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Between the One Nation lines
The headline news that appeared in News Limited's Courier Mail about One Nation being challenged in the courts over a Au$400,000 plus payout for election expenses had an interesting sequel lost in a short 7 column centimetre article on page 14 today.
The article reads: "One Nation has moved closer to reclaiming a Au$430,000 taxpayer-funded election payment after the Supreme Court lifted an injunction filed by failed Gold Coast candidate Terry Sharples. The Electoral Commission has agreed not to release the money until 4pm on Friday and has allowed Mr Sharples one week to file an interlocutory injunction. Mr Sharples claims One Nation was not a validly registered political party under the Electoral Act 1992 (Qld)."
Yesterday One Nation's Queensland State Director Peter James referred to a court statement by one of the original complainants, David Summers, who claimed that the Liberal Party, through Tony Abbott, had played a major part in supporting the action initiated by him and Terry Sharples.
That's the state of politics in Australia today - use the court system to try to financially starve a democratically elected party. Like the Labor party's Grahame Richardson once said, "Win at any cost."
In a clear case of trying to lead the new Chair of the Queensland Tourist And Travel Corporation (QTTC), Terry Jackman, to say something negative about Pauline Hanson's One Nation reporter Hamilton Smith set her agenda loud and clear last night.
Here are extracts from the interview:
Hamilton Smith (HS): (Introducing Jackman) ..."an industry reeling from a drop in numbers, the Asian financial crisis, and political controversy."
HS: "Well it is no easy task we have got the Asian meltdown, we've got the fallout from One Nation, I mean what are your answers?"
Terry Jackman (TJ): "Well the answer is the Asian thing is real. The numbers from the (financially) badly affected countries have just about disappeared. The answer is to fill those beds and airline seats with people from other countries. My job is to shift the focus to other markets, the Middle East, Europe, India... (etc)..."
Quite clearly Jackman's response relates to the real cause from the drop off in Asian numbers (ie the financial crisis). His implication in the first statement that One Nation is having no impact on tourism. But Hamilton Smith continues her line undaunted....
HS: "And skipping the Asian market, obviously the Asian meltdown One Nation has a lot to with, one would assume, with people not wanting to come here. How are you going to battle that?"
TJ: "Certainly the perception of One Nation in Asia is very bad and it is something we have to deal with and we have to send people there to say that we are not racist and all the things that are being said do not apply to the majority of Queenslanders."
The "racist" thread is spun a little bit more around One Nation. The thread of deceit and unethical behaviour found among many Australian journalists today.
Here is an extract from an article by Heather Brown:
But Racewatch's potential for long and lasting damage is unimaginable, since it lays the groundwork for the creation of blacklists and outright character assassination. Racewatch will ask for volunteers - to be known, somewhat offensively, as race watchers - who simply have to sign a form to be eligible for recruitment. Their task will be to search for politicians, members of their staff and supporters who make "racist remarks" during the coming election campaign.
We will be watching the watchers - the fascists and Brownshirts who will now use tactics which are as un-Australian as the protesters who try to prevent freedom of assembly in this country.
MD
It seems at times that the urbane Rubin the former investment banker who is worth well over $US100 million in assets, who has lived in a five-star hotel in Washington during the week for almost six years because his wife refuses to leave New York's Park Avenue, yet who is also highly self-deprecating is Treasury Secretary to the world.
Assisting him is deputy secretary Larry Summers, one of the most brilliant young economists of his generation, whose relatives include Nobel prize-winners and who was plucked from Harvard via the chief economist's position at the World Bank to take on the role of deputy fireman of the global economy.
Here is an extract from the Financial Review article:
There's a business we're all familiar with that sells two products, one of which has been a hugely profitable monopoly. Some of the cash from this product is used to subsidise the other one, which is an expensive, high-quality thing, sold cheaply as a sort of public service.
But the profitable product has lost its monopoly. The managers of the business are trying to ride out the storm by reducing the cost and quality of the subsidised product, but if the monopoly pricing is lost, as seems possible, the subsidy will disappear with it and both products will be destroyed.
The business is newspapers. The monopoly product is classified advertising, and the other product is journalism. The company at the eye of this storm is the publisher of this newspaper, John Fairfax.
There is another business that sells just one product entertainment. The business also earns monopoly profits, this time because of a government licence. Also, it must represent part of its entertainment product as non-fiction so the customers believe that consuming it is an essential part of their lives.
This business has also lost its monopoly, and its customers are starting to do different things with their time. Simultaneously they are beginning to realise that a lot of the non-fiction is really just entertainment like the rest, and not so essential after all. This business is network television, and the non-fiction is news and current affairs.
