MC Boards rail against Pauline Hanson

Stu Nettle picture
Stu Nettle (stunet)
The Rearview Mirror

pauline_hanson.jpgIn September 1998 Maurice Cole took out a full page ad in Australia's Surfing Life. Nothing surprising there, MC ran similar ads in every second issue of the mag, each of them sporting a similar theme: broad spectrum colour gamut; maybe a happy bear front and centre; then a pithy witticism underneath.

The September '98 ad stuck to the colour theme but dropped the bear and quip. They were replaced by a crude black and white sketch of Pauline Hanson above the despairing question: Are we tripping yet?

Eighteen months earlier, Pauline Hanson became the first female independent to be elected to the House of Representatives. In the 1996 election she ran as a Liberal but was disendorsed before it began. However, she won the election and promptly started her own party. One Nation were a right wing party with a populist, conservative, and anti-multiculturalism platform.

Pauline Hanson's maiden parliamentary speech began: "I won the seat of Oxley largely on an issue that has resulted in me being called a racist. That issue related to my comment that Aboriginals received more benefits than non-Aboriginals". She also asserted that Australia was in danger of being "swamped by Asians", and that these immigrants "have their own culture and religion, form ghettos and do not assimilate".

Also in ASL's Spetember issue was an open letter from Maurice Cole to Australian surfers. It reads in part:

"For the last 30 years Aussies have travelled the planet surfing and spreading the image of this happy-go-lucky people. We've been welcomed into people's cultures and homes as free-thinking spirits. What is our future now?"

"What lies before us now is the possibility of One Nation's racist party taking the balance of power in this great country! In this accomplishment we will alienate certainly all of our Asian neighbours and African nations."

"Hanson has appeared at a time when we can least afford to air our dirty laundry on the international stage! Racism is an evil manifestation of humanity that rears its head through fear."

"We have to embrace tomorrow, get educated, show tolerance, set our own agendas, think of the future as ours."

Just one month after MC's letter was published Aussies went to the polls for the 1998 general election. An election dubbed by One Nation as a "race election". Unfortunately for One Nation their Queensland heartland vote dropped from 22% to 5% and Hanson lost her seat.

Fast forward twenty years, Maurice Cole is still shaping boards, Australia's Surfing Life has become just Surfing Life, and Pauline Hanson is back in parliament. Though her platform is more complex than it was - she's now presenting herself as the warrior for the disgruntled victims of globalisation - she's once again let the race genie out of the bottle. This time around the target is no longer Asians or Aboriginals, but Muslims. She's called for a blanket ban on Muslim immigration, as well as a Royal Commission into Islam. She's pretty keen on Royal Commissions, even proposed that we have one for climate change.

Tripping indeed...

Comments

Blowin's picture
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Blowin Monday, 25 Jul 2016 at 10:11pm

People only vote for One Nation if they're uneducated.

Or if they're scared.

Classic.

Not to be confused with the gronks that voted in the Liberal party for however many fucking years through fear of an interest rate rise though.....which was basically the only reason they ever got in , not the " dog whistling " that so many over emphasised.

So with One Nation, I'd say it's more economical / sovereignity driven issues and less anti- Islamic sentiment that got them votes.

Having said that....there would for sure be a few people that are terrified of terrorism and those that grew up before "multiculturalism "was enforced upon us at the behest of Big Business and who now wander previously familiar streets thinking ......What the fuck ?

yocal's picture
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yocal Tuesday, 26 Jul 2016 at 8:29am

Unfortunately I know a few people who are tertiary qualified, successful people and are still favourable to some of her far right opinions.

SurferFuk's picture
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SurferFuk Monday, 25 Jul 2016 at 10:41pm

Not sure where the editor is going with this article !

Sitting back in the office laughing, whilst fishing for comments from Mr Ray Schist?

Surf gets rated from 1 to 10 here.
This piece gets rated a big zero.

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AndyM Monday, 25 Jul 2016 at 11:04pm

You're in decent company Blowin, Labor's MVP Chris Bowen is one of the few who hasn't gone for the lazy "oh they must all be racists" schtick.

"Mr Bowen said the high turnout of voters for the One Nation party in Queensland, as well as the Nick Xenophon Team in South Australia, could have been a symptom of "troubled economies" in those states and called for more of a focus on inclusive economic growth".

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-07-21/chris-bowen-warns-of-voters-disill...

Have you ever had a look at the frothing and rabid anti-One Nation comments on The Guardian website?

Talk about lack of nuance, it's embarrassing.

