Comment: Scott Balson, Global Web Builders
I am honoured to be caught up in the euphoria of the moment. A moment that legitimised the pain, the frustration, the contradictions which is part of being involved with Pauline Hanson's One Nation.
All who have been involved with and supported One Nation over a period of time will know exactly what I am talking about.
Over the last two years the media and the major parties would have you believe that Mrs Hanson and, subsequently, her party was a racist organisation behind which shadowy figures and extremists hung out.
For those who have been fortunate enough to get to know Pauline they will all agree that there is a simple reason why she stands out as a politician. She listens. Not only does she listen, but because she has lived and worked in the real world she is a rare politician who knows what it is all about.
Furthermore she has guts.
I have never ever heard her complain about blatant misrepresentations by the media, about the workload, about the travel, about death threats. Pauline Hanson does not complain she gets working with compassion.
The weekend is now all but gone. The massive 23% primary vote coming in behind One Nation in the Queensland state election reflects just one thing. Grassroots support.
And its not hard to be swept up in the One Nation tide.
Last night when she arrived at the Brisbane Convention Centre
the media pack swamped her. As I worked on the Internet behind a desk I found
myself being squashed by over eager television cameramen and photographers
trying to take pictures of her when she came into the small One Nation booth.
Like the polling booth when Heather Hill voted on Saturday it was impossible to move.
"Give them five minutes," Pauline said, "then tell them to get out of here. I just want to be with my people."
And so it was. The media pack were pushed back to the invisible line stretching between the two walls of the booth that stretched into the large convention room. The small group of One Nation faithful could suddenly breath again - although we were all under the spotlight with the cameramen looking for something to film.
While the media hovered in frustration on the perimeter
and balanced precariously on the high walls and watched I was able to take
exclusive pictures of Pauline with key One Nation staff. "Pauline move in
a bit closer to Peter, smile... that's it." No need to wait for the right
moment. I was a member of the team, the inner circle.
The team is very important to Pauline. The team is One Nation. I remember about a year ago the media, in one of their misguided attempts to undermine her said that she could not keep people. This was shortly after staff workers Pasquarelli and Babb had been given the boot by Pauline. Funny thing that because since that day, eighteen months ago, none of her key executives or staff have done or said anything which shows a murmur of discontent in the ranks.
What a team. The media would have you believe that it is filled with extremists who manipulate Pauline's mind and thinking, political hopefuls who only want to push their own barrow and are waiting for a moment to dump her. Talk about conspiracy theories!
Another thing that I have learnt about Pauline is that she
is a warm, open person who stands totally, and without hesitation, behind
her team. In the wee hours of Sunday morning when she spoke to Heather Hill
at the Ipswich Show there was a tear in her eye as she reflected on the likely
outcome of the state leader losing her fight to gain the seat of Ipswich.
This is the woman that the media has vilified, the leader of the opposition, Kim Beazley, recently called "deranged".
Good people seem to gather around Pauline... they want to be part of the team. They want to be part of history. And whether the knockers like it or not One Nation has now made political history.
The man called "The best minder in the business", David Oldfield, has been the quiet, helping hand in the shadows of Pauline's every move for the last year. And no he does not dictate to Pauline. I have been there on many an occasion when David has suggested something and Pauline had said "NO" in uncertain terms.
There is a great mutual respect between Pauline Hanson and David Oldfield. It has come after months and months of campaigning against all odds. David has great respect for Pauline's uncanny ability to touch the mood of the Australian people. Sometimes Oldfield's brashness has upset and jarred those used to Pauline's warm approach to communicating with them.... sometimes David has been called a "white ant".
Well on Saturday all those who made that claim were proved wrong once and for all. The guiding hand of David Oldfield was behind every move made by state leader Heather Hill and state director Peter James. Nothing was said without checking first with David. The two state leaders were political lightweights thrown into the glare of the arena and the unblinking gaze of a hostile media.
The media were to say just hours before the election that the way in which One Nation had been able to manipulate the news and gain free coverage was nothing short of brilliant.
The man who achieved that was David Oldfield.
When I reflect on the past and look to the future I wish that, just for a moment, time could stand still, because this weekend was without doubt One Nation's finest hour. History was made and the Hanson phenomenon suddenly became larger than life as the tentacles of her vision spread across the state of Queensland, reflected in the large number of Members of Parliament who would now represent the people where it counts.
Pauline said to me last night, "We have started the job but we have a long way to go," her eyes firmly fixed on me, "I don't feel anything special tonight, because the job is not yet done".