Jeremy Jones, director of worldwide and community affairs of the Australia/Israel and Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC) said even before the votes were tallied she had, in effect, declared war on Australian tolerance, community harmony and social cohesion.
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Protest: The Hunter region’s likely One Nation Senator Brian Burston at his Lake Macquarie home. “I don’t believe in halal certification”, she railed, citing a dubious statistic that “98 per cent of Australians” opposed it.
The soon-to-be senator is confident her One Nation Party will win at least four, and possibly six, Senate seats, and says Family Law reform, creating jobs and putting the brakes on foreign investment are among her top priorities.
He said the One Nation party leader’s anti-multiculturalism beliefs could appeal to xenophobia.
Hanson proved to be a highly controversial figure during her first stint in the House of Representatives from 1996-1998, often claiming that Australia was at risk of being “swamped by Asians”.
Given the national, and at times, international, attention Ms Hanson’s views have received during previous incarnations of her political career, Ms Palaszczuk has spent the past week warning Ms Hanson against bringing the state’s reputation into disrepute.
“So what I’m saying [is]: get your act together”.
Pauline, we don’t expect you to be an orator on the level of Dr Martin Luther King, but you can’t just make shit up as you go along.
Attorney-General George Brandis said Hanson’s views were entitled to be treated with respect.
“I spent 50 minutes on the phone last night with the Prime Minister of Australia”, he said. While a separate political party in our parliament with an overtly racist party platform may shock some people, many of Hanson’s polices aren’t that unfamiliar to the political sphere.
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“Even people of Chinese, of Asian background and I know you all think they’re against me, but they’re not because they have really embraced this country, they love this country, and they don’t want to see it changed”. “I’m the person that’s going to come in, like the cleaner – if they don’t clean your house properly you get rid of them and you have a clean sweep of the broom”.
