International:

Danpork, bureaucracy and Paul Keating's millions or
exposing how Labor politicians "strike it big while still in office".

Tomorrow we will start detailing how Paul Keating made a killing out of a piggery (Danpork) and how that self-same foreign owned piggery today makes a killing out of Australia while killing the local pig industry.

Breakaway group Australia's One Nation's on porky pies and pigs will fly.

Yesterday I spent some considerable time on the phone to Val and Ken Doran who described their roles in the breakaway Australia's One Nation party as (Val) "National Secretary" and (Ken) "Party Strategist".

I did this because I wanted to get to the bottom of the extraordinary claim by Ken and Val from Australia's One Nation (AON) that 78 branches - or over one third of Pauline Hanson's One Nation (PHON) had deserted the party and moved to Australia's One Nation.

I had also heard that Val Doran said on 2PK radio in central New South Wales that the Orange branch of PHON had joined them. The claim by Val was retracted by her on air after the president of the Orange branch phoned and said that that was utter rubbish.

AON's lies and distortions are shown in red in the body of this article.

I started by speaking to Val Doran. I introduced myself as Scott Balson from the media and that I represented the Australian National News of the Day. Neither Val nor Ken realised that I was involved with PHON in the initial phone call.

Initial phone call with AON:

SB: Can you confirm that the Orange branch of PHON has broken away and joined AON?

VD: Certainly not Orange - the indication was that there is only one branch which has broken away in the central west and that is Gilgandra.

When I spoke to David Ettridge, the national director of PHON later, he confirmed that one person who used to be a member of Gilgandra, Gary Edwards, had left the party - however the branch remained intact.

SB: So how many branches have you taken away from PHON?

VD: 78 branches. 67 from New South Wales, 3 from South Australia and 8 from Queensland.

SB: Are you saying that 78 branches of PHON have actually voted to leave PHON?

VD: Yes. There is a lot of dissatisfaction and disillusionment with PHON. Some members, full branches and branches which have been dissolved are joining us. About 2000 people from PHON representing the 78 branches are joining us. We only include existing PHON branches in that figure of 78.

At this stage there was a conversation between Val Doran and a man, Ken Doran, her de facto who took over the interview.

KD: There is some confusion over the figures. Val gave you the wrong number there are actually 67 branches who have left PHON to join AON. 59 are in New South Wales and 8 are in Queensland. We have some members from 3 South Australian PHON branches joining us.

KD: As Val said we do not include branches where only a few members have joined AON in the 67. We are talking ENTIRE PHON branches.

KD: Examples of entire branches in Queensland that have moved to AON are: Rockhampton and Townsville. The Queensland state branch, under Peter Boyle, meet in early February.

I was soon after this initial conversation able to contact the current presidents of both Rockhampton (Herb Clark), and Townsville (Mark Swain) PHON branches through the assistance of David Ettridge.

Here are their verbatim statements:

Herb - Rockhampton: "I can tell you that we are 100% behind Pauline Hanson. We have no thoughts of breaking away or joining Peter Archer." (Peter Archer is the media front man for AON).

"I am speaking for my whole committee and 2,000 PHON members in central Queensland."

Mark - Townsville: "That (KD's claim) is totally incorrect.

"We have not broken away.

"We had the same concerns and problems (as AON) that we raised with Pauline Hanson directly and they have all been sorted out, they have been put behind us are we are now moving on 100% behind Pauline Hanson."

"The people causing the trouble (AON) now are political opportunists.

"They forget that it was Pauline Hanson who put us in the same room together.

"The way they (Manly head office) have structured the party protects the membership. It protects the management (from legal or financial claim)."

SB to KD: I have heard that PHON membership is exploding.

KD: That's a lot of crap. We have the membership figures of PHON. It did explode in June to August.

However, in Victoria, they had less than 2,000 paid up members on the 1st November. I can tell you who member number 1948 who signed up on that day was. (KD turns to VD and papers rustle). He was Ronald Wilson. His membership number on his PHON card is 1948.

David Ettridge: (After searching the database): We do not have a Ronald Wilson in our membership. Membership number 1948 belongs to someone else. Just like much of everything else that AON say that is total fabrication. The membership detail extracts supplied to Archer and others were supplied to them in their official capacity as PHON executives. For them to keep the records after they have deserted and to then use them to try to white ant us shows their true intentions.

