Mujer Libre
26th February 2007, 07:02
First up, the news- that racist pig Pauline Hanson is running as an independent in the upper house election. In case you're unfamiliar with her, here's a link to an Indymedia article (http://melbourne.indymedia.org/news/2006/12/133429.php) about here, and her official website. (http://www.paulinehanson.com.au/Issues.htm)
I noticed a few things about her, and her campaign this time round. Since being imprisoned and kicked from the One Nation Party, Hanson has been rehabilitated by the media and turned into something of a B-grade celebrity, appearing on shit reality shows and such. No doubt it was a cheap publicity stunt on their part. Now that she's back in politics, the commercial networks NEVER refer to her as a racist. I mean, ffs, she was worried that Africans bring disease! It says a lot about the media- they're probably covering their own arses (they wouldn't want to be seen to have promoted a racist, at least not directly) but it's also symptomatic of the general bullshit you find in the media... I mean, Channel 7 stated that Hanson was worried that "we" will be "swamped by Asians" without needing to clarify who "we" are, and why "we" excludes Asian people!
Also, Hanson claims to represent "ordinary Australians," and sadly, in some way, she does represent a popular, and populist, point of view. I mean, look at the way the Howard government used her policies as part of their campaign of fear, in order to stay in power.
As leftists it's really important to campaign hard against people like Hanson (all of this basically applies to the Liberals and Labor too- it's just that this issue made me really angry and motivated me to post) so that she can't get away with claiming to represent "ordinary Australians" and their interests. In fact, we have to challenge the very notion that there is an objective type of person who is the "ordinary Australian."
I noticed a few things about her, and her campaign this time round. Since being imprisoned and kicked from the One Nation Party, Hanson has been rehabilitated by the media and turned into something of a B-grade celebrity, appearing on shit reality shows and such. No doubt it was a cheap publicity stunt on their part. Now that she's back in politics, the commercial networks NEVER refer to her as a racist. I mean, ffs, she was worried that Africans bring disease! It says a lot about the media- they're probably covering their own arses (they wouldn't want to be seen to have promoted a racist, at least not directly) but it's also symptomatic of the general bullshit you find in the media... I mean, Channel 7 stated that Hanson was worried that "we" will be "swamped by Asians" without needing to clarify who "we" are, and why "we" excludes Asian people!
Also, Hanson claims to represent "ordinary Australians," and sadly, in some way, she does represent a popular, and populist, point of view. I mean, look at the way the Howard government used her policies as part of their campaign of fear, in order to stay in power.
As leftists it's really important to campaign hard against people like Hanson (all of this basically applies to the Liberals and Labor too- it's just that this issue made me really angry and motivated me to post) so that she can't get away with claiming to represent "ordinary Australians" and their interests. In fact, we have to challenge the very notion that there is an objective type of person who is the "ordinary Australian."