by PAUL COLLITS – A GOOD friend, whose views are pretty close to my own, is used to being ignored in the workplace.
He’s used to colleagues steering clear of political discussions – and certainly steering clear of engaging with him.
- The Party must activate a cadre of committed activists who will produce a great ground-game.
- Pauline Hanson needs to resurrect a belief in the capacity of our busted flush democratic system.
- We need politicians who do what they say and who don’t lie.
Now? Not so much.
The colleagues are talking politics and are a bit pissed off with the overall direction of travel.
LEPERS
They are willing to treat One Nation, its supporters and fellow travellers as other-than-lepers. Their votes might be in play.
For many about the place in these times, Australian politics are interesting again. There is now a real choice.
It’s great to see, whatever you might think of the (shit) way things are going.
Call it the return of the disillusioned.
There are several categories of intending or real One Nation voters.
They include the former hold-your-nose voters placing one against the Coalition, but without the remotest enthusiasm.
They include the hate-the UniParty brigade. They include the COVID “deniers”.
(Remember that Malcolm Roberts was leading the charge against the COVID totalitarians and that Pauline Hanson is the only one still calling for a Royal Commission.)
They also include libertarians like Topher Field, who recognise the fight we are in and know where progress and pushback will be achieved.
They include gazillions of regional Australians who have come to see the futility of the Brokeback Nats.
They possibly include more than a few old Labor voters who inhabit what is left of the outer suburbs of our once great cities – now barely recognisable migrant ghettos.
And they might even include a few former informal voters or non-turner-uppers who had given up on the system.
The return of the disillusioned seems apt. Insurgent Parties are pulling back those who had left the system.
Given all this, the Right-of-centre legacy Party rump – in every sense of that word – is on the warpath.
INSURGENT
The Coaltion is after upstart, insurgent Parties. It’s One Nation that the establishment fears – and is coming for.
Saying that “a vote for One Nation is a vote for Labor” suggests that those making this claim think that they “own” your vote.
Folks, they do not “own” votes. You have to earn them, in our system, or what is left of it.
Splitting the Right-vote is now the mantra for legacy Parties and their fellow pundit-travellers.
Think The Australian newspaper’s Paul Kelly – a pundits of the self-styled “centre”.
The legacy Parties think they own votes. They do not.
They have forfeited their right to make that wafer-thin argument, through their own betrayal of the electorate.
Copacabana Albo – and his British buddy, Queer Starmer – will only retain government if people keep voting Labor. That is not Pauline Hanson’s fault.
But, she has some challenges. It isn’t just about getting great candidates. That worked in Farrer.
One Nation has to activate a cadre of committed activists who will produce a great ground-game. And who will work – every day from now until the next election – at earning the votes that the establishment Parties believe they own.
The first great achievement of Pauline Hanson will be to resurrect a belief in the capacity of our busted flush democratic system.
She needs to deliver outcomes for the forgotten people that have all but given up on the possibility that we can vote our way out of the mess this country is in.
Those right across the spectrum should be in favour of anyone who restores the faith of the people in representative democracy.
LIE
We need politicians who do what they say, who don’t lie, where accountability counts and where mandates still mean something.
Where governing doesn’t mean ruling in an unstated and under-reported alliance with one’s corporate mates. Where “my word is my bond”. Where one can’t just organise CGT “carve outs” for those with wealth and power and voice and insider trading political mates.
Where one’s Party isn’t run by unelected scumbags whose only skill set is gaming the system.
The disillusioned sure need rescuing. If they all give up on voting our way out of the mess, well, the alternative won’t be pretty.
The second (of course) will be fixing, when in government, all the disastrous policy settings with which we have been saddled, against our will, to be more in line with what most people actually want.
My friend’s work colleagues are waking up.
Let’s hope this isn’t one isolated case study but an emerging, broad trend. A lot is riding on it.PC
Pauline was wonderful on Andrew Bolt’s show last night, we’re increasingly behind her, and she’s Australia’s best shot to extricate itself from its current morass to restore our pride, prosperity and faith in future.
