Say what you like about Pauline Hanson's One Nation, and I for one often do, the party has certainly affected the Australian political arena.  In fact the last time there was such a broad interest by the Australian populace in the politics of the country was during the events of the Dismissal of the Whitlam Government in 1975.

It would be very easy to say that the affect which One Nation has had on Australian politics is uniformly adverse or negative.  This presumption, aside from being extremely biased and closed-minded, is wrong.  At the very least, by creating such a controversial entrance into the political arena it has brought with it a greater interest of Australians in the political system.  Since Australia isn't repressive of differing or dissenting political views, the arrival of One Nation has brought both supporters and opponents along with it.  Not to mention people of even more extreme views, on each side.  The key point will be whether or not the renewed interest in Australian politics will fade if, or when, One Nation dies.

By surviving its first year without falling to fractious in-fighting and internal power struggles, One Nation has proven to the major parties at the very least its tenacity.  Though a close look at the party's history and the lengths to which its directors have gone to maintain the party tell an interesting story.  The party's survival can be attributed in a large part to Pauline Hanson's political adviser, David Oldfield, who defected from the Liberal Party in order to further his political career.

The current Federal Election will be another test for the future and survival of the fledgling party.  Especially for its founder and leader, Pauline Hanson, and her political adviser, David Oldfield, who has chosen to attempt to get into the Senate.  One does wonder, though, why he chose to attempt to become a New South Wales Senator, rather than Queensland, where the party clearly has more support and, therefore, a greater chance of gaining power.  This decision may have been one of his greater mistakes of the campaign thus far.  A victory for Oldfield in Queensland would be almost guaranteed, whereas the situation in NSW is not so sure.  Still, I doubt the Australian Parliament will suffer through an absence of David Oldfield in the Senate.

Should One Nation still be a fixture of Australian politics after running the gauntlet of this year's Federal Election and should opposition to the party and its views remain strong, quite likely considering the opinions of the Democrats and Jeff Kennett, then this could add (or continue) an interesting aspect of Australian politics.  The key point will come when the situation either maintains public interest in politics, possibly to the point of encouraging the formation of more political parties or Independent candidates, or the prevailing public attitude degenerates to the usual political cynicism currently directed towards the major parties.

Until either of these possibilities becomes the new reality it would be difficult to say categorically that One Nation has at least served the purpose of revitalising Australian politics.  It is, however, relatively safe to say that for now this is the case and though Australia is certainly receiving some bad press overseas due to the rise of Pauline Hanson and those of her ilk, we can at least console ourselves with the fact that the clash of ideologies will create a far more entertaining political environment, if nothing else.  A note to One Nation, though, this little commentary is not meant to be a justification for your existence, merely recognition of an unintended side-effect of said existence.

Regardless of the ultimate prevailing attitudes towards One Nation, once it finds its niche, I only hope that the revitalisation of Australian politics continues.  There's no point in letting politicians get complacent, otherwise they all might end up like Mal Colston.
 

Sunday September 27th, 1998

Copyright © Benjamin D. McGinnes, 1998

Copyright © Benjamin D. McGinnes, 1998-2001