Just curious about what folk thought about Pauline Hanson.
Beyond her initial speech in federal parliament some years ago I really didnt look all that carefully at any of her policies.
I thought she was good and said things most of us didnt have a chance to say.
Why were people so offended with this young lady?
Was she a threat to "the system"?
I thought she was a sweetie with a bit of grit..

Gibo

Pauline Hanson was a threat to the National and Liberal Parties. She was "diluting" the conservative vote and thus had to go.

I did not like her policies - so what. I would never have voted for her.

Pauline's problem was she said out loud what was well understood by
many but which the politically correct did not want to hear.

If you want to put forward a situation to the public it is unfortunate
that you have to get it past the chattering classes who run the media
and large parts of the political machine.

Pauline did not understand that, but I am sure she well understands it
now, but it is too late. When she was framed and gaoled it must have
been a bitter lesson in the control that the politically correct hold
over the country. They seem to totally control the Greens and
Democrats a significant part of the Labour and and Liberal parties.

I don't mean that they have administrative control but they certainly
have ideological control which is more important anyway.

Thanks Ruawake. I wonder if there had been a concerted conspiracy to get her. A million or so in compensation would have ben a small price to pay for blocking her.
Thanks Bazz. The Greens in particular have some really weird policies. Many seem to be gay or pro-gay which will weaken their strength...which is good. Even today I believe most of the ordinary folk dont like the gay movement.

What was wrong with Pauline Hanson?

Many, many things.

I'll start with her suitability as an individual, then get to policies.

Take a look back to the 'please explain?' moment. She had no idea what the word 'xenophobic' meant.

This was a clear indication that if she wasn't stupid, she was at the very least, unworldly.

It sounds elitist, but bear with me here.

I expect my politicians should have a reasonble understanding of the world around them. They need to have a certain amount of savvy, or they will be very easily manipulated by powerful people who are smarter than them.

If she doesn't even know the meaning of the word 'xenophobic' how would she negotiate with foreign businesses? trade delegations? Even her own constituents, who might attempt to manipulate her for their own reasons.

Put simply, I expect more. I expect politicians who can grasp very complex issues in a very short amount of time.

Aside from the fact that as an individual, she clearly didn't have the nous to navigate through the hustle and bustle of politics, she also had an appalling understanding of international affairs.

Anyone remember the 'swamped by Asians' comments? Even our more paranoid posters here prefer to focus on Muslims, realising that our Asian neighbours don't pose as much of a threat, and insulting our prime trade partners isn't a wise endeavour. I can see the wisdom in policies restricting things like foreign ownership (The Singapore government owns more Australian assets than the Australian government) but Pauline's approach was just stupid.

Again, lacking in nous, and doing tremendous damage to our country.

Put simply? She wasn't up to the job, and even if she was, her positions were foolhardy.

Mostly have to agree with turnleftthenright. It is undeniable however that she struck a chord with a large number of average aussies who have real concerns about multiculturalism and the move away from the policies of integration.

She just wasn't very smart. But I think an awful lot of Australians felt a greater sense of affinity with her than any of the slick pollies around at the time.

so you were too young for conscription, without even having a vote my friend

The whole of the Menzies campaign to pass the National Service Act was based on "we need to steal young men from their mothers [and Fathers] anf Fathers, even though too young to vote and send them to Fight the Yellow Peril who as we speak are amassing on the Simpson Desert

Many of my friends never returned from that Asian sh**hole mate

give me a straight talking Pauline any day than a menzies who mentored the displaced Rodent just now with their un Constitutional devices

he dropped vote to 18 but WE never got to vote for NSAct - it was the PC masses of the day who voted on our behalf, thinking ah well they dont even understand Xenophobic [or homophobic] so they MUST be good cannon fodder

TRTL ... if I remember rightly she was manipulated - by her own party.

Yes TLTR you are right in most of what you said.
I heard her say "Please explain" and I remember thinking, they will
hammer her with that.
It was just what the chattering classes were looking for to show her
up as an uneducated fool.

However it did backfire because many said to me that "She is one of us
not one of those would bes". She is a fish & chips shop lady !

The media was relentless in their insulting and humiliation of her.
It was just what the politicians wanted but she was still a thorn in
the side of the Queensland Government so they knew they had to do
something about her and she became the first real political prisoner
in Australia since the first fleet arrived.
I define a political prisoner as someone who is imprisoned at the
behest of politicians for purely political reasons.

The bad thing about Pauline was obvious, she was clearly operating outside her intellectual weight class when it came to national politics, somehow, bantam weight suits chooks.

However, the good thing about Pauline was she got up and had a go.

She would have inspired more people to take their politics seriously, of only to keep her out.

So all credit to her for having a go and all credit to the system which allows her, you and me to seek to aspire to what we believe in and see if we can get more to support our view.

It was in Queensland, a state whose historic racism had, in the late nineties, demonstrated its resilience in the election to Federal Parliament of Pauline Hanson as an independent candidate, on an anti-Aboriginal, anti-immigration platform.

Her Oxley electorate had one of the highest unemployment rates in Australia. More than half the young people could not find work. Having identified the scapegoats, Pauline Hanson made the time-honoured connections. Most importantly, she promoted herself as 'just a naive, hard-working mother' who spoke 'on behalf of the ordinary, average person who's fed up with the pollies (politicians).'

That refrain had a resonance in a country where cynicism about dissembling politicians and their rich 'mates' may be more prevalent than in any western democracy.

Hanson said the Aborigines were 'privileged' and that 'millions' were spent on them to no avail. She maintained, in a book written for her, that they 'killed and ate their women and children and occasionally their men.'

This was Howard's opportunity. Apart from calling Hanson an 'empty populist,' he pointedly refused to criticise her. In truth, her message was his; only the language was adjusted. Her 'One Nation Party' bore every resemblance to his 'One Australia Policy' which, he had promised in 1988, would be pursued by a future government led by him.

Once in office, Prime Minister Howard - demanded that Aboriginal communities give up even the right to negotiate land development. His adviser, South Australian Senator, Nick Minchin, used code familiar to black Australians, and one echoed by Pauline Hanson.

If Aborigines got 'too much,' he said, the 'community' would resent their 'special rights' and this would 'undermine the reconciliation process.' That Aborigines had no rights to their own land was a given.

