’ (true!), and answer to one global government. Far from being the ‘thinking of the future’, globalism is the old empire-building impulse of the past, a frame of mind which has disrupted human existence for the past 5,500 years, now directed globally.
ALP in disarray in Queensland state election
The small town of Childers is in the heartland of the large central Queensland state seat of Burnett.
On Labour day the Childers branch of the ALP was left in tatters when 13 of the 20 branch members resigned after claims that the membership had now fallen in behind Pauline Hanson's One Nation.
The claims follow the passing of a motion of no confidence in the ALP candidate for the seat of Burnett, Greg McMahon, who has threatened to lay charges against his colleagues for disloyalty.
A former member of the branch said yesterday that the reports that One Nation agitators had taken over the branch were untrue. "It was not that sophisticated at all," he said. "There was just these people who started expressing these views which are totally contrary to the Labor Party's way of doing things."
The disruption in the Childers branch came to light when a letter written by McMahon about the developments to ALP State Secretary Mike Kaiser was leaked to the local News Mail newspaper.
In the letter McMahon claims that the Childers branch had been taken over by One Nation members or supporters of Pauline Hanson. He said that he wanted to lay charges of disloyalty against two members but feared that the action was too close to the June 13 election.
Chinese community start squealing...
The Chinese community have started a petition against One Nation's state leader because she has threatened to close the Premier's Department of Multicultural Affairs (costing over Au$2 million per annum) so that the money can be used to the benefit of the Australian family.
The media quizzed Heather over the development. Her response was simple. If the Chinese involved are Australian what can be their problem? They have families so the money will be re-directed in further support in this area.
Issues affecting the Queensland State election:
Influential issues for voters:
| Issue | Total | Labor | Liberal | National | Coalition | One Nation | Democrats | Independents/Others | Undecided |
| % of vote | 100% | 36% | 19.7% | 9.5% | 29.2% | 18% | 2.8% | 6% | 8% |
| No of people surveyed | 1808 | 664 | 356 | 173 | 529 | 306 | 51 | 111 | 147 |
| Unemployment | 47% | 54% | 45% | 37% | 42% | 41% | 54% | 46% | 48% |
| Hospitals | 40% | 46% | 37% | 31% | 35% | 35% | 31% | 41% | 41% |
| Economic Development | 32% | 34% | 36% | 27% | 33% | 31% | 34% | 30% | 25% |
| Industrial Issues | 29% | 34% | 28% | 32% | 30% | 24% | 18% | 28% | 23% |
| Native Title | 29% | 23% | 32% | 29% | 31% | 39% | 35% | 35% | 16% |
| Gun Laws | 28% | 30% | 23% | 28% | 24% | 29% | 27% | 34% | 27% |
| Leadership | 24% | 26% | 24% | 22% | 24% | 24% | 24% | 29% | 18% |
| Others | 12% | 12% | 13% | 9% | 11% | 12% | 15% | 19% | 11% |
Cries of Freedom Sound in Jakarta
Extract from the Washington Post:
JAKARTA, Indonesia, May 25—For a brief moment today, Cipinang Prison threw open its gates and gave Indonesians a simultaneous glimpse of their country's repressive past and what many hope will be its democratic future.
Authorities allowed two prominent political prisoners to step out onto a second-floor balcony of the aging prison to address a crowd of about 1,000 people, drawing wild cheers from Indonesia's poor, disenfranchised and unrecognised as dozens of armed soldiers looked on stoically.
"Merdeka! Merdeka!" shouted one of the freed men, former legislator Sri Bintang Pamungkas, as he stood beside his smiling wife and child and punched his fist into the sweltering air -- a gesture mimicked by many in the crowd.
Merdeka is the Indonesian word for freedom, something nearly 200 political prisoners hope to gain from the new government of President B.J. Habibie, which is under pressure to implement reforms following the resignation last week of president Suharto after a generation in power.
Since assuming the presidency on Thursday, Habibie has moved quickly to distance himself from a legacy of repression that Suharto, his mentor, developed during 32 years of authoritarian rule. The government announced today that it will begin freeing political prisoners on a case-by-case basis, releasing first those it considers to be least threatening -- such as Bintang and labor leader Muchtar Pakpahan, who was convicted in 1994 of inciting riots and sentenced to four years in prison.
Making the
news" -
Subject: The Two B's
It is clear that the two B's (Borbidge and Beatty) have not learned a thing. We are getting the same old garbage that has accompanied an election for the last fifty years or more, promises, promises, and the more desperate they get, the more promises are made. If they ever had to honour those promises, there would not be a surplus in next year's budget.
I note that there are still people writing in saying that Pauline is racist, bigoted and uneducated, they are not well informed are they? That rhetoric is not used anymore.
We can prove to the world just how democratic Australia is, by bringing to light the fact that our national media, very early in the piece, placed a TOTAL BAN on reporting anything to do with the Australia First Party or its aims. I think that if they had had the same publicity as One Nation they would have enjoyed a similar popularity and the major parties would have had a lot more to worry about.
Alan Esson
Subject: Re: Comments by Sir William Keys - Former president of the RSL of A
I am confident Sir William's comments that "One Nation was a disgraceful movement run by 'wretched people' " would not have the support of the rank and file members of the Returned and Services League of Australia.
After all the RSL was born out of the suffering and sacrifices made by our fighting men and women who laid down their lives defending this country. It should follow that the majority of grassroot RSL members would support Pauline Hanson and One Nation in their patriotic efforts to defend Australia and our sovereignty against what is obviously a multinational invasion.
As a One Nation member and former RSL member I am proud to be associated with other "wretched people" who have had a gut full of career politicians and their questionable agendas.
Keep up the good fight Pauline.
Ken Hunter
Subject: One Nation Policies
Answer To Therse Theile Monday 25 May.
Please make a point of reading One Nation Polices before making uninformed comments and showing your lack of Knowledge.
You tell us you are intelligent, so can you explain why do you believe the distorted head line seeking articles about One Nation printed in the press? You will be believing Political advertising next.
The truth was just a couple of clicks from this page, May-be the Editor could put you on the right track, if you ask him nicely.
I Could write a lengthy letter with my experience regarding Modern University Educated Registered Nurses. The vision of one of these Florence Nightingale’s standing at the bottom of my bed, with the curtains drawn, so she could only be observed by myself. She was standing there for what seemed like hours watching me trying to wash myself in agonising pain also cold at 3am one morning. This vision and many others will never leave me. This particular person, was obviously under the impression that with her training she was not going to wash a patient. Or just may be, when she was being trained at university, they did not show her the finer points of looking after a patient that had just come from intensive care.
Hospitals need university trained staff, but it should not be the only requisite. We do need nursing staff with compassion, which I saw precious little of, on two recent occasions in a Brisbane Private Hospital. It is not much good keeping a patient alive by curing his cancer if he is going to die from complications caused from bed sores.
John Bubb
Subject: operation
SalAMI
Mr. Johnson, head of the OECD, wants us to believe
that we are wrong, that the MAI is not harmful - that what we read in the
proposed agreement is NOT what it says, but some other, still hidden,
agreement.
The only way he can prove this is to present it, to show us. We have learned not to trust their arguments.
The fact that prior agreements were not fought has no bearing on this fight. The fact that the media was not challenging the early MAI discussions is not relevant - we are the voters, we are not controlled by the likes of Conrad Black and Mr. Johnson.
John Gile
Subject: Political Alliances
All this talk about One Nation forming alliances with the National/Liberal coalition!
After the election, it will probably be the Coalition and Labor parties forming the alliance against One Nation. Has Borbidge or Beattie ruled this out?
Gweilo
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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