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BP: Hanson fans racism, Howard adds
- Subject: BP: Hanson fans racism, Howard adds
- From: suriya@xxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 04 Jun 1998 20:26:00
Editorial & Opinion
EDITORIAL:
Hanson fans racism, Howard adds fuel
Australian Prime Minister John Howard
may moan and whine about how he
personally abhors racism, as he did this
week, but few people will believe him. For
when Pauline Hanson warned that Australia
risked being swamped by Asians in her
maiden parliamentary speech two years
ago, Howard could have easily knocked the
wheels off her racist bandwagon.
He didn't. Instead he chose to remain silent,
claiming that Hanson was exercising her
freedom of speech. But surely if he was
truly opposed to racism, he should have
exercised his own freedom of speech to
condemn her. It was this abrogation of
political leadership that led to the call for
Howard's resignation by senator Mechai
Viravaidya in a speech he made at
Melbourne University soon after Hanson
unleashed her racist diatribe.
Clearly Howard's silence speaks volumes
for his unwillingness to alienate the support
of those within his own Liberal Party, many
of whom share Hanson's views. After all,
Hanson was a member of the party before
she became a political liability and was
unceremoniously expelled.
Howard's folly has now boomeranged into
his face. Since her election as an MP in
1996, Hanson has become a household
name, not only in Australia but in Asia. She
has built her One Nation party with the
support of disgruntled conservatives who
would normally back Howard. Which is why
Howard is actively wooing One Nation's
supporters, especially in keenly-contested
elections such as next Saturday's polls in
the northern Australian state of Queensland.
Last week Howard's Liberals resolved to
ask voters to direct their preferences to
Hanson before arch-rival Labor in the
election. And if there is any doubt about this
decision, there can be none after
Queensland Tourism Minister Bruce
Davidson uncategorically said he would
give his vote to a Nazi candidate before
Labor.
Every few years or so, Australia embroils
itself in a ritual of self-flagellation -- one
involving a bitter debate on race, and in
particular, Asian immigration. In 1984, Prof
Geoffrey Blainey, the dean of arts at
Melbourne University, sparked an uproar
when he cast aspersions on Asians in a
speech made in a small country town. Five
years later, John Howard, lobbed another
racist bomb when he called for a curb in
Asian immigration.
And now there is Hanson. But the Hanson
phenomenon, unlike past racist
hyper-ventilation, will not go away. Indeed,
Hansonmania has now become a
permanent feature in the political landscape
of Australia. And that spells trouble for a
country which prides itself on its
multiculturalism.
Like her racist predecessors, Hanson has
given a certain sheen and respectability to
racism. After all, if an MP can openly
maligned Asians and Aborigines, there
can't be anything wrong for middle Australia
to do likewise. Hanson has no doubt
successfully tapped into the hidden fears of
white Australia and become a lightning rod
for the serious concerns about the country's
social and economic problems. According
to her homespun philosophy, these
complex problems stem from Asians
inundating Australia and from Aborigines
sponging off welfare.
Apparently, a sizable proportion of
Australians have bought such Hansonisms.
This week, a poll found One Nation
commanding the support of 15 per cent of
voters in redneck Queensland -- enough to
give it several seats and the momentum for
the upcoming federal election which
Howard must call by mid-next year. This will
make One Nation the third force in
Australian politics behind the conservatives
and Labor.
On Tuesday, Howard said One Nation was
a party which seeks to attract racists. He is
right. And apparently he is one of them.
How else then to explain why he attacks
Hanson and yet crawls into bed with One
Nation when it comes to directing
preferences? There is little difference
separating Howard from Hanson. Both want
cuts in Asian immigration, to roll back
Aboriginal native titles and to slash social
welfare.
But while many have no qualms in calling
Hanson a bigot, few dare call Howard a
racist. Deputy Labor leader Gareth Evans
himself doesn't believe that Howard is a
racist. Howard, he said, was just being
''insensitive'' to racial issues. But his
colleague, John Della Bosca, is not so
magnanimous. At a party conference this
week, the influential secretary of Labor's
New South Wales branch inferred that
Howard was a racist pandering to Hanson.
We couldn't agree more.