Today, neither Hanson nor Howard exist politically.

The test for popular 'decency' now depends on the actions of the newly elected Government.

Like Col Rouge I respect Pauline for having a go - no matter how much I disliked her personally.

Bazz she was not a thorn in the side of the Qld Govt. She was a thorn in the side of The National Party, who lost seats to One Nation in Qld. Ron Boswell could see this happening on a Federal level and started the put Pauline last campaign on the conservative side of politics.

Pauline was nobbled by the conservative side of politics.

Yes, what TRTL said.

I'd just add a note on being elitist. It's quite a new thing for citizens to want their politicians to be their equals. Our leaders used to be people we could look up to, who were demonstrably cleverer and wiser than we were. Nowadays, citizens appear to look for politicians who can articulate their baser prejudices and give them some kind of official imprimatur.

It's rubbish, if you ask me. Politicians should have authority, gravitas and wisdom. I'm not talking about privileged, posh, House of Lords-style prigs, I mean people who are genuinely inspiring and inspired. Natural leaders. People with vision.

Pauline Hanson had no vision. She was just a bully who ruled by infecting others with her own prejudices and fears. She was able to exploit the jaundiced view the populace had of the Keating government by being the very opposite of it.

I think anyone who says, "She's one of us," is aiming way, way too low.

I also agree that Pauline Hanson should be applauded for having a go- this supports the fundamental Aussie ethos of giving one and all a fair go.

However, she was not a particularly good world ambassador for the positive promotion of our beautiful, vibrant and tolerant Australia. Pauline was ultimately a time waster and had not contributed anything positive or lasting to the people. There was a very brief moment when she in fact could have made a difference with the massive amount of press she received but squandered the opportunity.

Gibo, I'm just a bit curious. Why are you asking about her? Why now?

Nothing special TammyJo.
I was just thinking about her and how little I had observed of her short career. I thought she might to going back into the chook pen. I always had a sneaking suspicion she got done in by concealed planning that still needed mentioning.

Is the concealed planning you're thinkin about Tony Abbott's little secret organisation? He certainly had it in for her.

Foxy

Your post and TRTL's best sum up the Hanson phenomenon.

Apart from that she was a convenient puppet for David Oldfield.

I was amazed that she tried a comeback; insufficient intellect to realise that she had insufficient intellect. However, she provided much entertainment as well as a suitable scapegoat for Howard.

Anyone remember that video: "If you are watching this I am dead?"

OMG. ROFL.

Pretty much in agreement with TRTL, Foxy and Vanilla so won't repeat what has already been written.

Only to add that despite her failings, the campaign mounted against her was both immoral and undemocratic and the events that led to her jailing should have been the subject of an Inquiry.

True Vanilla.
It could have been Tony Abbott and his little group.
I wonder who are the real powers in this country?
Does anyone know?
I often thought it was somewhere in America that they held us hostage from.
They owned the secret bases therefore they owned the nation.
It was never all that complex. Maybe we are a CIA/US Defense ownership and just dont realise it. I knew an ex- RAAF jet engine mechanic who said when they are in town CIA spooks just drive onto RAAF bases as if they own the place and dont even stop and report to the front guard house.

i think the cia had a hand in Whitlam's removal. i read that but i'm too hazy on it to elaborate.

the funding arrangements of our political parties have been open to international funding for quite some time

The Australian: "In his quest for change, Rudd is promising a ban on foreign donations"

i have a strong suspicion that Americans who get their hands dirty everywhere else in the world would not leave Australia untainted.

I'm intrigued that Gibo somehow missed Pauline's notorious political career.

Was he off fighting demons and UFOs somewhere? In a padded cell, perhaps?

OMG - it just dawned on me that Pauline is actually a demon, and I bet she arrived in Ipswich by UFO.

Take a look back to the 'please explain?' moment. She had no idea what the word 'xenophobic' meant.

So turn left then right, please explain what 'eximosses' is, what causes it and what effect it has. Also, do this without the aid of a 'google search' if you don't mind.

I would never have voted for PH as to me all she was doing was stating the obvious.

One policy that I did like, but don't fully understand, was her 'transaction tax' policy. From the little I did understand it sounded pretty good to me.

The media had a field day with her and this was here undoing.

Steel “i think the cia had a hand in Whitlam's removal. i read that but i'm too hazy on it to elaborate.”

Oh don’t disappoint so, please clear the fog and enlighten us with the pristine facts.

“i have a strong suspicion that Americans who get their hands dirty everywhere else in the world would not leave Australia untainted.”

Oh yes, the mountebanks of the CIA and I do recall hearing how they were the real force behind the USSR invasion of Hungary and the inspiration for the The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.

I hear they are planning to have everyone secretly fitted with a rectal probe, just so they can monitor our every movement.

I don't think that's a very fair challenge rehctub. Nobody can answer a nonsense question, "eximosses" is not a word. Please explain.

If she had the eloquence of a Mosely, the oratory skills of a Whitlam, they probably would have murdered her.....in an "Accident" of course.

Beautifully put, Paul.L

>>It is undeniable however that she struck a chord with a large number of average aussies... She just wasn't very smart. But I think an awful lot of Australians felt a greater sense of affinity with her<<

Yup, the great Aussie cringe. Identify with the not very smart wherever possible, especially if she is a battler.

Actually thinking about politics and policies is, at heart, patently un-Australian. All that we want is a good bloke who can skull a tinny and be seen at the footy - someone who understands the people.

Pauline Hanson discovered the secret of being such a politician, and the way it can be turned into a money-making exercise. Not quite in the league of those who have turned it into an art form, becoming a permanent drain on the public purse for no reason other than having been a politician.

Think Amanda Vanstone, happily redecorating her palace in Rome at our expense.

http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,23401055-5013110,00.html

Our politicians are a set of money-grubbing chancers, who take every opportunity to eat out at our expense, travel first class at our expense, rort their expenses at every opportunity and cling to power way beyond any conceivable use-by date.

Think Alexander Downer, and consider who paid for him to enjoy his lunch instead of fulfilling his incredibly arduous responsibilities to his constituents.

http://news.theage.com.au/downers-lunch-undermines-libs-protest/20080221-1tj9.html

Pauline will undoubtedly have another go at the gravy train, being the "battler" that she is.