Having said that, what's also embarrassing is One Nation's website, at least Pauline could have asked someone with decent literacy skills to proofread it, or maybe that's part of her folksy appeal.

stunet's picture
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stunet Tuesday, 26 Jul 2016 at 8:47am

While typing that up last night I took a break and read about the son of Curtis Cheng requesting One Nation stop using his fathers death to advocate their policies.

Cheng was slain by a 'lone wolf' terrorist last year, his death is advanced by One Nation as a reason to stop all Muslim immigration.

Irony?

When the Cheng's arrived here in the late 90s they were the targets of racism from Hanson's first parliamentary effort.

“I remember being a victim of the hateful and fearful attitudes that the One Nation Party promoted. I remember being told I will be sent back to where I came from because I was Asian and, therefore, not Australian.

“I do not want the same to happen for the new ‘scapegoats’ in this extreme and simplistic view of society.”

He concluded with a call for a more united Australia: “We need to look how we can heal and build; not how we can divide and exclude.

“My dad was a gentle and peaceful man; his name should not be used to promote fear and exclusion.”

stunet's picture
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stunet Tuesday, 26 Jul 2016 at 8:47am

@Blowin,

You're correct that Hanson is a more complex politician then she once was, and some of her policies are fundamentally sound (if not difficult to practice). The lasting legacy of Hanson in the 1990's was the Libs adopting her divisive racism to grand effect, I can only hope her legacy this time around is the majors (presumably Labor) taking her issues of sovereignty seriously. That would be a good outcome.

Disagree that most people voted for her on those issues, only anecdotal, hell it's just a gut feeling, but I'd say most would've voted One Nation 'cos of their neon policy - race. I guess the question is what are those people fearful of and how can it (realistically) be fixed? 

You say we should be employing nuance, well, how about a nuanced approach to immigration and race? A blanket ban on Muslims? How would that help, except fan the fires of hatred further and even ostracise those Muslims who've lived here peacefully for many years. It would divide the country.

The fact twenty years after her "swamped by Asians" speech she's using the death of a Chinese-Australian (see above) to extract anger shows how short-sighted that stance is. 

yocal's picture
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yocal Tuesday, 26 Jul 2016 at 9:02am

Indonesia and Malaysia immigration probably the two most affected countries via a blanket ban. The impact of blocking (or suggesting to block) our closest neighbors is likely to cause so many more issues than it solves in the interest of keeping out an extreme few.

Blowin's picture
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Blowin Tuesday, 26 Jul 2016 at 1:25pm

Stu - Maintaining control over population growth through zero net migration - a stated One Nation policy - would be as nuanced as required .

Why does no one mention this ?

Who is continued, unsustainable population growth beneficial to ?

It would be easy enough to prioritise immigration from select areas if people still need that kind of cultural security.

The funny thing is....I reckon multiculturalism was introduced to divide the country, so the calls for maintaining unity are a bit ironic.

stunet's picture
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stunet Tuesday, 26 Jul 2016 at 1:38pm

The nuance is that we need population growth for economic growth. This has always been the case and will continue until someone comes up with a viable, easy to implement economic model that can operate on zero population growth. It's not been mentioned because it's not currently possible, and anyone who has it in their platform without also mentioning dropping living standards is being disengenuous.

Because guess who'll be screaming blue murder when our standards of living begin dropping?

Not sure about your last premise. You'll have to elaborate on it. Australia lost a great opportunity to capitalise on immigration when the White Australia Policy was introduced and the first wave of emigrating Jews went to America instead. We were a richer country than the US but lost the people who would go on to start some of their great companies and institutions. The companies and institutions that their 20th century dominance was built upon.

We then suffered tough times from the 1890s to 1945 - no Roaring Twenties in Australia - because the WIP meant we couldnt fill the labour market and nor did we have an influx of ideas. That changed to an extent post-WWII when we sought southern Europeans to provide labour.

That was the beginnings of multiculturalism in Australia, so I'm not sure why you thought it was introduced to divide us. It was introduced to lift our standards of living and it did.

Blowin's picture
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Blowin Tuesday, 26 Jul 2016 at 2:01pm

Sorry, I should have been more specific and stated that it was the new wave of multiculturalism that I was referring to.

The period post 2000 when immigration to Australia increased exponentially and it was never to address a labour shortfall.

The period when Australias population increased by 30 percent or so in a decade and a half....with little or no net birth increase from Australians.

I guess it all comes down to your vision for a future Australia.

An Australia with ever increasing standards of living through constantly expanding population -although that sounds a bit contradictory doesn't it - or some short term economic pain for a better overall future.

I can see why we are pandering to the Chinese demand for immigration , aside from propping up our Ponzi scheme lifestyle , it's no doubt a nice little preservationist concession in the face of growing Chinese expansionism.

