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BP: Hanson fans racism, Howard adds



Editorial & Opinion 

      EDITORIAL: 

      Hanson fans racism, Howard adds fuel 

      Australian Prime Minister John Howard
      may moan and whine about how he
      personally abhors racism, as he did this
      week, but few people will believe him. For
      when Pauline Hanson warned that Australia
      risked being swamped by Asians in her
      maiden parliamentary speech two years
      ago, Howard could have easily knocked the
      wheels off her racist bandwagon. 

      He didn't. Instead he chose to remain silent,
      claiming that Hanson was exercising her
      freedom of speech. But surely if he was
      truly opposed to racism, he should have
      exercised his own freedom of speech to
      condemn her. It was this abrogation of
      political leadership that led to the call for
      Howard's resignation by senator Mechai
      Viravaidya in a speech he made at
      Melbourne University soon after Hanson
      unleashed her racist diatribe. 

      Clearly Howard's silence speaks volumes
      for his unwillingness to alienate the support
      of those within his own Liberal Party, many
      of whom share Hanson's views. After all,
      Hanson was a member of the party before
      she became a political liability and was
      unceremoniously expelled. 

      Howard's folly has now boomeranged into
      his face. Since her election as an MP in
      1996, Hanson has become a household
      name, not only in Australia but in Asia. She
      has built her One Nation party with the
      support of disgruntled conservatives who
      would normally back Howard. Which is why
      Howard is actively wooing One Nation's
      supporters, especially in keenly-contested
      elections such as next Saturday's polls in
      the northern Australian state of Queensland.

      Last week Howard's Liberals resolved to
      ask voters to direct their preferences to
      Hanson before arch-rival Labor in the
      election. And if there is any doubt about this
      decision, there can be none after
      Queensland Tourism Minister Bruce
      Davidson uncategorically said he would
      give his vote to a Nazi candidate before
      Labor. 

      Every few years or so, Australia embroils
      itself in a ritual of self-flagellation -- one
      involving a bitter debate on race, and in
      particular, Asian immigration. In 1984, Prof
      Geoffrey Blainey, the dean of arts at
      Melbourne University, sparked an uproar
      when he cast aspersions on Asians in a
      speech made in a small country town. Five
      years later, John Howard, lobbed another
      racist bomb when he called for a curb in
      Asian immigration. 

      And now there is Hanson. But the Hanson
      phenomenon, unlike past racist
      hyper-ventilation, will not go away. Indeed,
      Hansonmania has now become a
      permanent feature in the political landscape
      of Australia. And that spells trouble for a
      country which prides itself on its
      multiculturalism. 

      Like her racist predecessors, Hanson has
      given a certain sheen and respectability to
      racism. After all, if an MP can openly
      maligned Asians and Aborigines, there
      can't be anything wrong for middle Australia
      to do likewise. Hanson has no doubt
      successfully tapped into the hidden fears of
      white Australia and become a lightning rod
      for the serious concerns about the country's
      social and economic problems. According
      to her homespun philosophy, these
      complex problems stem from Asians
      inundating Australia and from Aborigines
      sponging off welfare. 

      Apparently, a sizable proportion of
      Australians have bought such Hansonisms.
      This week, a poll found One Nation
      commanding the support of 15 per cent of
      voters in redneck Queensland -- enough to
      give it several seats and the momentum for
      the upcoming federal election which
      Howard must call by mid-next year. This will
      make One Nation the third force in
      Australian politics behind the conservatives
      and Labor. 

      On Tuesday, Howard said One Nation was
      a party which seeks to attract racists. He is
      right. And apparently he is one of them.
      How else then to explain why he attacks
      Hanson and yet crawls into bed with One
      Nation when it comes to directing
      preferences? There is little difference
      separating Howard from Hanson. Both want
      cuts in Asian immigration, to roll back
      Aboriginal native titles and to slash social
      welfare. 

      But while many have no qualms in calling
      Hanson a bigot, few dare call Howard a
      racist. Deputy Labor leader Gareth Evans
      himself doesn't believe that Howard is a
      racist. Howard, he said, was just being
      ''insensitive'' to racial issues. But his
      colleague, John Della Bosca, is not so
      magnanimous. At a party conference this
      week, the influential secretary of Labor's
      New South Wales branch inferred that
      Howard was a racist pandering to Hanson. 

      We couldn't agree more.