Pauline Hanson's One Nation -
the Day of Reckoning

Feature by: Scott Balson, Global Web Builders

Links with the full story and the images of the meetings at Gympie and Hervey Bay are recorded at the bottom of this background introduction.

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It was a great privilege to be given the unrestricted opportunity to cover what was known to be a day of reckoning for Pauline Hanson's fledgling political party One Nation - just 28 weeks old.

Never before had a political party facing such a crisis from within given such access to the media to the unfolding drama that they knew would take place during the day. In itself this access made a lie of the tainted perspective of the mainstream media that Pauline Hanson's One Nation was some sort of secretive, divisive party populated by racists whose whole aim was to destroy the very fabric of Australia.

There were enormous political risks, not just by my being there but by the executive of the party confronting the problem head on at two meetings in northern Queensland - the heart of Pauline Hanson's One Nation's popular support in that state and the source of much of the dissension against the two Davids who advised Pauline Hanson. The risk is clearly demonstrated in some of the images in which the trauma, the tension and the emotions of some of the key players can be clearly seen.

The meetings at Gympie and Hervey Bay were held on Sunday 2nd November 1997 and followed an extraordinary set of developments that happened after a very few key members you could count on one hand within Queensland branches were disillusioned by the state AGM held directly following the Prosper Australia Rally in Brisbane on 4th October 1997. They believed that the Manly office was "dictatorial".

Following the Prosper Australia Rally a few members of a party with views similar to One Nation called Australia First decided to strike and create turmoil within the incredible growth of Pauline Hanson's party. Australia First had battled to establish any branches in Queensland and with Pauline Hanson's One Nation establishing over 200 branches in just 28 weeks these members saw a Queensland take over of her party as a primary objective. Australia First's leader was a former Australian Labor Party federal member, Graeme Campbell, whose Kalgoorlie seat in Western Australia was claimed to be the largest and most sparsely populated seat in the entire western world. Campbell was thrown out of the Labor Party because of his outspoken views but succeeded in retaining his seat of Kalgoorlie in the 1996 Federal Elections.

It has got to be understood that at no stage did anyone from Pauline Hanson's One Nation suggest that Graeme Campbell himself was involved in this conspiracy but the issue will obviously have to be addressed from within the Australia First party if trust is going to be built between these like-thinking parties.

Members of Australia First had joined One Nation and had even sought to establish One Nation branches from which they could feed the growth of Campbell's party. This is not supposition, this is not a conspiracy theory, this is fact. This at a stage in Australian politics when the  professional Coalition/Labor politicians nursed their own careers and abused their democratic role of meeting the wishes and demands of the general Australian population in favour of seeking the favour of the minority groups (such as gay and lesbians) whose votes could gain them the power that they sought.

In Brisbane a man by the name of Brian McDermott set up a "white ant" operation aimed at destabilising One Nation. He invited Australia First members to his meetings at the time he was supposed to be establishing a branch of One Nation at Beaudesert, south of Brisbane. McDermott knew who the disaffected members of One Nation were following the Prosper Australia rally and invited them to a meeting at which the "loyalty and intentions" of Pauline Hanson's key advisers, national director David Ettridge, and political adviser David Oldfield were questioned.

Soon after the group, presided over by McDermott, held a second subversive meeting but this time they "locked out" One Nation members who were loyal to Pauline Hanson and Pauline's political adviser, David Oldfield, who had come to see what was going on. It was only after lengthy discussion by the dissident One Nation members and remaining loyal One Nation supporters who demanded his right to access that Oldfield was eventually allowed into the meeting! Amongst those attending the meeting was Hervey Bay One Nation branch president Malcolm Taylor.

A tape recording was secretly made at the meeting by a loyal Pauline Hanson One Nation member. The resulting signed affidavit attached to the transcript reveals quite clearly the motives of the Australia First members attending this second meeting.