But the rest ?

PS Australia can continue growing the population to prevent the cliff plummeting effects of a complete return to zero net migration.

It just doesn't have to continue at the current perilous rate.

If you think that the current rate is essential, maybe check out the living standards of Australia say 1960 - 1990.

The period

Blowin's picture
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Blowin Tuesday, 26 Jul 2016 at 1:39pm

And I don't believe that Pauline's line about Asians was shortsighted, I reckon it was mostly accurate - and I like Asians - it's just that if she plays the card that she was correct, then people will raise the issue of ...so what ? What bad is coming of it ? Why do you feel so threatened ?

Not to mention that I think without the real threat of terrorism that adds a thin credibility to her attacks on Muslims, there is no substance of immediate threat stemming from her attacks on Asian immigration and can be easily reduced to pure rascism .

Or contrived as pure rascism depending on the circumstances .

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stunet Tuesday, 26 Jul 2016 at 1:46pm

Because when the race genie is let out of the bottle - hackneyed saying but it fits - it provides tacit approval for hate crimes. The rednecks in waiting seize the moment and carry out their desires, and then the copycat crimes multiply, and then our once peaceful little society is no longer so peaceful.

Do you not find it ironic that she once denigrated Asians, yet now holds up the death of Curtis Cheng - whose family were targets of Hanson-fuelled racism - as an example of societal ills?

Blowin's picture
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Blowin Tuesday, 26 Jul 2016 at 2:03pm

Full irony.

But I'm not sure if Pauline does irony.

Blowin's picture
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Blowin Tuesday, 26 Jul 2016 at 2:05pm

But then again , She was never calling for the death , injury or even the oppression of anyone.

Not even Asians .

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tonybarber Tuesday, 26 Jul 2016 at 9:07am

The One Nation vote is an interesting outcome, as is the Xenophon vote. But if you happened to see Hanson on QandA, you would see that she just simply asked some basic questions which no one was able to answer. It is assumed that there are many who asking the same questions and again no one answering. Sure some of her policies are not possible, not feasible, or not relevant but very simplistic.
Given that the One Nation party has no lower house rep and only a few in the Senate, it is difficult to see how anyone can say she has 'power'. She certainly grabs the media's attention (like this forum) but that's the media for you.
Legislation can be passed without her influence or say - simple.

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freddieffer Tuesday, 26 Jul 2016 at 10:23am

Agree Tony. IMO, there's a sizable (and growing) chunk of the electorate who are fed up with politicians who choose to be biege.
Both major political parties are heavily censored by their advisors and spin doctors, they try to continually hit the populist bulls-eye, and more often than not end up contradicting themselves with their previous views or policies. It's the blatant flip-flops that they do that reinforces the electorates belief that they speak with a forked-tongue and this is their very downfall. In a nutshell, they are not to be trusted; the public know they are compulsive liars.
The general electorate may not be smart, they may not be overly educated but they are not completely stupid. They don't like liars. They don't like people they don't trust. The rise of the NXT, Hanson, Derrin Hynch etc clearly tells you that the electorate just wants their elected representatives to be straight with them. They don't mind if they are a bit deranged, but just be straight and speak with conviction; and they will happily give them their vote and they feel more comfortable sleeping at night. It's a simple recipe for success.
I predict that there has commenced a permanent decline of the 2 party system of politics in this country.
Singling Hanson out and trying to nail her politics really fails to understand what's going on at both the macro and micro level of sociology that actually drives and steers politics.
It's not Hanson's politics that are the biggest worry here. Unfortunately, it's the way politics has been conducted here that has given rise to the non-major parties. There's a massive political vacuum waiting to be filled, and at the last election, it was the conviction candidates like NXT, Hanson, Derrin Hynch etc who stood and made the most gains.

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kaiser Tuesday, 26 Jul 2016 at 9:08am

There's been a global swing to the right since the end of Obama's first term (not the catalyst, just the timing) and it's been gathering steam in the last year. The rise of Trump and the Brexit are glaring examples of this, and so is Hanson's victory. Fear is such an easy thing to sell to.

floyd's picture
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floyd Tuesday, 26 Jul 2016 at 9:53am

While Hanson collected votes all over Australia isn't she most popular in Far North Queensland? Been up that way a few times and its a different universe up there. They are very distrustful of anybody and anything that comes from and south of Brisbane and especially so of "politicians in Canberra".

And now they have massive unemployment caused by the mining downturn and they are once again angry and need someone to blame hence the vote to Hanson away from the LNP.

Lets face it its FNQ has given us Bjelke-Petersen, George Christensen, Bob Katter and mostly wholesale environmental destruction in the name of agriculture and mining.

