Pauline Hanson has revealed four local branches have been shut down to concerns about “extremism”, while former members of the banned White Australia Party are flocking to One Nation.
Ms Hanson confirmed the branch closures during an interview with The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald’s Chief Political Correspondent Paul Sakkal after being asked about One Nation’s new vetting system for candidates and party officials.
Last month it was revealed that her new general manager ordered branches be dissolved and reconstituted, and her party has continued to surge in the polls, and is now more popular than Labor on primary votes, according to recent surveys by Redbridge and YouGov.
Ms Hanson said “I don’t want these people in the party” when asked about the speakers who may have been “far-right” that caused concerns at branches, but said she did not know who they were, and denied they were White supremacists.
She then said the speakers may have been part of an elaborate media set-up.
“I said just make sure that people know who they’re inviting in. Members invite others, and also, Paul, they could be trying to set us up, alright? So even the media, will try and set us up, to get someone to go there as a speaker,” she said.
“Then all they’ve got to start expressing their views, and that’s in the media, and then I’m being infiltrated by these extremists. So it’s all the time happening with One Nation, they set us up all the time, and I’ve really had enough of it.”
Her comments came after political commentator Blair Cottrell warned in a video called The Death of Democracy about the hate group laws used to ban the White Australia Party that ex-members were already joining One Nation as it was now the most right-wing option.
The White Australia Party had about 1,800 members and another 3,000 supporters before its listing as a prohibited hate group last month under new legislation which it is now challenging in the High Court.
“What happens when thousands of White Australia members and supporters retreat to One Nation, which they’re currently doing since their original party was banned,” Mr Cottrell asked.
“Well, then the government can just ban One Nation as well, on the basis that its new members and associates are ‘guilty of hate’. And there’s no realistic way for One Nation to protect itself from this outcome, even if they shut down their branches and introduce a strict vetting process.
“People are going to slip through the cracks and someone will have done something the government decides is ‘hateful’ at some point in the past. The government will try to ban One Nation next, and any of its major contenders.
“One Nation really has no choice but to demand these laws are repealed immediately and campaign on that basis. Because even if One Nation or other political parties are not banned immediately on the basis of their law, the threat of a ban will constantly loom overhead, coercing the way these parties behave.”
The banning of the White Australia Party appears to have emboldened the far-left, and this week left-wing extremist protesters turned up outside courtrooms in Sydney and Melbourne where they hurled abuse at right-wing attendees in front of police, after being largely absent from similar appearances in recent years.
Corporate and state media outlets have also published a series of hit pieces over the past week, including one falsely accusing community group the National Workers Alliance of being a secret neo-Nazi organisation, and two others doxxing supporters of the White Australia Party and sharing photos of Thomas Sewell’s home.
Mr Cottrell told Noticer News the dramatic escalation in left-wing harassment and intimidation would force ex-members and supporters of the White Australia Party to hide their views and join parties like One Nation en masse if the party’s constitutional challenge fails in September.
“The sudden combined pressure from police, journalists and anti-fascist activists may be forcing even more former White Australia members and supporters to seek refuge within One Nation and other parties and groups,” he said.
“But the retroactive nature of the hate crime laws may permanently taint former White Australia members and supporters, forcing them to conceal their previous beliefs and associations in order to remain active in politics.
“This makes it very difficult for parties to effectively vet and keep themselves clear of individuals previously part of or associated with White Australia, given that the supporters numbered in the thousands and many of them were regular people.
“The White Australia Party retaining its existence and registration as a legitimate political entity may be the only realistic way for One Nation to remain clear of national socialist elements, since they’ll only go to One Nation so long as their original party remains banned.”
Header image: Left, Pauline Hanson on the podcast (YouTube). Right, the now-disbanded activist branch of White Australia, the National Socialist Network, marches through Melbourne last year (supplied).
The post Pauline Hanson reveals ‘extremism’ fears as ex-White Australia members flock to One Nation first appeared on The Noticer.
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