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Something stinks in the state of Queensland
 The
red-haired pariah of Australian politics, Pauline Hanson,
is currently in the slammer with three years jail hanging
over her head for electoral fraud.
The unique former One Nation leader - she of the "please
explain" expression - was in a bit of shock about her
predicament and a bit leery of the toothless 18-stone creature
she was looking like having to share a cell with.
She is going to appeal against her sentence, which even one
of her most ardent opponents Prime Monster John Howard thought
a bit harsh.
Now as a bit of background it is fair to say that old Red
- as she let's me call her - led one of the most stunning
political changes in Australian history with her One Nation
Party.
She voiced concerns over immigration and various other contentious
issues, stood for election on them and scared the living crap
out of the moribund self-congratulatory main parties of Liberal
and Labour.
While she did not exactly enunciate them well, her controversial
policies struck a chord, and the bleeding-heart media (yes
those marvellous icons of unbiased reporting) went for her
jugular time after time.
Now old Red was jailed for electoral fraud under Queensland
law - and we know there is no fairer system in the land than
in that state - and yet she did the same thing federally and
was paid upwards of $3million to legally do so. Who'd figure?
My question is - was Queensland the only part of Australia
that had laws that could remove her from political life and
thereby stop being a threat to the main parties?
I didn't agree with a lot of Red Hanson's beliefs - and certainly
didn't agree with her use of English - however, as a champion
of free speech I'm damn glad she said them in her mangled
way.
It fostered debate - even raging arguments - but that's what
we are about in a democracy. The fact she gained a massive
following indicates - despite media crucifixion - that she
was speaking for a lot of Australians.
Funny thing about her sentencing and jailing is that it seems
to have increased her popularity and One Nation is currently
getting 21% of popular support in Queensland.
I'd hate for our beloved main parties to get too complacent.
If there is something that has really got up your nose,
let Grumpy Old Coot know at grumpy@webwombat.com
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