Retailers of goods that will face a lower GST rate than under the wholesale sales tax regime, such as electrical goods (Harvey Norman) and cars, will be the winners. Stocks such as Woolworths are probably not affected either way, with the necessity of food supporting them, while retailers of clothes, such as Just Jeans, will see increased clothing prices under a GST.
Mr Philip Graham, chief economist with ANZ Investment Bank, also points to retail, but also includes health care, such as Australian Hospital Care and Faulding, and general transport, including Mayne Nickless and Scott Corp, as other winners. He also points to resources as benefiting, given a minor boost from tax cuts and gaining from the zero rating of exports and lower input costs. He sees Rio Tinto, WMC and Pasminco as gaining the most benefit, while companies with a domestic sales focus such as BHP and Capral Aluminium would gain the least benefit.
Banks will pay GST on inputs such as rents, outsourcing and legal work, while being unable to claim a refund from the Australian Taxation Office. Those most affected appear to be the Commonwealth Bank, which has a number of outsourcing contracts, and Westpac, as they have a higher domestic cost base, as opposed to ANZ and the National Australia Bank which have a higher proportion of offshore costs.
"The Australian Banking Association has estimated the costs at $600 million, so in that respect it is negative. These costs could be passed on to consumers, but there stands the potential for a political and consumer backlash if they pursued that," Mr Graham Maloney, banking analyst with Macquarie Equities, said. While telecommunication services will be taxed under a GST, including stockmarket heavyweight Telstra, it is doubted that it would greatly affect the bottom line, as the necessity of the service sees communications demand being relatively price inelastic. Tourism and leisure looks like one of the losers, with pure tourism plays such as Sydney Aquarium affected more than casino or wagering stocks. Qantas also looks like getting the short end of the GST stick, with the relative price sensitivity of airline travel going against it.
Building stocks will be affected by the imposition of the GST as they used to be tax free, but construction and materials will now have a 10 per cent tax applied, but there is the possibility that housing demand may spike before the tax comes on line, thereby providing a short term boost to the industry.
"There may be an acceleration in housing before the tax, but it would be just an artificial boost in demand which would fall away rapidly after the introduction of the tax. On balance, the GST is a negative for the industry," Mr Banos said.
While it appears market players will remain focused on the themes of Asia and concerns about corporate earnings, the imposition of a new tax system that will affect corporates will assume some focus. "The market will focus on two things, the first of which is whether tax cuts are funded out of the Budget surplus or if the new arrangement is generally revenue neutral. The second point will concern the popularity of the package and whether it will enhance the Government's chances of winning," Mr Marcus Tuck, strategist with HSBC Securities Australia, said.
Email message that I sent to the Bangkok Post yesterday:
The pot calling the kettle black
Dear Sir,
You are probably aware that your recent inclusion of a letter allegedly from a "Hanson Man" has allowed the Australia press and Pauline Hanson's One Nation's political opponents to make much ado over comments from an unsubstantiated source.
That aside I would like you to explain to Australians how the following comments made in the on-line "Trinket section" of your paper on 29th August 1997 are not racist but quite revealing of the "racist pot" underlying your government's policies on immigration and the "racism" which apparently runs rife in Thailand:
QUOTE:
"A foreigner remains a foreigner regardless of how long he resides here or how fluently he learns to speak the language. Even if he acquires Thai citizenship, the local community withholds integration. He may have the customs and mores down pat, nevertheless he lacks the requisite prejudices.
"Every nation inculcates their children with convictions of superiority - moral, intellectual, inherent - the Land of Smiles no exception. Any Thai who doesn't accept this as gospel is regarded as unpatriotic, if not disloyal. Foreigners aren't expected to accept this because they are outsiders who don't know any better."
END QUOTE.
In your editorial on the 15th June you wrote: "We waited for the nation's leaders, particularly Prime Minister Howard, to assure us that Ms Hanson was a disgusting aberration. And we waited for Mr Howard to take to the political podium and beat back the racism which Ms Hanson was stoking."
The question I have for you sir, as a bonafide One Nation member and supporter is how can you beat your breast with such passion about "Mrs Hanson's racist statements" when your country, in your paper's own words harbours such hatred towards people who are not of Thai descent.
For the record sir, Mrs Hanson said the following in her maiden speech: "The distinction I make is this. A social problem is one that concerns the way in which people live together in one society. A racial problem is a problem which confronts two different races who live in two separate societies, even if those societies are side by side. We do not want a society in Australia in which one group enjoy one set of privileges and another group enjoy another set of privileges."