Lucky us.

Umm, Well I dont think She would be trying to take the carers payment from those saving the Government billions of dollars to fund putting more migrants on welfare.
It seems the Rudd Government think 4 cents and hour is too much .
Nor do I think pauline would be writing letters to neighbours of people on pensions and sending them into houses wired up while waisting millions od dollars to have some dick sit outside abnd invade people privacy.

Pauline said what most Aussies think. She was slaughtered by the media because the Government control the media.

Tell you what this thread has done however. Its pointed out the remarkable likeness of two posters speaking of Dicks.
Morgan and Col. Simply amazing. Oh and another thing I dont think pauline would be supporting is the funding for migrants for medication denied to the Australian tax payers.

I was listeing to John Laws before he left speaking with a lady who had to sell her home because their daughter was on $2,000 dollar per month medication.
The same medication is supplied by us the tax payer compliments of the Australia Government free of charge for migrants.
Indeed Where is Pauline she will be sadly missed and Abbotts still no doubt using our tax dollars to fund his dick christian mates in trying to bully women out of terminations.
Rude outragous idiot fool! Someone should tell him the worlds running out iof food and millions are dieing of starvation.
Oh And Steve Feilding too a major snob who thinks he walk on the higher moral ground and there is no need for him to have a animal welfare policy.
SHAME

I see that our august and professional advocates for animal welfare, "People Against Live Exports and Intensive Farming", are once again enhancing their credibility by babbling on semicoherently.

"Rude outragous (sic) idiot fool!"

Which of their members does this epithet best describe? Perhaps whoever's currently posting as PALE&IF's been hitting their Bundy and Mersyndol cocktails a bit early today.

rehtclub - I'm sorry, that challenge is pretty idiotic. I'm a reasonably well read individual and I've come across the word xenophobic many times (often on these boards. Wonder why that might be?) but eximosses, I've not encountered.

My point remains - xenophobic would be quite an important word, especially for somebody like Ms Hanson. It's the kind of word that would actually crop up on conversations with people from foreign cultures, but I suspect that you've just gone and tried to find some obscure word in an attempt to make ignorance of this word appear as reasonable as ignorance of the word xenophobic.

I'll admit, I'm not aware of the word. Though when I type define: then each word (xenophobic and eximosses) not a single definition pops up for eximosses, but many, many definitions appear for xenophobic.

One's relevant. One isn't. I'm not even convinced yours is a word outside your head. Hell, it doesn't show up on a google search of the entire world.

Not used once.

I do agree she wasn't treated justly by the parties, though I reject that claim against the media.

She should have had the opportunity to fail miserably, just like any other not-too-bright independent politician (the party MPs that aren't too bright often manage to cruise along, supported by the party apparatus. Witness Wilson Tuckey to see what I mean).
The imprisonment wasn't right.

As for everybody thinking it was a media conspiracy - honestly get a grip. There was no conspiracy there, she was just a fool, and the media love interviewing fools because they make themselves look stupid, which makes for a far more entertaining interview.
So while the media probably did go to town on her, it was because she gave them enough rope to do so.

The other parties however, did stoop to tactics that were below the belt, when they really didn't need to. They got spooked by her populist policies and went for the jugular, when they really could have eviscerated her policies and shown her up to be the transparently ignorant candidate she was.

rehctub, TLTR is right, that's a nonsensical challenge. She wasn't required to know *all* the words, but she could start with the ones most people know. And the media didn't crucify PH, she did it herself. They just filmed it.

Col responding to Steel. Funny.

Pericles: "Our politicians are a set of money-grubbing chancers, who take every opportunity to eat out at our expense, travel first class at our expense, rort their expenses at every opportunity and cling to power way beyond any conceivable use-by date."
Normally I agree with your every utterance, Pericles, but not this time. This cynical view — "they're all bastards, every last one'v'em!" — is extremely pervasive but ultimately lazy. In fact, they're a mottley crew and have all sorts of different motivations. No one would be in politics for the money, or even for the riders, when they could be a lawyer at the top end of town, which most of them could. And even though many rort the system, many don't. Your view is way too cynical to be true.

PALE&IF, you often talk about RSPCA Queensland. Are they supporters of yours? Just out of interest, do they know what you post on here?

There will always be areas where we can agree to disagree, Vanilla. If only my cynicism - and I freely recognize it as such - were not reinforced every day by the politicians themselves.

In fact, I would assert that the champion cynic has to be the politician themself.

How else can anyone, with a perfectly straight face, deny that they will be continuing to suck on the public teat, right up until the moment they decide otherwise?

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23399872-601,00.html

I am not alone in my view, by the way

"Politics is supposed to be the second oldest profession. I’ve come to realize there is a very close resemblance to the first.” Ronald Reagan

"Under every stone lurks a politician" Aristophanes

"Three groups spend other people's money: children, thieves, politicians." Dick Armey

"We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office" Aesop

>>Your view is way too cynical to be true<<

If only. There may actually be the odd politician who is motivated by the common good, as opposed to their own desire for advancement and riches, but if there are, they keep a very low profile.

Pauline can be simply summed up by the "tiger" bit in Apoc Now

"dont get off the boat, absolutely Godamm right, unless you go all the way - Kurtz got off the boat ..."

PC by nature is corrupt [eg Costello taking our money and running] so to go against PC at any one time is to invite a load of sh** to fall upon one, no matter talk good or not

But all of a sudden thousands of people were turning up to her meetings and she had the landslide in Qld and frankly I dont think she was ready for the attention, thinking orig of just pecking away in the background like a Don Chipp in drag

Bazz

The politically correct "seem to totally control the Greens and Democrats a significant part of the Labour and and Liberal parties.”

Gee, that’s a lot of people there, Bazz. Did it ever occur to you that you might be the one who’s out of step here?

Gibo

“Thanks Bazz. The Greens in particular have some really weird policies. Many seem to be gay or pro-gay which will weaken their strength...which is good. Even today I believe most of the ordinary folk dont like the gay movement.”