Already there is tension between Pauline Hanson and the new House of Representatives MP David Farley and about him displaying two flags in his electorate office contrary to One Nation policy of Commonwealth of Australia Flag only.
Patterns of Departure
Internal Disputes: Most departures stem from conflicts between members and party leadership, particularly with Pauline Hanson.
Short Tenures: Many members do not complete their terms, often resigning or being expelled shortly after election.
This pattern of instability has hindered One Nation’s ability to maintain a consistent presence in Australian politics.
One Nation has lost more than two-thirds of its elected members before the end of their terms due to internal disputes and departures.
Consider why One Nation in their Home State of Queensland failed to have a candidate at the recent State by election in Stafford. They did have a candidate at the last full state election.
The Chief of Staff explained that One Nation did not consider it was worth wasting resources on.
Maybe they learnt a lesson earlier at the State by election in Victoria where the Liberal candidate won and an Independent ran second on preferences? Maybe the SA State election was not as fruitful as they had expected it to be?
And Federal by election Farrer electorate One Nation candidate was first and is now their first ever House of Representatives MP elected as One Nation candidate. An Independent came second (by the way the Independent was supported by Union created GetUp activist organisation and Climate 200). The long held National then Liberal electorate voted 10% for the National candidate and about the same for the Liberal candidate but consider what One Nation strategists worked out, that voters were really annoyed that their Liberal MP elected again in 2025 had left after one year. Even worse had been Opposition Leader for that one year and disarded all the 2025 election policies resulting in a Coalition disagreement and ending with both leaders being replaced and then returning to Coalition partnership business.
The new Opposition Leader Taylor received a two thirds Liberal MP majority of votes, the National Leader and Deputy Opposition Leader Canavan was appointed unopposed.
Earlier twice National Leader and Deputy Prime Minister Joyce had changed sides to One Nation after being elected again as a National at the 2025 election, and failed to gain support for a third leadership.
One Nation needs 76 House of Representatives MP to form government, and more for a comfortable majority. With only 2 MPs right now that would be mission impossible and therefore all minor parties if they are serious about getting rid of Labor governments need to cooperate and support Liberal National LNP candidates at the elections, put Labor last and Greens second last, put Coalition first primary vote and your second preference to maybe One Nation or other conservatives.
Born 27 May 1954, by the time of the 2028 election will be 74 years of age, and 2031 therefore 77 years old.
COVID-19 reached Australia start of January 2020, the primary responsibility for public health, hospitals, quarantine detention, closing interstate borders, the emergency powers legislated for pandemic at the time in State Parliaments, laws and regulations enforced by State Health and State Police and so on.
Federal funding for economic stimulus for state economies via employees and employers, supply of pharmaceutical products, and some other contributions made but no control over Premiers and Cabinets.
Prime Minister Morrison changed COAG (Council Of Australian Governments ) to created National Leaders Cabinet to try and gain cooperation and coordination. Labor Premiers, notably VIC and QLD, used the pandemic together with Federal Labor Opposition to smear and practice character assassination of the Prime Minister and Morrison Coalition Federal Government, aided by media, misinformation based.
One Nation at that time used pandemic for political exposure and publicity purposes. As did others.
A question was put to the Federal Attorney General at the time, could based on the Constitution and Federation of States the Commonwealth or Federal Government introduce emergency powers to take control of State responsibilities. She answered it is a possibility but would result in immediate time consuming High Court challenges by the States, and resulting in damaging the Federation. And meanwhile the pandemic was underway.
I have probably quoted the following before, the book The Electronic Whorehouse by Paul Sheehan. Quoted is the following words from John Le Carre to Paul Sheehan – “I think we are dealing with an octopus … Advertising as news. It’s very skilfully done. The methods of seducing the media, the ingenuity of the spin has reached the point where we, as a general public, have never been lied to by such sophisticated means as now.”