In 2016 its still a frontier.

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fitzroy-21 Tuesday, 26 Jul 2016 at 11:03am

I don't think it's quite that simple Floyd. Qlders outside of a few hundred km radius of Brisvegas are fed up with the whole state being ignored whilst Brisbane thrives. All their taxes and rates just get poured into Brisbane and its infrastructure whilst the rest of the state is ignored. Brisbane is the only area in the state that has benefitted off the mining and construction boom and it would be 1000kms from where all that is happening. FNQ proper starts a good 1500km north of Brisbane.
Try driving that goat track called the "Bruce Hwy". What a disgrace. South of about Gympie and it is pretty smooth sailing, dual carriageway etc. North of it and any sniff of a shower and it falls to pieces and becomes a potholed mess with roadworks for the next 6 months.
FNQlders and out west are fed up with being ignored by bullshitting politicians and I think this also reflects the mood with the rest of the country, let alone the world, along the lines of some comments above.

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tonybarber Tuesday, 26 Jul 2016 at 12:08pm

Agree FitzR, I reckon you are on the mark. If you happened to listen to Katter immediately after his meeting with Turnbull, he explained it pretty succinctly. Why spend $4billion on a tunnel in Brissy where that sort of money can open up a good slice of Qld for growth. He gave examples which rang pretty true. Looks like a lot of Qlders think the same.

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floyd Tuesday, 26 Jul 2016 at 1:16pm

What you say is all true plus or minus Fitzroy-21 but like large parts of WA, far north Queenslanders like telling their politicians to get out of their way when things are going good and then when it goes pear shaped like all mining booms do its all the politicians fault. Yes the Bruce needs to be updated but I think the cash is already committed to that. All the FIFO stuff that happened and the underinvestment in towns and roads while it was good wasn't the politicians fault its the mining companies and with Palmer and Qld nickel you had a pollie and miner in one (not that Palmer did anything different to every other miner sucking wealth out of our country).

Just reckon FNQers have a chip on each shoulder about the world and their place in it and that most recently is reflected in Hanson.

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fitzroy-21 Tuesday, 26 Jul 2016 at 2:44pm

Mmmmmmm, think you might be mixing up your FNQ with Central and NQ.
Mackay is the base for 85% of QLD mines in the Bowen Basin and a majority of the FIFO/DIDO. Mackay likes to call itself NQ but it is smack bang Central Qld. (Look at a map and see Mackays location between Bamaga & Tweed)
The only Mine I can think of in FNQ is at Weipa (Rio-Tinto). Maybe even Mt Isa.
Qld Nickel (Townsville) I'm pretty sure is a process plant, not a mine, and doesn't require FIFO.
So if all the "underinvestment in towns and roads while it was good wasn't the politicians fault its the mining companies" where did all the massive royalties go from all the mining companies to the government???? I'll tell you.....Brisbane.

Anyway, this is way off topic and for another thread. I was more getting at the people are so pissed of with the two majors parties and career politicians that they basically putting in protest votes to go to anyone (One Nation, NXP, etc) other than LNP/ALP. Which also appears to be the case with Brexit and quite possibly Trump. Time will tell.

floyd's picture
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floyd Wednesday, 27 Jul 2016 at 10:54am

Fitz, agreed its off topic but you mention royalties ..... might want to check how much is actually paid in royalties and taxes. Down here in the morally corrupt southern states all we hear is how miners either (1.) have their hand out for taxpayer money to build rail, road or ports; or (2.) how they manage to extract billions of tones of minerals out of the ground, make billions in sales and manage to pay either no or very little tax ....... all a matter of perspective I guess and yes its off topic.

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Gary G Tuesday, 26 Jul 2016 at 10:37am

Gary doesn't discriminate

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Gary G Tuesday, 26 Jul 2016 at 10:39am

In fact, Waleed is so late to the party on this one,

Gary has been 'sending love viral' for years.

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budfudlucker Tuesday, 26 Jul 2016 at 11:24am

NO NO NO please don't bring politics here unless it is something that is surfing related. I come here to chill and get away from that shit.

atticus's picture
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atticus Tuesday, 26 Jul 2016 at 11:46am

I agree that Hanson 2.0 is a different beast, though she is still a beast as no-one should stomp into the minefield of race so blindly. New immigrants always find an uneasy truce in Australian society - from Chinese on the Ballarat goldfields to Greeks post WWII and Vietnamese in the 70s - yet they've all assimilated. History bears this out. The lesson is simple.

As others note she has more political armoury this time around, some of it "on point", so she can't be condemned in quite the same way.

Lastly, praise to Maurice Cole for taking that stand.

