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Monday 25th August 1997
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Below we demonstrate how the media create a story through distortion... ethics mean nothing to this new breed of "journalist".
A comment made by Hanson about One Nation stance on giving preference to immigrants who uphold Christian values has created a media feeding frenzy with the distortions of what she has said and the implications again making a story in its own right.
The media today quote the Coalition Senate Leader Robert Hill saying, "I think it sounds as if she is becoming more extreme".
And foot-in-mouth Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer's, Parliamentary Secretary, Andrew Thomson, says, "to introduce an element of religion in a policy debate is the most disgusting thing a person could do.
"If she doesn't get into Parliament and disavow any link between religion and policy then she remains... a sick parrot of the right wing."
Thomson, by the way, is the man whose hobby is hunting wild pigs with dogs and then personally, cold-bloodedly, killing them with a knife while the dogs hold the prey.
In an interview with Pauline Hanson's Principal Adviser, David Oldfield, today, he gave me this background to the media beat-up about Hanson's alleged prejudice against non-Christian immigrants:
"She was not at any stage saying that if you are not Christian that you could not come to Australia. Hanson was speaking in the sense that Australia was established on Christian values.
"She was saying that if you came from a country which had a different set of laws and values to Australia that if you held those laws and those values above Australian law then you were going to have difficulty assimilating.
"Hanson at no stage identified any particular group and at no stage during the interview did anyone identify a particular group so the reporter or the editor added reference to religious groups like Jews and Hindus into the story after the fact.
"The particular example which was given to the reporter as being the type of thing that Ms Hanson was speaking of was a case that occurred in Sydney in the last year or two where a person was let off a murder charge by the defence that in the country that he came from that under the circumstances his culture accepted that it was alright to kill someone.
"Ms Hanson was trying to make it clear during the interview that if you came to Australia you could not and should not expect that if you break the law you will be tried under the laws of the country from which you came, rather you must understand you should be and will be tried under the laws of Australia.
"The report that began this story was yet another example of selective reporting which failed to acknowledge the qualifying points of what was being said and therefore essentially only reported half the story.
"Given this it is understandable how much of a wrong impression was created so as the rest of the media could seize upon yet another story and blow it out of proportion.
"With the fullness of the story understood it would seem unlikely that most Australians would believe that coming from another country would give you the excuse to commit crimes in Australia simply because those crimes would not be considered crimes from the country which you came from.
"There are people coming to Australia from places where it is illegal to consume alcohol, if a woman is not covered by clothing everywhere except across her eyes she will be stoned as she walks down the street and if you catch another man with your wife it is fully expected that you will kill that person. These and other acts such as female circumcision are just examples of serious conflicts of acts not acceptable by our general population or the laws of Australia,"
Making the
news.
Now that One Nation has been active for a few months it is with interest that I now tell you that there are so many people, just plain normal people at work (I have a shift of 14 members at Parliament House in Canberra) who espouse Pauline's view of this Country of ours and what we need to do to get out from under the situation the major parties has brought us to. At my Lodge there are both sides represented - for and against her views, but even the members who speak against her view admit that she has some good points and these are the people who only see what the media is letting them see.
I can only say to Pauline Hanson "Go Pauline, go. we need you and we need a united Australia, united under that one great flag you wear so proudly".
Mark Smith
Canberra.
Subject: Launch of One Nation in Tasmania
Congratulations on standing up and providing a page for people requiring
information on Pauline Hanson. I attended the One Nation meeting held in
Bathurst N.S.W. on 19th August 1997. I attended this meeting to hear
Pauline speak for herself, as i didn't believe in all that i herd from the
media. I was impressed in what i herd, and she cleared some doubts i had in
her policies. Again there was the usual bunch of people who think that their
views are the ONLY right ones, and they were there trying to discourage our
attendance, somehow i don't think they succeeded. There are no supporters
of the One Nation party that think they have the right to accumulate at
meetings we don't agree with to try and convert others to our party. So why
don't they just leave us alone, and hassle somebody who may listen to them.
Three cheers for Pauline Hanson, and her One Nation party. One question
before i go. When will she be coming to Katoomba, as i have some friends
who live there and would love to attend one of her meetings.
Bye for now
Dale Brown
Re: One Nation Supporters.
I would just like to ask where the Anti ON people have gone that wrote to the Daily Telegraph during June/July. During these months several people wrote to this paper about the support Pauline Hanson actually has in Australia by the comparison of Supporters to protesters at her public meetings.
Well on her recent outback tour of NSW the figure was about 7-1(supporters-protesters). And this was quoted by the paper that has got it's heart set on destroying the best party this nation has had in years. Well they might be starting to give this wonderful woman what she rightfully deserves, a fair go.
Thank you
Mr B
Subject: Launch of One Nation at Ipswich
Dear sir,
I am the person wearing the aboriginal rights shirt. I am also the treasurer of two one nation branches. The reason for the shirt is that I support the causes on it, as long as all Australians, by choice or by birth, have the same rights. I am sure that most OneNation members would share this sentiment.
the launch of the Moreton went with out major incident, our sec will send you a full report.
I believe that my v public fight with lord Jim sordid is getting new members.
Daz
Darryl Wheeley
Have a good one.
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