KD (continues): Peter Archer was given a print out of all PHON members. As was Eric Bell in the south.

It was at this stage that I phoned David Ettridge and got the contact numbers for Rockhampton and Townsville (see statements above from branch presidents).

While I was speaking to Mark Swain from Townsville to get his statement Ken Doran phoned me back.

Second phone call with KD from AON:

SB: Ken there is something that does not add up here. I have just received statements from the presidents of both Townsville and Rockhampton branches of PHON. They have confirmed that they are 100% behind Pauline Hanson and David Ettridge.

KD: We count a committee that has been sacked from PHON in the past as the true representatives of PHON.

SB: Are you saying, in fact, that if PHON has fired a branch committee in the past for whatever reason and that if PHON still has an official branch running after they have been sacked that you do not recognise the official PHON branch but count the sacked executive as the PHON branch in your claims?

KD: Yes. Examples are Rockhampton, Kingaroy, Mudgee and Dobele.

SB: So your earlier claims that "entire" branches like Rockhampton and Townsville have joined AON are based on the involvement of presidents and branch committees who have been thrown out of the party in the past?

KD: Yes.

SB: So a branch like Rockhampton with hundreds of existing PHON members is totally discounted in favour of a sacked executive when counting your 67 PHON branches?

KD: Yes.

KD: But eight PHON branches met with Peter Boyle in Rockhampton last Sunday. Here are some contacts of people who were there: Brendan Bell, Bruce Whiteside, Peter Boyle and Alf Dennis.

(NOTE: The people mentioned have not been PHON members for some time).

KD: By the way, speak to David Oldfield, not David Ettridge because he cannot be trusted, to confirm Oldfield's statements to the press that Pauline Hanson is the only member of PHON.

I took up Ken's suggestion.

First I asked David Ettridge who responded thus:

"When the party was first registered with the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) we had one of two options available to us as Pauline Hanson was already a sitting member of Parliament. As a sitting member of Parliament we could register the party with the AEC with only her signature.

"The other option was to go and get 500 signatures. We took the easy option when registering Pauline Hanson's One Nation with the AEC Pauline's signature was all we needed to get Pauline Hanson's One Nation registered with the AEC.

"However, anyone who has paid their membership fees, filled out an application form and is on our database is a fully registered member of PHON."

I then asked David Oldfield to confirm the status of members and membership in PHON. This was his response:

"Anyone who has paid their membership fees, filled out an application form and is on our database is a fully registered member of PHON.

"But this question should be addressed to Ettridge as I am Hanson's political adviser not involved in the administration or running of PHON."

What we have above is a classic case of porky pie telling from AON. What is more pertinent is the issue of media ownership and our democracy. I got to the bottom of AON's porky pies in less than an hour while the mainstream media ran the stories created by AON as fact.

What we have is a classic example of the media being willing to run any story that is detrimental to Pauline Hanson. Stories that have absolutely no substance, no truth, that a five year-old amateur detective could have discredited during Sunday School.

Such is the state of Australia's media.

The proof

In today's Courier Mail in an article headed "The Proof" they paper supplies an ironic twist to the manner in which they distort news.

This is the paper that has refused to cover the launch or publicity in any form of "Pauline, The Hanson Phenomenon" by Helen Dodd.

Yet, without his book even being published, free publicity flows like honey in the Courier Mail for John Pasquarelli who is writing a derogatory book about Pauline Hanson.

Here is the article:

John Pasquarelli is at the proof-reading stage of his book "The Pauline Hanson Story by the Man Who Knows".

Ms Hanson sacked John Pasquarelli, who had been her adviser and minder, a year ago. The acrimony has continued.

There's an element of revenge in the book, Mr Pasquarelli concedes: "She still claims she wrote her maiden speech but I make it clear in the book that I wrote it.

"I was even responsible for the errors in that speech, not Pauline".

He expects his book - which he says has attracted 5500 advance orders - will do her political ambitions no good at all.

Mr Pasquarelli will be back in Brisbane - where he was born and went to Yeronga State School - on a book signing and promotional tour next year.

Meanwhile, he is working on his next book, a novel called The Staright Six about the racing industry in Australia in which he has played a part as punter and owner of gallopers.

Mr Pasquarelli once earned his living hunting and trading in crocodiles in Papua New Guinea.