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memlasurf Tuesday, 26 Jul 2016 at 1:03pm

Please explain.

amb's picture
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amb Tuesday, 26 Jul 2016 at 1:05pm

Written on the how to vote material given out:
"You dont have to be white to be Australian.....We only ask that you learn to read and write English, respect our flag, abide by our laws and constitution and join in with the rest of us....Pauline Hanson Qld Senate Candidate."

batfink's picture
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batfink Tuesday, 26 Jul 2016 at 1:49pm

"I reckon multiculturalism was introduced to divide the country, so the calls for maintaining unity are a bit ironic."

An unusual analysis blowin. Need more detail there. Looked to me like multiculturalism was merely reflecting the broad reality that had already existed for 10-30 years. The influx of italians and greeks particularly and other euros post world war II was a fact of existence. Multicultural policy just reflected that this had happened. It sort of gave official status to those cultures to recognise that they were bringing cultural differences while assimilating, in other words, what was already happening.

But I'm interested in what you have to say.

Yeah, Maurice Cole is a legend.

Blowin's picture
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Blowin Tuesday, 26 Jul 2016 at 2:36pm

I reckon that Big Business has eyed off the dream of flooding markets with labour as part of its Globilisation agenda for a lot longer than we , the pundits on the recieving end, have realised.

Add a slice of divide and conquer and you're onto a winning strategy.

I don't think the idea was ever to foment societally destabilising race wars - that would have been counter productive to the bottom line - but I'm sure that it was assumed the natural exclusiveness of human nature and the preference for people to remain cosseted within their cultural groups where ever possible would lead to a competitiveness amongst cultural groups that would be beneficial to their cause.

Throw in the low expectations of pay for people from third world countries that are happy to accept half the minimum wage as it's still an improvement on the wages of their homelands and the fact that certain cultures have an increased prevalence of intimidation and coercion to accept less and you're laughing.

But this couldn't be true....otherwise you'd see industries within Australia being excessively dominated by certain cultures above and beyond that pertaining to specific skills and abilities related to their culture.

Or people of certain cultures accepting lower wages and lower working conditions.

Or being stood over by their countrymen to ensure that complies.

But Surely it would be common knowledge if that was occurring ?

Wait a minute....

radiationrules's picture
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radiationrules Tuesday, 26 Jul 2016 at 2:22pm

there are no simple answers on the politics..but its a great opportunity to be thankful about off the bell curve/ahead of the bell curve people like Maurice Cole. On yah Maurice.

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freeride76 Tuesday, 26 Jul 2016 at 2:31pm

Just a quick note on rising living standards.......it's probably an economic myth that increasing economic growth from increasing population (in our case from very high immigration which fuels the property markets) can be correlated to living standards.

If you are living in a vastly more crowded , costlier country, then even if economic growth is occurring your living standards may be falling.
This is in fact occurring and is easily measureable by wage growth and income inequality levels.

I won't even mention the drop in living standards from more crowded surf.

Blowin's picture
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Blowin Tuesday, 26 Jul 2016 at 2:35pm

Yeah I was getting to that, on the runway, continue when I land.

stunet's picture
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stunet Tuesday, 26 Jul 2016 at 2:45pm

Yeah, agree that there's an inversion; the standard of living includes intangible factors that should be weighed against it.

I'd be all for a study into slowing population growth and what it would entail. Would prefer a detached investigation that accounted for our collective welfare and not some atavistic crusade against the coloured man.

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happyasS Tuesday, 26 Jul 2016 at 4:50pm

when someone clearly shows me in no uncertain terms exactly how quality of living has improved in australia over the last 40 years then i will ascribe to the concept of a bigger better australia.

read this. http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/1370.0main+features392013

what a load of shit. where does it address that once we reach a critical point of "consumption" that anything in excess is not actually a one-for-one relationship tied to standard of living. they talk about consumption of food FFS. im surprised plasma tv's didnt get a mention

Blowin's picture
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Blowin Tuesday, 26 Jul 2016 at 4:59pm

Wheres the fun in that Stu ?

Makes me wonder why I even bother carting this pitchfork around if I'm never going to get to employ it in some form of mob rule mele.

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batfink Tuesday, 26 Jul 2016 at 5:13pm

Thanks Blowin, I get what you are saying. Yes, I don't understand that as multiculturalism, but yes, the staggering population growth since 2000 was all on Howard's watch, all through immigration. While he was going quietly about his business saying nothing about Hanson, or defending her right to speak, he also presided over the greatest immigration period since the war.

The flea.