It only takes the mention of Pauline Hanson to flush the bigotry out of the woodwork. Just a few posts in and we’ve already given gays, the Greens and the so-called “chattering classes” a bashing. Who knows how long the list will be by the end of the thread!

Rehctub

“One policy that I did like, but don't fully understand, was her 'transaction tax' policy. From the little I did understand it sounded pretty good to me.”

This was a flat tax which by its nature is regressive and disproportionately hurtful to low-income earners. You can be sure Pauline didn’t understand it either!

I’m surprised to see people not necessarily supporting Hanson’s policies applauding her for having a go. Her “having a go” helped set back a whole decade of government policy. As pointed out by Foxy, Howard was able to sit back and let her divide the country with her outrageous accusations without him having to get his hands dirty at all. He just coasted in on her popularity and adopted many of her policy positions. The taint of Hansonism is still with us. If you doubt it just watch this thread.

Bronwyn

Anyone has the right to start a political party and say whatever they like (within the bounds of various laws).

Don't blame Hanson for John Howard's adoption of her policies, blame John Howard.

The word *eximosses* does not exist as has been proven however I am familiar with a couple of words that sound similiar.

First there is *ecchymosis* which is a fancy word for a bruise.

Or there is *exosmosis* which is a flow towards a solution of lower concentration.

Got that out of my system now.

or echynosis is when you cant stop sctatching your nose

please explain!

I'm amazed that Pauline Hanson can still raise 36 comments.

What is more amazing is that someone has raised the old one about the CIA getting rid of Gough Whitlam.

I was in my early 30's at the time, and the rumour was put to bed before the Australian electorate voted in the Coaltion at the election made necessary by the Governor General's decision to do the dirty on Gough, his old mate.

I don't remember any rumours about the CIA getting at us voters!

Rehctub

“One policy that I did like, but don't fully understand, was her 'transaction tax' policy. From the little I did understand it sounded pretty good to me.”

This was a flat tax which by its nature is regressive and disproportionately hurtful to low-income earners. You can be sure Pauline didn’t understand it either!

Bronyn
The part I did understand was that the tax was for business only 'electronic transactions' at 2%. I also heard that if implimented this tax would have raised more taxes than all other taxes put together with the view to remove all other taxes. It was big business that squashed it I believe.

Also, just for the record, I didn't vote for her but I did feel that she had every right to have a go. I still believe the media shot her down.

Good to see we are all using the good old 'google search hey'. Remember, she was put on the spot and for the record I don't know what the word means nor should I have to.

rehctub: "...for the record I don't know what the word means nor should I have to"

You don't *have to* know what any word means. But surely thinking people strive to learn as much as they can while remaining humble about all that they don't understand. The fact is, xenophobic is a common word, and it went to the heart of her philosophy. If she was going to court criticism, she surely needed to be able to identify it.

What was awful about PH is that she was *proud* of being thick.

Jeez, I don't know why I'm even *thinking* about her...

You don't have to know the meaning of a word rechtub, no. But you should certainly refrain from making them up. If we extend your comparison to poor old Pauline, imagine what they would have done to her if she had done what you just did (i.e. completely fabricate a word for the sake of a silly argument)!

Bugsy
If you follow my posts you will soon learn that I am one who not only makes mistakes, but admits to them as well.

The point of my question was that not everyone is educated at the same level. My word does exist, it is just that I did not spell it correctly and for that I am sorry.Ecchymosis is the correct spelling however this is irrelevent now.

The point is that some of the best candidates for MP's throughout history are those who are also the poorest educated having dropped out of school at an early age, yet become very succesfull in life. The late Kerry Packer is one that comes to mind.

I'd bet dollars to doughnuts that the late Kerry Packer knew the meaning of the word 'xenophobic'. And he wasn't an MP, he was way too smart for that.

This is the internet, if you don't know how to spell something, an online dictionary is a few seconds away. It does your credibility no good to pretend to know something that takes 10 seconds to find out that you don't.

Pauline's credibility got shot to hell when she didn't know a relatively common word in politics. Yours just got shot to hell pretending that you knew a word but didn't. She has more than you.

"This is the internet, if you don't know how to spell something, an online dictionary is a few seconds away. It does your credibility no good to pretend to know something that takes 10 seconds to find out that you don't."

but love, that incident was essentially pre internet, or at best in dial up days with no google

and so Menzies was xenophobic for sure with his "yellow peril" [and never knew what it meant, as it TOO is a PC/Weasel word, going forward, at the end of the day] but did his congoline man Howard get his xenophobia from Pauline, Menzies or Bush?

and after Howard/Kirby incident I coined my own PC word Hefferphobic, so all this means zip IF the public is in grip of PC, as we are now, as seen by the replies

Ok, dear. Woooooshh.

That is the sound of a point going over ones head. I was of course not referring to Pauline in this case. It is forgivable for Pauline not being able to answer a question being put on the spot (but it dis still expose her ignorance), but for someone to post something ON THE INTERNET, without at least a basic spell check (considering what he was asking people to do) is a bit silly, don't you think, love?

For that matter, to also admire someone like Kerry Packer but say that he was 'poorly educated', when in fact he went to Geelong Grammar School (just like Prince Charles!) also does one's credibility no good. Most people have heard of google- it only takes 10 seconds. Of course comprehension skills take a lot longer....

Steel "http://www.google.com/search?q=cia+whitlam"

try looking http://www.google.com/search?q=cia+rectal+probe.

I found heaps of links to that too.

and http://www.homeclick.com/1/1/38812-cia-digital-thermometer-24705.html

might suggest they are over stocked and flogging em off for $14.95 a piece

However, one of them lead me to an appropriate response too

"Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you."

Being able to find text on links to the websites of rat-bag leftie crutch-gropers is no basis for claiming something is true.

as wikipedia says "A minority of left wing commentators believe the United States was involved." - which presume the majority of leftwing commentators do not.

The ability to google is a wonderful thing, provided you end up somewhere credible, rather than the gullible.

Pericles,

I cannot believe you have the gall to slag off the Australian public and their dislike of slick politicians and then two posts later exhibit the same type of behaviour yourself.

You say “Actually thinking about politics and policies is, at heart, patently un-Australian.” Yet you can at the same time with a straight face suggest that “Our politicians are a set of money-grubbing chancers, who take every opportunity to eat out at our expense, travel first class at our expense, rort their expenses at every opportunity and cling to power way beyond any conceivable use-by date.”