Many One Nation supporters are of Aboriginal and Asian descent. The growing support in Australia for the party has nothing to do with race or racial attitudes it has everything to do with concerns about the lies, deceit and treachery of the major parties in this country.
Yours sincerely
Scott Balson
Pauline Hanson's Web Master
Subject: Fake letter
Media-Watch Interactive is currently investigating the publication of a letter to the editor in the Bangkok Post. The letter, which caused much controversy in Australia, is claimed to be from a One Nation supporter. At MWI, we believe the letter is a fake, most likely posted by an opponent of One Nation. Some have even suggested that the letter does not even originate from Australia.
We sought the assistance of the BangKok Post Editor but he has not replied to our correspondence. We were interested in obtaining the e-mail header to identify the server from which the mail originated.
We are seeking your opinion on the matter. Is the letter a fake? (Some would say it is not a fake because it is real, but the meaning of "fake" here is obvious). Some aspects of the letter made us very suspicious. If you would like to make a comment, send an e-mail to MWI.
Here is the full text:
And you can forget the blackmail
As a current member of the One Nation party of Australia, I feel compelled to spell out our anti-immigration policies to all Asian countries.
The press in Thailand has been a strong critic of our leader, Pauline Hanson, and therefore it is only appropriate for the party to voice our concerns about the massive influx of Asians into Australia directly to the Asian people. We trust that this letter will hopefully put an end to this.
Most Asians undoubtedly originate from the lower socio-economic classes so even rich Asians do not fit into Western society in Australia.
There are suburbs in Australia that are mainly inhabited by Asians, to the extent that white people feel foreign in their hometown. These suburbs are typically dirty, flourishing in crime and undesirable in terms of real estate values.
Excessive Asian tourists (Japanese and Koreans) visiting places like the Gold Coast help to paint a poor image of the Coast and discourage white Australians from visiting their very own country.
Our past and current governments have failed the "True Blues" in Australia very badly. They have wasted much of our resources on dumb policies like overseas aid and have thrown away A$2 billion of taxpayers' money on unworthy and highly corrupt countries like Indonesia and Korea.
Globalisation is conjecture dreamt up by so-called Australian society. Globalisation allows cheap and nasty produce and imports from Asia to flood our Australian markets, with the ultimate outcome of massive job losses in Australia.
We strongly object to the stupidity of spending taxpayers' money on the training of Asian soldiers who one day may chose to attack us. To invite foreign students to take up university courses in Australia will only displace our own students from their rightful places.
And don't preach to us about your Asian values. Just see where they have got you today.
Our gloomy economic forecast is the direct result of our close trade links with Asia. To put in bluntly, we do not want your trade, money and, certainly, not your people.
Finally, don't attempt to blackmail us by threatening to boycott our Sydney Olympics. With or without your participation, the Games will go ahead as planned. Asian athletes are either drug cheats or insignificant in their abilities.
If you think all of the above is hot air, think again. After the next election, we shall hold enough seats in the senate to make a difference.
A Hanson man
Queensland, Australia
Subject: 60 Minutes bias.
Having previously noted that Toyota is a major sponsor of the blantantly biased "60" Minutes program, I promised that my next car would NOT be a Toyota!
Today I made good on that promise and took possession of a new Honda.
-Kevin (Manila)
Subject: tax reform & competition
I fail to see how taxing bread, milk, spuds, haircuts and train-fares of poor people can be considered 'reform'. It's patronizing nonsense to say people have been compensated. Even the front page of the gung-ho Australian had the nerve to show that a high-income single earner will be $64.59 a week better off while a pensioner will be $2.89 a week better off. Yes, you read right, $2. An insulting coin.
More revealing was the response of Stan Wallis, president of the Business Council of Australia. He said the package would be a boost to national competitiveness from the foreshadowed 3 percent reduction in costs for Australian industry.
And what does that mean? It means more of the same destruction of Australian industry as has been happening under these globalist ideologues. On tonight's news it was reported that King Gee's Maitland factory has re-located offshore, sacking 75 Australian workers. That's competition, folks.
Antonia
Subject: Fw: Howard/Lees deal apparent
The major 'if' about the Howard-Costello tax reform is the ability of the Coalition not only to be returned to Government but also to obtain the Senate numbers to endorse the package with minimal amendment.
This seems quite a big 'ask' since the Senate is presently uncompliant and there are strong prospects that the Coalition will drop some Senate seats to minor parties at the coming election. Hence, the main newspapers' description of the reform as a gamble.
However, in a stroke of political genius, Mr Howard has managed to recruit the Australian Democrats' leader, Senator Meg Lees, as a supportive salesperson for the proposed new measures.
