Hanson, "Big Australian slams little Aussie"

2 May 1997

"When BHP decided to stop making steel in Newcastle, the so called bis Australian slammed the little Aussie - the same little Aussie who sweated for generations and helped BHP's success, only to now be rewarded by being dumped on the slag heap.

BHP's failure to look after the future of its loyal Newcastle workers by not investing in Australia first and modernising the plant years ago is a kick in the guts from which many will not recover.

There is no forgiving BHP - and no Australian should forgive BHP or the successive governments whose policies have encouraged Australian companies to invest almost anywhere but in our country.

BHP will say they're looking after their shareholders but it is those same shareholders, at least the Australian ones, who will now with the rest of us suffer the social consequences of BHP's contribution to more unemployment.

Steelmaking is a tradition in Newcastle. A tradition that has been passed down from father to son and fed local families for generations - how betrayed they must feel.

We must get Australia manufacturing again and we must damn this government for its inhumane pursuit of economic rationalism. Our country already has 700 000 children in families where no-one has a job and while the heads of BHP sleep comfortably you can now be sure the children of Newcastle do not."

Statement issued by Pauline Hanson MP, member for Oxley

One Nation - Pauline Hanson's One Nation Press Releases.

© Pauline Hanson's One Nation, 1997.