Unfortunately yours is a widely ( if shallowly ) held truism of the Australian public that belongs with the rest of the “old wives tales”. Hardly surprising that someone with that mindset might see Pauline Hanson as a breath of fresh air.

Your so called cynicism is just a nice way of covering up your intellectual laziness. Vanilla is bang on when he suggests that our politicians are a mixed bag of all types. Grow up

You might have to think of a more effective put-down than "grow up", Paul.L, it doesn't have a high enough sneer-content.

>>I cannot believe you have the gall to slag off the Australian public and their dislike of slick politicians and then two posts later exhibit the same type of behaviour yourself<<

Please enlighten me - where exactly did I mention slick politicians?

And the slight on the Australian public that you infer is entirely from your imagination.

You appear to consider it insulting to point out that people might prefer straight-talking battlers to represent them in Parliament.

Isn't that just a tad snobbish?

And forgive me for being thick, but I cannot see any contradiction between "Actually thinking about politics and policies is, at heart, patently un-Australian" and "Our politicians are a set of money-grubbing chancers..."

In fact, if you look at it more carefully, you may actually discern a level of cause and effect operating here. If we did worry more about them, and what they got up to, the chances are that they wouldn't get away with a tenth of that which we let them today.

>>Unfortunately yours is a widely ( if shallowly ) held truism of the Australian public that belongs with the rest of the “old wives tales”<<

If only.

If only there weren't an almost daily reminder of the venality of today's politician, and the absolute disdain with which they treat their constituents.

>>Your so called cynicism is just a nice way of covering up your intellectual laziness. Vanilla is bang on when he suggests that our politicians are a mixed bag of all types.<<

If Vanilla and I weren't such great friends, I'd be tempted to reply that simply pointing out that "politicians are a mixed bag of all types" can itself be regarded as somewhat intellectually lazy, since it is a remark that doesn't actually say a great deal.

At least I provided a few examples.

I can think of plenty more I just didn’t feel you were deserving of something with a higher sneer content.

>> Actually thinking about politics and policies is, at heart, patently un-Australian. All that we want is a good bloke who can skull a tinny and be seen at the footy - someone who understands the people.

There is your slight on the Australian public. And your pretence. that this is somehow the same as saying that “people might prefer straight-talking battlers to represent them in Parliament”, is both obvious and snide. And you can’t accuse me of being snobbish in that respect as they are two of my favorite pastimes.

I will forgive you for being both thick and lazy for not seeing that your world weary cynicism is intellectually indefensible and a motive force behind the Pauline Hanson campaign. She traded on the lack of respect for politicians that the soft left has made so thoroughly PC. It is such accepted part of folklore now that it doesn't occur to the more reactionary among us that perhaps there really is more to our politicians than their supposed never-ending gravy train.

>> f you look at it more carefully, you may actually discern a level of cause and effect operating here.

I think on the contrary that the ridiculous notion that all our politicians are cheats and liars, along with the plague upon our society that is political correctness, leads to the one dimensional politics that we see today. This one dimensional quality is what leads people to react as they did to Pauline Hanson, who if not very smart, at least appeared to be a real person.

Whilst you are correct in suggesting that “a mixed bag“is not a particularly enlightening phrase to describe our politicians I can bet you that it is 100% correct. The same cannot be said for your contention that they are all the same.

These every day reminders you get of our politicians venality, they wouldn’t be courtesy of “a current affair” would they?

Ad hominems are weak, Col Rouge. This is from the discussion page:

"Former CIA Officer Victor Marchetti had revealed in early 1975 that the CIA had funded both opposition parties since the 1960s. At the beginning of November 1975 it was revealed in the press that a former CIA officer, Richard Lee Stallings, had been channelling funds to Doug Anthony, leader of the Country Party.

It was also revealed at the time that the US bases in the hinterland were CIA creations, and that Stallings had been the first head of much of the operations. This coverage spurred Whitlam to investigate the facilities, as well as demanding a full list of CIA operatives in Australia. This spurred the Australian military intelligence community and the CIA into a flurry of activity, which also involved Kerr in several meetings. Whitlam was due to make an announcement on the US Bases and CIA activity on the afternoon of November 11."

Gibo. So...what was wrong with Pauline Hanson?

Nothing really, except she was a serious threat to the two major parties and they colluded to bring her down. The wins of ON in the Queensland election scared the pants off them.

She gained admiration because she spoke about issues that were only talked about privately and other politicians were too p**s weak to raise. Issues like Immigration, multiculturalism, the demise of our manufacturing industries and the sell off of our national assets like Qantas and the Commonwealth Bank. No one had ever asked the public about these issues and in fact the major parties had an agreement not to talk about immigration publicly. The reason 'It is too complex for the public to grasp'. No wonder she was seen by many to be a breath of fresh air and had guts.

Her, and One Nation, policies are middle of the road but opposite to those of the major parties. She even backed the unions with her Fair trade, not Free trade policy and advocated democracy with the Citizens Initated Referenda policy. She wanted a new Commonwealth Bank to keep other banks in check.

If she is seen as dumb for putting her finger on issues the public thought important, it doesn't say much for the abilities of the politians in the major parties who have massive resourses and highly payed advisers, supposedly to keep a tab on public interests.

Despite denigrating her in every way possible and jailing her on trumped up charges, she remained popular. The major parties then instructed the media to send her to Coventry and not give her oxygen. That brought about the end.

Lessons learned. Any small or fledgling party is OK if they remain that way. But if they get too large and pose a threat the major arties will collude to bring you down, by any possible means.

I'm not condoning how she was attacked but i will say that what defeated her in my opinion was her and her supporters overt and uniform racism against black and brown people (whether it was a media creation or not, i'm not so sure). Yes, many of them don't care about Australian culture or traditions, but neither do many white immigrants, such as mediterranean or eastern european whites. But there are some immigrants who are better people than many Australians and I would welcome first.

Banjo, you make some succinct and quite good points there (though I disagree Hanson would have been a good MP) but I can't help but feel you're overlooking her many, many shortcomings.

I'd also disagree when you say the 'government told the media' to be harsh on her.