This is remarkable in that the Democrats have always opposed taxation of food and other 'necessities of life'--and have usually been more progressive than Labor in springing to the defence of the poor and disadvantaged sectors who are the clear losers from GST.
Mr Howard will rely on obtaining a lower-house election victory as a mandate for the reform, and is already delivering the rhetoric that "the community will not tolerate any minor party which does not support the benefits this reform will bring to regional Australia".
But the unprecedented complicity of The Democrats can also be taken as evidence that a comprehensive deal has been struck with Senator Lees. There is little doubt that this is about electoral sustainability, and that there will be collaboration to keep One Nation out of the Senate.
Whilst such a deal will stave off potential serious losses to the Democrats, it also has potential in a half-Senate election (where the quota is over 14%) for Mr Howard to pick up additional Senate seats in several States where the Democrats' have low strength.
Brian Jenkins
Subject: RE : BANGKOK POST
'Pauline Hanson, who has never met a foreigner she liked....'
Oh, really? Does that include the Laotian girl who worked in Miss Hanson's shop for the better part of a year? The same girl who told slur-seeking journos that she had never heard her boss utter anything remotely racist? Hey, Mr Bangkok Post Editor, if you're ever looking for a new gig, come on Downunder. Your ethical standards would make you a perfect candidate for 38 Minutes or Flawed Corners.......
Byron Stander
Subject: Howard's True Colours
Hi Scott,
I heard little johnny on the Today show thismorning, in response to a question on "will the GST rise?"
"Well, it would under another government, but not ours"
So, now we add financial / electoral blackmail to JH's portfolio. In other words, reelect us or your GST rate will go up.
Got news for you, Johnny numbnuts. I am not voting for you, Beasley or any of the others. My vote goes to One Nation.
Cheers,
Anthony Mare
Subject: Shinkfield's PC racism
Hi J Shinkfield,
Once again our understanding of racism is very different. The PC definition of racism by those attacking Pauline Hanson is so selective that it can only be described as hypocritical ( which was the point you seem to have missed in my previous letter ).
The charges of racism against PHON are ( to use your own words ) all "non-arguments" that can be described as either politically motivated or just plain ignorance. After years of the PC gestapo's intimidation and suppression, people are fighting back, because at last they have a voice. The divisions within Australia were highlighted with the arrival of Pauline Hanson, but the blame for these divisions rests solely on many of those who charged her with racism. They have their own vested interests to protect at any cost, even if it means creating further divisions and maligning Australia's international reputation.
Sorry, but multiculturalism is the opposite to assimilation of immigrants into Australian culture. The very title MULTI-cultural is evidence enough, and it has also impacted on policy making. We also see such recent examples as the Jewish B'nai Brith and Community Aid Abroad saying assimilation policies are racist ( anotd 1-8-98 ). Even our immigration policies were often at the whim of ethnic pressure groups where the aim was ethnic empire-building without regard for Australia's future.
Until you can understand the wider implications of your PC definition of racism, this debate will never end.
Regards,
Peter W.
Subject: one nation
PM
we all know one nation is not a racist party
there is no justification for putting it last on your how to vote forms unless you want to help labor win the next election
it wont affect me as i always fill out all my preferences myself any way but it will hurt you
geoff kay
Subject: How to Vote
Personally John Howard I don't think it matters where you put the One Nation preferences.
I like many other Australians are sick to death of listening to the lies and hypocrosy that spurts continuously out of your mouths. The double standards etc... etc.... and etc.....!! Come the next election you can have them placed on the back of the voting cards if you want to, it wont make a bit of difference. We will find them where ever they are put and like our fellow Australians in Queensland, we will send you a message that will be loud and clear.
PS: Good luck finding a job after the next election. I think a stint at the end of the dole queue would fix you up pretty quick, you sick little man.
Another perfect day in paradise.
Have a good one.
This
Ring
Name site is owned by One
Nation.
|
Recent stories exclusive to (how to) subscribe/rs of the Australian National News of the Day:
Four Corners become
"Flawed" Corners - 11th August 1998
The Nicholas
Street Rally - 4th August 1998
Their first
day in Parliament - 28th July 1998
The 60 Minutes debate/debacle - 26th July 1998
Hawthorn - where
the hooligans won - 21st July 1998
The Ipswich City
Council re-institute a ban against Pauline Hanson - 19th July 1998
The One Nation
mailing list published in the Australia/Israeli Review - 9th July
1998
The Barbara Hazelton
betrayal - 2nd July 1998
Pauline Hanson's
One Nation Queensland State MPs meet in Parliament - 27th June 1998
QANTAS censor Pauline
Hanson - 24th June 1998
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other world news.