The Hervey Bay branch members of Pauline Hanson's One Nation under their President, a real dynamo, Malcolm Taylor, moved a motion of no confidence in the two Davids following the McDermott meetings. Malcolm Taylor took things one stage further by registering a new political party in Queensland called "One Nation, Queensland" in his name.

The rumour mongering took on a life of its own. In late October I received several email from concerned and loyal One Nation supporters questioning the influence that the two David's had over Pauline Hanson and their "hidden agenda" for being involved in the party.

It looked to all intents and purposes that Australia First could just walk in and take over during the ensuing confusion that had been so carefully sown by their members.

The events of Sunday 2nd November turned the clock back, and as you will see from the transcripts of key parts of the two meetings linked below, offered a new opportunity for Pauline Hanson's One Nation to embrace Australia and play its rightful role in getting the management of our country back into the hands of our people, all our people.

Events and images:

 The meeting at Gympie.

• Peter James, the treasurer of Pauline Hanson's One Nation Oxley branch, gave me a lift from Karana Downs to the extra-ordinary midday meeting of Queensland presidents and vice-presidents.

 The meeting at Hervey Bay.

• I was about to return home with Peter James when Pauline's personal assistant, Barbara Hazelton, invited me to join the party to Hervey Bay to see the challenges that lay ahead for Pauline and the two Davids. How could I refuse?

 The One Nation Family

• Fraser Coast Chronicle headline Monday 3rd November: "Hanson in Bay, Not a One Nation protester in sight".

Summary of the day:

The Problem:

• There were problems that had been identified in the level of communication between Manly head office and branches - this was largely due to the volume of work facing the Manly office.
• Gold Coast based National Vice-President Paul Trewatha pointed out that he had always been the Queensland branches interim liaison point and that branches should know this.
• The communication problem had led to rumour mongering which was allegedly spread by a few members of Graeme Campbell's Australia First Party.
• The dissident Australia First members who had tried to use One Nation to recruit members for their party had been identified and had been thrown out of One Nation.

The solution:

• The meetings held at Gympie and at Hervey Bay were aimed at confronting the claims that had been brought against Pauline Hanson's management team head on.
• David Ettridge, as National Director, had accepted the blame for some communication problems but had clearly explained how small and how busy the Manly office was - having established nearly ten branches of the party each week since its inception 28 weeks ago.
• Paul Trewatha asked branch executives to deal with him while the state liaison committee for the upcoming state election were set up in Queensland.
• Pauline Hanson expressed total support and confidence in both David Ettridge and David Oldfield. 

The outcome:

• The overwhelming majority of One Nation members at Hervey Bay and everybody at Gympie expressed total support for Pauline Hanson and her management team.
• The one or two dissenting members at Hervey Bay who had been dissaffected by earlier decisions made by the Manly office and who had come for a fight did not thanks to the overwhelming support given to Pauline Hanson by the rest of the gathering.
• At both meetings members were pleased to have had the opportunity to hear David Ettridge speak for the first time and, in fact, it was suggested at Gympie that he speak at branch meetings more often.
• None of the Beaudesert based Australia First trouble makers fronted the meeting, having been exposed for what they were (white ants). They stayed away.
• At both meetings the Pauline Hanson One Nation members applauded the Davids and Pauline and expressed unanimous support for the management team.

Conclusion:

What had started as a day of uncertainty for Pauline Hanson and her team ended in a day of triumph. The meetings had been tense at time and questions of loyalty had been raised. At the end of the day the healing process of having the concerns openly aired and discussed was successful and the members I spoke to expressed admiration for the team in taking the time out of their hectic schedule to meet with them on their ground. What was described by the media as a "split"  in the One Nation party was in fact a passing event being orchestrated by a group that you could count on one hand.

Pauline Hanson's team are a close knit group who work well and very openly together. I was able to experience this high level of understanding and communication first hand after the Hervey Bay meeting and, believe me, Pauline is always in control.

Send any comments you might have.

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