And why? Well yes, it is about growth and whole lot of other associated ideologies. Essentially business wants people here, masses of people, because the more people we have the more will be around to buy there stuff (yes, it really is that simplistic)

They throw in other ideas like 'defence of the nation', need to develop more areas etc, it's all just pure ideology, unattached to any reasoned ideas.

But here's the kicker. Our GDP has been growing now for 25 years or so, uninterrupted, but actually our GDP per person has been declining for about 7 quarters now (or something like that, may be much more). So on a personal level, we have been experiencing a recession, but as there are more people here, the total adds up to more so it appears as economic growth. I kid you not.

This is how dumb we are, and this is how statistics lie. No wonder most of us feel like it's a hell of a struggle,

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batfink Tuesday, 26 Jul 2016 at 5:17pm

Yeah happyass, there's a large con going on and the ABS is at the centre of it, sometimes knowingly and sometimes just blindly throwing out statistics.

Behavioural economics however is the real deal, and your reference to the 'critical point of consumption' is covered by it. Not relevant to the ABS, the lived experience.

There are some good guys around trying to change that. Nicholas Gruen is one of them, a former star performer in Treasury, then private sector and now back in PM&C I think. Hoping they get rid of the current head of Treasury, a stupid Tony Abbott ideological appointment, and Mr Gruen gets the gig.

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indo-dreaming Tuesday, 26 Jul 2016 at 5:37pm

I think a lot of people vote for Pauline because she is an anti politician, a typical Aussie battler with even a bit of bogan about her that entered politics and really didn't know what she was doing, she got kicked around by the media but still keeps coming back.

Really she is a true Aussie battler.

I think there is another factor at work also, the fact our governments have failed us both Liberal and Labor and many of her key issues are more relevant than ever.

-Manufacturing gone offshore
-Jobs gone offshore
-747 Visa scam
-Selling off of farmland to OS buyers.
- Housing become unaffordable for a large proportion of Australians in part because of OS investors.
-Unsustainable migration levels without infrastructure spending to keep up.
-Problems we have seen in Europe due to the refugee crisis.
-Current religion related terrorism issues

I like some of her policies, others i disagree strongly with but i actually kind of like her now, just because of her battler spirit in part just because of how the media have treated her, with has been totally disgusting.

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Ventura Tuesday, 26 Jul 2016 at 5:54pm

Tell me why I should not vote for a party that keeps the population down ? Humans are destroying the coastline. Another housing estate on pristine parkland - No Thanks! A religion that does not separate church from state and against pluralism ,practices female genital mutilation , under age marriage, has no appreciation for satire and has its women unable to interact adequately due their faces being covered is not conducive to a cohesive society.
If you are a Chinese national and a worried the Chinese government might take your wealth .Well just buy Australian real estate. Don't worry about those hard working folk in Australia out priced.
Why should I not vote for One Nation?

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happyasS Tuesday, 26 Jul 2016 at 6:47pm

but ventura, your problems of islam (gen mut, marriage etc) aren't actually problems here in Australia. why do we need Pauline to solve a problem that doesn't even exist here? on Q&A she went on about islam and church/state for example. well thats true, but so it is for Christianity too and here in Australia at the very time. so its a bit hypocritical of her. she has a case in point when it comes to terrorism, that's something that is a real threat but is already very well managed by our current set of consecutive governments.

I listened to Pauline on Q&A and although she had a very brief period of vivid thought expressed clearly and concisely where i though hey hang on we have something here, the rest unfortunately was very disappointing for me. her rant at the end and especially her comments about climate change blurted out in the heat of the moment show me that she does not keep well considered opinions on important issues. its puts me in a very skeptical position whether her opinions on islam are truly terrorist related as she says or just plain racist. so i cant trust her on that.

that being said her comments about jobs, manufacturing, and selling off to overseas are important i believe. Australia has been a big big beneficiary of globalization in terms of trade and money, but we're also selling out too. Australia is very lucky in that if it had to, it could cut all international ties and actually support itself. we have everything we need. lots of countries could not do that. we should keep it that way. i don't think she has any plan for that, but her voice in these matters might be good.

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Ventura Tuesday, 26 Jul 2016 at 7:05pm

I think some of the problems mentioned with a particular religion are already festering. If I cannot see your face its confronting. And also oppressive to women. Don't hear much feminist outrage. I agree she gets flustered and is not a polished politician but that's part of her appeal . I believe in free speech. Disagree with her by all means but no one should be silenced. I think its great we can be self sufficient. The major Partys seem to want to sell off our prime agriculture. She is against that.I don't want another costly desal plant due to water shortages
.I just want less humans.