This whole 'government runs the media' conspiracy gets quite a workout at OLO, when in actuality, the media run with whatever grabs attention, regardless of what the government thinks.

Well Banjo lad, you once referred to me as stupid;- am I stupid now to agree with your post?

It accurately describes exactly how I feel about Hanson.

I admired her. And I am a Socialist!! (with a bit of luck a couple of poster just had fatal heart attacks!)

What that woman did in almost literally coming out from behind the counter of her chip shop, was to walk into Parlie and make a maiden speech that jolted the lawyer/exec/and smarmie git fraternity awake!

I like that.

many may not have liked her message. Parts of it I didn't, BUT she metaphorically kicked the .hit out of the complacent sods all around her. AND she made sure she knew what was happening in the House at any one time, unlike many of them, who snoozed through most of it.

I like that.

What chilled me was the way ALL political parties set out to get her. She was undoubtedly seen as a threat to them.
The behaviour of the rabble;-those who embrace FoS,compassion,tolerance.......??,towards those who attended her meetings was a bloody disgrace.

I saw the defeat and destruction of Hanson as a defeat of democracy.

I agree with that Ginx. Our representatives really need a kick in the rear and STILL DO. All of them. The best way to do it is to not ever be tempted to vote for the main parties and to vote for disruptive, unorthodox personalities like Pauline Hanson.

IMHO the high point [1996] was when Pauline wrapped herself in the Oz flag [ie the one Keating said "don't worry son, I'll get you a new one"] and old misery guts Chief Justice of Fam Court Nicholson had a go at her

But then, newly appointed [by Keating, but Howard was never able to get rig of him] High Court judge Kirby said of Nicholson

"The people vote for MPs, not judges"

and Nicholson went back to his hole in the ground

Steel “Ad hominems are weak, Col Rouge.”

That is because there were none. Believe me, if I wanted to get stuck into you, you would have felt it.

What you quote does not represent an attempt for the CIA to overthrow Whitlam, merely extending financial assistance to someone who opposed him.

When I consider after Whitlam got to power, the “government of two” was hardly a classical example of democracy at work.

I am only surprised it took so long to dismiss him.

HUH, Whitlam??

he was 20 years before Pauline

why not start a new topic dude if you are worried "that the trains run on time"

Pauline Hanson was against:

1. Asians, <<I believe we are in danger of being swamped by Asians.>>
2. Multiculturalism <<A truly multicultural country can never be strong or united>>
3. Migrants from non English speaking background. <<Immigration must be halted in the short-term so that our dole queues are not added to by, in many cases, unskilled migrants not fluent in the English language.>>
4. Aborigines <<About the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. <<the so-called rights of the indigenous people could ultimately result in the disintegration of our nation>>
<<we cannot afford to deny the collusion of Aboriginal separatists, the United Nations and the disloyal and self-seeking globalists in our own midst>>
5. Africans "You can't bring people into the country who are incompatible with our way of life and culture," "these people offer nothing to this country and they are going to be a burden on this society".

6. The good thing she opened our eyes ....
In 1998 the One Nation secures 22.6 per cent of the primary vote in the Queensland election, in the 1998 federal election the One Nation gained almost 937,000 votes, or 8.4 per cent of the total.
Now, we ( the migrants,minorities,aborigines, etc) know the long and hard way we have to go...

Antonios Symeonakis
Adelaide

ASymeonakis

She also you forgot to mention warned us about being out bred and out voted in our own country.

Did you ever meet her? I can tell you right now she was not against aboriginal people. Thats is a lie. What she said was they had to face up to their drinking problem which many of their pwn leaders have since said.

Your the one speading your hate.
you cry and bitch about Australia and our people the whole time.
We are a country of givers.
Good people with big hearts. A touch I suppose of the old brits within all of us who grin and bear it and suffering in silence.

Pauline was pro Australian as I am.
There is nothing wrong with looking after your own first.

I just wish [people like you would go home.

Anybody who thinks the media wasnt put upon her are very wrong.
Anybody who thinks the big wigsand The Government do not control the media are dreaming.

I admired the honesty of which she tried to warn us.

She warned us thats for sure.

When you have the elderly tax payers being denied medication by the government that is freely given to migrants its time to be really worried.

Like so many groups now being funded through saudi you have to be a migrant to get any free representation if your rights have been abused.

If you are a white single pensioner catching public transport dont expect and citizens right people to help you if you are wronged.

However if your new to the country and cant speak a word of english there is plenty of funding for free legal service for the 'same offense' or injustice.

People Against Live Exports & Intensive Farming

"I can tell you right now she was not against aboriginal people."

Hanson stated openly when she first stood for the seat of Oxley that if elected she would not represent the Aboriginals in her electorate. That sounds fairly "against" them to me. Right from the moment she first gained public attention, she made it her business to stir up resentment against the few token gains Aborigines had managed to achieve.

"We are a country of givers. Good people with big hearts."

What you really mean is we've got big hearts for white Australians, but not for Aboriginals and migrants.

"There is nothing wrong with looking after your own first."

Again, this is code for - We only want to look after those who are white like us. The rest can go hang.

I find your lack of empathy and compasssion here difficult to fathom knowing the enormous empathy and conpassion you have for animals.

Her massively underqualified opinion was a blight on the international resume of Australia. All the world heard from her face was 'damn foreigner' rhetoric. No one outside of Australia gives a toss about 'the battler', we only cared about Australia's policies on dealing with other nations. There was ZERO debate on whether she made any sense or not, no one cared. She was a WHITE HEAD on Australia's international face. No one would take Australia seriously with something like her appearing to be sanctioned by the Government.

PALE&IF is obviously diversifying. Given the topics to which they've made their distinctively garbled contributions at OLO lately, perhaps they should be renamed 'People Against Live Exports, Intensive Farming, Non-Anglos and Shared Parenting'.

TurnLeftThenRight,
Thanks for your constructive comments. Firstly I did not say Pauline was or would be a good MP. The best judges of that would be her constituents in Oxley. She may not have been the sharpest knife in the drawer, but there are plenty of other MPs that obviously were not dux of their school. Even a lot of MPs with academic quals and high education did not appear to get much common sense along the way.