He says an angry Ms Hanson was the more dangerous species: "Shooting crocs was safer than working for her."

Here is another perspective of John Pasquarelli and shooting crocs:

Quote: "During the 1960s Pasquarelli worked in PNG as a Department of District Administration patrol officer, shot crocodiles and lived the life of Riley. In his book New Guinea Patrol, Martin Kerr writes that "to Big John ... the locals were coons. He thought they weren't long out of the trees ... His attitude towards natives bore the satisfaction of a completely dominant masta-servant relationship. A kanaka was a kanaka to John." Kerr states that Pasquarelli was not averse to sexually and physically abusing PNG women."

Pearson challenged.

The National Party have challenged Noel Pearson to stand for a federal seat to give people the chance to pass judgement on his performance.

The party's director, Ken Crooke was responding to Pearson's comments earlier this week.

Barry Jones, the ALP Federal President yesterday ruled out Pearson's chances to stand for the party, saying, "In politics timing is everything."

"I'd be disappointed if Noel bought his ticket to an aircraft after the plane had taken off."

The Coalition's Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Senator John Herron said, "The Labor party found a seat for Cheryl Kernot when she left the Democrats, they should find a seat for Noel Pearson."

Political:

You Say:

Subject: Christmas Greetings.

Dear Scott,

I have sent you and your readers a Christmas card, I have my E-Mail address I don't use much so you can have a link to it, if you'd like you readers to see it.

Merry Christmas.
Steve Dunn

Subject: Comments on Australian News of the Day

Dear Editor,

Your correspondent Dennis wrote:>In Brian Wilshire's preamble....he mentioned a front page story in the "Australian" claiming that the MAI has been signed. If the on-line versions of the reports are any indication, nowhere was the treaty ACTUALLY NAMED. Not by the Australian, not by the Financial Review, or the Sydney Morning Herald. Funny that, isn't it? It's very difficult for people to get up-in-arms about something which has no name, ".....you know that treaty they signed the other day which was supposed to etc, etc."

Funnier still, that' s a well-known tactic of an international political movement we're not allowed to mention unless we want to be ridiculed. It starts with 'C'.

Graham Strachan.

Subject: Comments on Australian News of the Day Pauline Hanson Perspective

It is not easy to be overtly proud of our nation as it stands today.

We are ruled alternately by two major parties, both with astonishingly similar levels of corruption and attitudes to governing. We receive a large amount of our information from a biased media, controlled by political and selfish forces.

Any kind of a new perspective and new attitude, such as that expressed by Pauline Hanson, becomes refreshingly new in comparison.

So where do we go?

Many seem to be responding to Pauline's new perspective, however, the one place that we can be confident of receiving leadership is from this nation's past. What have we learnt from our past?

We have learnt that this nation can unite and stand strong in the face of World War, depression and hardship. We have learnt that murdering, crushing, or trying to assimilate a race that contrasts to our own, does not work (why is the native title debate costing money and wasting time if we have handled the issue correctly in the past?)

So how can we, and so few of us are actually native Australians, try to control the existence of other races in an inherently 'foreign-populated' county?

Remember Germany in the 1920s? Bad employment rates, disappointment with the government, the sense that problems were because of a specific race of people. (Sound familiar?) One person had the intelligence to stand up and tell the people what they were thinking themselves. (Sound familiar?)

And how did that turn out?
There are no easy solutions to our nation's current problems, but I can tell you two things:
1. A new and contrasting voice is not necessarily correct.
2. We are stupid to make mistakes that have already been made in the past.

Stay thinking... don't let anyone else do that for you.
Thalia Kalkipsakis

Subject: Native Title

You will all have to give up your fight eventually! The time has come to get a suntan and learn the aboriginal language!!! Tasmanians can just pretend, like Michael Mansell.

Lots of rights, no responsibilities. Lots of land, lots of money. 52 weeks of holidays every year. Get out of jail free cards. Affirmative action, special privileges. Lots of sympathy generated by the guilt industry. Professional status of victimhood assured.

I've been practicing the lingo all week. It's not that hard. Repeat after me:

"Hey Whitey!" "Gimme, Gimme, Gimme, Gimme, Gimme, Gimme, brudda"

Oracle

Business:

Personal trivia, from the global office:

Another beautiful day in paradise.

Have a good one.

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