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Wharfjunkie Tuesday, 26 Jul 2016 at 7:22pm

Pauline is back by riding the wave of fear and blame. Recent events in Europe especially events with which the culprits have been 2nd generation immigrants has got many Australians questioning whether we are going to facing the same problems here.

Issues in Finland are parallel to what is happening throughout Melbourne with the Apex Gang, The Greeks are broke and some sections of the community are blaming the influx of illegal immigrants and the much publicised murders of innocents in France and Germany have not gone unnoticed by Australians. Fascist groups are harnessing that fear and blaming issues faced by society such as unemployment on ethnic migrants and Pauline is the poster women for fear mongering.

Deportation is not the answer but part of me believes reducing migration into the country until employment rates are higher and racial segregation is better addressed in cities.

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floyd Tuesday, 26 Jul 2016 at 7:58pm

..... Deportation is not the answer but part of me believes reducing migration into the country until employment rates are higher ...."

Just gunna address this Wharfie .... perhaps get your government to stop turning a blind eye to the 100,000s of 457 visa abuses would be a real good start to address your concerns about unemployment. 457 visa workers send their money overseas while migrates "invest/spend" their money here on housing, cars, health, education.

Your picking the wrong horse Wharfie .... look at 457 visas

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Wharfjunkie Tuesday, 26 Jul 2016 at 8:49pm

I do not disagree floyd 457 visa workers is a big issue but whilst large companies are donating to political parties it won't change. Not to mention a lot of manufacturing industries are no more. Regardless bringing in more people while theres no jobs for Australian citizens and current residents is a problem.

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Wharfjunkie Tuesday, 26 Jul 2016 at 7:27pm

Its also disappointing that we bend over backwards to help new Australians when issues relating to first nation people are yet to be addressed.

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talkingturkey Tuesday, 26 Jul 2016 at 8:34pm

Hmmm, Hanson. Kick-started her political career off in 1994. Then hit the national stage in 1996. Now 20 years or so later, she's back. How's the saying go? Same erm, attitude, different decade?

And 20 years or so previous to her humble political beginnings...

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talkingturkey Wednesday, 27 Jul 2016 at 11:21am

When was Romper Stomper again? 1992? Interesting piece of dialogue:

"Gabe: [referring to the NAZI paraphernalia that adorns Hando's room] Why do you have all this stuff?

Hando: Because I don't want to be a white coolie in my own country. 'Cause it's not our country anymore. 'Cause rich people, and powerful people brought in boat loads of human trash. Cheap labour, gooks mainly, and there's gonna be more. I want people to know I'm proud of my white history and white blood. One day it might be all I have. I don't want to go the same way as the fuckin' Abo."

Any resonance today?

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theween Tuesday, 26 Jul 2016 at 8:42pm

I think we've bent over plenty far enough for 'first nation' Australians, wharfie. There is a disturbing trend to claim moral superiority based on having a miniscule degree of aboriginal blood - look at some of the so-called aboriginal elders braying about how hard done by they are, they are as pale as most anglos. Why are they anymore deserving of assistance than the next guy? As long as guilt industry proponents continue to get air-time any real advancement for aboriginals is a long way off.

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Wharfjunkie Tuesday, 26 Jul 2016 at 8:51pm

It's not about guilt theween fixing an existing problem and there is still a gap between indigenous Aussies and the general population. Hand outs aren't the answer either mate.

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AndyM Wednesday, 27 Jul 2016 at 1:21pm

"I think we've bent over plenty far enough for 'first nation' Australians".

It's crystal clear that we have done no such thing.

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talkingturkey Tuesday, 26 Jul 2016 at 8:42pm

My personal favourite Aussie film moment from even earlier (1971!). The more things change, hey?!

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talkingturkey Tuesday, 26 Jul 2016 at 8:53pm

Weeny Bolt?

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happyasS Tuesday, 26 Jul 2016 at 9:30pm

romper stomper parallels? nah, not for me. but given the latest attacks, I think there'd even be a few germans looking at AUS & brave enough to disagree with ya on that one.

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Blowin Tuesday, 26 Jul 2016 at 9:31pm

Batfink - Maybe my assumptions on the thought processes of Globilisation inc - for want of a better name - and the possibility that they would attempt to fracture worker solidarity through cultural divisions comes across as a tad Machiavellian .

But this is from the same style of outfit ,maybe even the same outfit, that found it a manageable leap in logic to invade Iraq due to a not -even -fucking -tenuous -link to 9/11 just to get their hands on some oil and the opportunity to slather profitable repair contracts and utilities privatisation rights on each other.

Or that think it's acceptable to fund a coup against a democratically elected leader and replace him with a compliant puppet dictator to accomodate your business interests in a foreign country.