Certainly Pauline had some shortcomings and made quite a few mistakes.Anyone that doesn't make mistakes is not trying. But, for a novice, under incredible scrutiny and pressure, I think she did pretty well. I won't list her shortcomings as there are plenty here willing to bag her and I don't intend to give them ammunition.

I don't know about a consprisy between the Government and the media, but the two major parties and the Government of the day would have to be just about the largest buyers of advertising the media has. This being so the media will naturally look to their interests first. The smaller parties and indepenmdants find it difficult to get their views published. A simple suggestion to deprive her of oxygen would be enough to curtail media attention. The media dropped her in a very short space of time. I recall Murdock's comment of 'kill the cow' which changed the way all their media outlets presented news about Pauline.

Ginx,
Only a week or so ago I found myself agreeing to a comment you made and now you are in agreement with me on this issue. This is unsettleing and could confuse a simple bloke like me. I certainly don't see you as agreeing with many of Pauline's policies but apparently you agree with my summation of events surrounding her. I must say you are far more understandable when you post in coherant english and not trying to be smart. Thanks for the comments.

StG “Her massively underqualified opinion was a blight on the international resume of Australia.”

Love that line.

What a load of pretentious crap!

One of the enduring delights of the British electoral season was the Raving Monster Looney Party. A happy band of brothers who, whilst never elected, displayed due reverence to the process and graciously forwent their deposit on every seat they contested. They were eccentric.

The great politicians are always a little out-there or maybe just eccentric.

Pauline, was / is an eccentric. I do not pretend to defend her politics but if you think her presence on the Australian political stage was a “blight” then you are wrong.

Your argument about her influence on the reputation of Australia is garbage. Educated people and people who matter have a more researched and rounded view of what Australia is than relying on the rhetoric of a chip shop operator.

The only ones who would find Paulines influence a “blight” are the uneducated and small minded.

I guess that answers the question where should we place you, from your take on Paulin

Rouge.

IS that why she's a successful politician?

Embraced by the masses and fellow politicians alike....

Like one would embrace the clap.

I think the real blight on Australia StG is going on right now as Labor slimes up to China for reasons of trade.
China, having killed thousands, it means nothing more to our unholy government than having a good trade partner.... also... past Labor governments failed to put properly into Defence and now they are crawling to the communists to the far north as Labor has done throughout history so we dont get a Chinese invasion in our lifetime.

Bronwyn
No wrong. What bugs me is people put migrants before aboriginal people. Its shameful.
I have been complaining about it for many years in fact.
Any country person should look after their own first. Australia has never put the aborioginal people first- ever.
I am of course speaking ofr the Governments and the Chirch le3aders as they fly all over the world with their aid money.
They fly right over the heads of aboriginal people in great need.
That browyne makes me sick.;
So I say we fix the problems in our own country for our aborioginal people fIRST before headiong off elsewhere pretending we dont have a problem
Sure I will put aboriginals before migrants
Ever single day of the week
You make those born in your own country safe and self supporting first!

Bronwyn
No wrong. What bugs me is people put migrants before aboriginal people. Its shameful.
I have been complaining about it for many years in fact.
Any country person should look after their own first. Australia has never put the aborioginal people first- ever.
I am of course speaking of the Governments and the Church leaders as they fly all over the world with their aid money.
They fly right over the heads of aboriginal people in great need.
That makes me sick.
So I say we fix the problems in our own country for our aborioginal people fIRST before heading off elsewhere pretending we dont have a problem
Sure I will put aboriginals before migrants
Ever single day of the week
You make those born in your own country safe and self supporting first!

OK so forget xenophobic, let's ask what is Kafkaesque about the whole tone of this topic

not allowed to look it up droogs or say please explain

HINT - I alluded to it back at page 1 or so with Pig Iron Bob and his Yellow Peril

"I must say you are far more understandable when you post in coherant english and not trying to be smart."
Posted by Banjo, Saturday, 29 March 2008 11:16:36 AM

............and you were doing sooooo well...
But obviously by your logic, agreeing with you was not smart!
I hope that's coherEnt English.
_____________________

Singy; I have never embraced the clap in my life.

How dare you!

Ginx,
My apoligies. The comment was supposed to be a complement, but obviously did not turn out that way. Looks like my coherent english is not so good. I could have used far better phrasing and wording, or better still, not made the comment at all. I did note it after posting, but too late.

The only excuse I can give is that I was thinking more about getting close to the 350 word limit. I am sorry and I do appreciate your original comments.

I'm struggling with this whole migrant getting handouts thing. I'm a migrant. I got handed nothing. I couldn't get the dole, or benefits, or handouts or whatever-the-hell some of you are saying I get. I got a job cleaning straight after I got my TFN. Then moved on to other jobs from there.

Maybe you guys are thinking of refugees, or something. But I 'spose, we all look the same to some of you.

Quote....

"Sure I will put aboriginals before migrants
Ever single day of the week
You make those born in your own country safe and self supporting first!

Posted by People Against Live Exports & Intensive Farming, Saturday, 29 March 2008 4:23:50 PM"

Case in point.

Pericles: "If Vanilla and I weren't such great friends, I'd be tempted to reply that simply pointing out that "politicians are a mixed bag of all types""

Did I say that? If so, there's no threat to our friendship, Pericles, as I disown myself. But I don't think I done did say that.

PALE&IF. You didn't answer my question earlier about RSPCA Queensland. Does it endorse your views on this site?

TurnLeftThenRight,
Could not help but notice that you used the term 'populist policies' in your first post. Thats an interesting term. It was used as a derogitory term by jouralists and academics in criicising Paulines policies.

Although the meaning does not state it. It seems to imply that the policies were formulated purely because they were deemed to be popular and Pauline did not believe in them.

I have never seen the term used to discribe other politicians policies. Yet both Howard and Rudd advocated Tax cuts prior to the election. Could that not be termed as populist?

All political parties and politicians formulate policies in a way that will appeal, hopefully, to people. Very few occasions are policies put out that they know will be unpopular or think they cannot sell to the public. Sometimes they get it wrong,like the AWA.

Are not politicians elected to represent the views of their constituents?

So why not use the term to discribe all policies or don't use the term at all?

so I will help you Xenophobiamaniacs who are afraid to do a please explain re Kafkaesque

"26. I would sympathise with the father being caught in this
Kafkaesque situation. It would seem to me that the inability of
the child support authority to advise the applicant of why it
made an assessment of a particular sum in his case would
amount to "special circumstances" sufficient to warrant the
inquiry permitted by s.117 of the CSA Act."

this was G vs G and talking to how Howard govt [and his sheep] allowed the Child Support Agency to try to use the Privacy Act in reverse to protect IT from its victims

Pauline was going, inter alia, to zap CSA, so what I liked was her straight shooting and not the fact she did not understand the PC flavour of the month word xenophobic [hope I spelled it right!] by the PC creeps of that time [that continues right here, but morphed into Kafkaesquephobia]

Nice one Banjer's;-thank-you!!

(See you in agreement OR disagreement elsewhere).

Banjo, to me, populist policies are essentially policies which are designed to whip up popular support, without actually doing much good in terms of addressing the issue they relate to.

For instance, I would say Kevin Rudd's laptop proposal was a 'populist' policy - we need sustained assistance to the education sector, as well as an effort at tackling things like recruiting talented teachers. Putting laptops in schools sounds good, but in practice, it's not going to fix a great deal.

Similarly, most of the rhetoric on grocery prices and fuel costs is also exceedingly populist. Short of subsidies, which just drive up demand and inflate costs anyway, there isn't much that can be done save for inflation tackling measures, but listen to the politicians wax lyrical on how they plan to fix these issues, as well as tackle the oil companies which they've got no power over whatsoever.

Ms Hanson hadn't thought most of her policies through. They were indeed 'populist' because the effects of them would have been disastrous. They were just aimed at the people who like to blame migration for their woes, when in actuality, the problems are far more complex.

sounds Kafkaesque Ginz

Please Explain as you may be xenophobic, or maybe the present PC Weasel Word of Perjorative

hope I spelled it proper! but just keep on yer PC crusade dude

gosh, that seems to have disposed of all the politically correct SoftCocks that would seek to "do a xenophobic" on Pauline, but never get off their own precious little ars**s to do Jack Sh**, cept join that Latham congoline to lick Howard's

maybe we retitle as Why are present SoftCocks so Pis*Weak

That's a tired game you want to play DD, noone cares about you or it.

I agree, a very tired and boring game of political correctness where the youth are so tired & bored we don't even have University students protesting any more - too worried they might lose their HECS

much easier to ease their conscience by digging up good old Pauline and getting perjorative, going forward

you SoftCocks really Shi* me off with your warm & cuddly self perfection while playing Kylie Monogue on your plastic phones

Pauline was simply saying wake up Australia, but the lights were already out

Good luck with that.

Doesn't DD purport to be some kind of lawyer? If so, I certainly hope he's more coherent in court than he is here.

There was nothing 'Kafkaesque' about Hanson's treatment by the judicial system, shoddy though it was - it was all very public and she knew that she was being charged with electoral fraud. Apparently unlike DD, many of us have read Kafka and just don't want to play silly games with a clearly intoxicated wingnut ambulance chaser.

"The 11th MP, Charles Rappolt, quit soon after his election and has since committed suicide."

anyone looked into WHAT CAUSED Charles [my elected One Nation candidate in Mulgrave] to resign and finally chop himself

He was a good man but also did not have gift of the gab

HINT - it was far worse than "word bullying"

"History/Trivia Labor's Warren Pitt won the seat in 1989, but lost in 1995, in large part because of the failure of the Greens to direct preferences to him. His National Party successor **Naomi Wilson** saw her vote collapse in 1998, running third and electing One Nation's Charles Rappolt on preferences. **Personal problems** saw Rappolt resign before the end of the year, and Pitt won the December 1998 by-election easily as the One Nation vote halved. The redistribution before the 2001 election gave this seat a notional national Party majority, but Pitt had little trouble increasing the Labor vote to win in 2001."

The personal problems were all manufactured by Naomi Baby, who was in the Porridge Cabinet as the Pru Goward look alike, Minister for Secret Wimmens Business

I hope I don't need to explain what happened to Charles, via the Cairns Post, Mr Plod and Naomi Babe

Hint - Cairns Post has removed all records from their records

so back to the OP, maybe the question should be rephrased to why did both major parties join forces to jump on her like a ton of bricks

does this not prove the the Tweedle Dum [dumb] and Tweedle Dee theory that BOTH parties rely on Hitlers edict

"what great fortune for governments that the people dont think"

and so it was that our present dose of Political Correctness [dumbing down] quickly saw the people form a Congoline behind Howard to do their Pauline bashing based upon the most tiny flaws eg not knowing Weasel Word of the month

AND then Howard USED her policies to get re-elected

Divorce Doctor
--AND then Howard USED her policies to get re-elected-- You have right.

I think this passage from Don Watson in Death Sentence sums it up beautifully

"An airhead is no less an airhead for having a command of
grammar, and a liar is no less a liar. Far from it; the
disingenuous, the fatuous and the deceitful are more likely
to make headway if they have perfect grammar on their
side."

so we might say Pauline didn't understand fully her xenophobia, or even that there was a word for it, but Howard was belicose about it, "belicose" then becoming the pedants' flavour of the next month

Hanson and Fear:

Read William Sheridan Allen's, The Nazi Seizure of Power: The Experience of a Single German Town 1930-1935. It provides an account of the town of Thalburg {pop. 10,000, representative of many small rural town in Germany with an emphasis on the 1932/1933 period[despite the title].

The famers who were relatively well of compared with the working class were fearful of loosing theie status as were the shopkeepers in the township. They could see itinerate works living a broken-down army barracks and did not wouild become them. The NAZIs played on this fear at a micro/individual level, wherein the Germany was now unlike the Germany before WWI. Much had been lost and the risk to the middle class owing to external forces such as the Jews.

The book showed that it was not only the macro issue of reparations but also feeding on the fears of mant small communities. A bottom-up fear approach.

Reading Allen's book reminded me of Pauline Hanson's visit to Inverell in NSW. Her tactics and the people's responses were the reminiscent of Thalburg's experience. Fortunately, unlike Hitler, Hanson was able to sustain traction with the greater Australian community.