PS. Was it coincidence that most Western nations " discovered " accelerated multiculturalism at the same time - England, Australia, Canada, New Zealand ?

Maybe our Global forebears thought it well and just to further the American experience of a socially disenfranchised underclass that provides ample labour with a need to subvert established wage structures after their Latin immigrant success.

Think how many years the Latinos/ Caucasian s/ blacks have been living in a semi stable , but ultimately dis unifying fashion.

PS Haven't seen wake in fright , Turkey.

But that Romper Stomper quote is a ripper.

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talkingturkey Tuesday, 26 Jul 2016 at 10:00pm

"It's the vibe."

( I think that's a quote from the mini masterpiece "Bodacious Ta-Ta's")

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Rawprawn Tuesday, 26 Jul 2016 at 11:19pm

WAKE UP AUSTRALIA !!!!!

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stunet Wednesday, 27 Jul 2016 at 9:58am

If you can read through all the comments, acknowledge the different points of view, yet still believe you're the only one cognisant of the truth then I reckon it's you that needs waking up fella.

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talkingturkey Wednesday, 27 Jul 2016 at 12:40am

Is that you Pauline?

Nah, then you'd be 'cooked prawn' (being orange and all).

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Rawprawn Wednesday, 27 Jul 2016 at 10:13am

I think you've taken me out of context. How does a voting public let someone like Hanson back in? We must be vigilant as a democracy and give a damn who we vote for. Pauline Hanson is the result of people being ill informed. She and her party are a danger to Australia. Hey turkey I'm not orange or white. We are all guests in this country. We should act accordingly.

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sharkman Wednesday, 27 Jul 2016 at 11:56am

1/2 million people voted for Hanson, 1/3 of voters under the age of 25 didn't bother to register to vote.
Apathy from younger voters , as in Brexit , 75% of people under 30 wanted to stay in the EU , 30% bothered to vote and their futures are now in a short term downward spiral.
Hanson demographics are older /bogan /right wing/racist etc , but how many younger people voted for her?
fear now seems to be a commodity that is used to frighten people into believing that the world/economy is in crisis!
it will be when we shut down globalization , free trade , immigration and try to revert to some bygone era , as the rabid right proposes!

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atticus Wednesday, 27 Jul 2016 at 12:45pm

"it will be when we shut down globalization , free trade , immigration and try to revert to some bygone era"

It's something that's only been alluded to here but not addressed. If we begin to reverse trade deals, increase import tariffs, halt foreign ownership, then there'll be repercussions from economic shocks (what pollie would willingly cause a recession and who would vote for them?) to increased costs for almost all manufactured goods, and broad scale interest hikes as credit agencies lower their ratings and foreign investment dries up.

To be clear, I'm not saying sovereign issues aren't worthy of discussion but let's be real, if you don't know where all your goods are made, or how the economic system works, then you're in no position to take a stand.

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Ventura Wednesday, 27 Jul 2016 at 3:24pm

Politics of fear? If it was not for excellent work by law enforcement Australia would have suffered a major terrorist attack from " the religion of peace" .A certain ethnic group have done really well in regards to abalone poaching and the narcotics trade. I reckon its "Economics of Fear". We should do what Cuba does grow our own food and feed it to our people. I am sick of dirty overseas money buying up prime real estate.
Another ethnic group that featured in the Cronulla Riots has one in six of them on a disability benefit. It’s absurd they get tax payer money to sponsor a home grown attack .It’s ridiculous how Boxer Choc Mundine complains about fair skinned Indigenous getting government grants and Right wing commentator Andrew Bolt does the same and he gets charged. The Greens should be doing more to save forests and oceans and less on assisting humans that country shop and expect to stay in Australia. Wake in Fright is a good movie. I wonder if Summer Bay will ever get a terrorist attack. Maybe that’s the only way to kill off Alf Stewart.

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Ventura Wednesday, 27 Jul 2016 at 3:25pm

Politics of fear? If it was not for excellent work by law enforcement Australia would have suffered a major terrorist attack from " the religion of peace" .A certain ethnic group have done really well in regards to abalone poaching and the narcotics trade. I reckon its "Economics of Fear". We should do what Cuba does grow our own food and feed it to our people. I am sick of dirty overseas money buying up prime real estate.
Another ethnic group that featured in the Cronulla Riots has one in six of them on a disability benefit. It’s absurd they get tax payer money to sponsor a home grown attack .It’s ridiculous how Boxer Choc Mundine complains about fair skinned Indigenous getting government grants and Right wing commentator Andrew Bolt does the same and he gets charged. The Greens should be doing more to save forests and oceans and less on assisting humans that country shop and expect to stay in Australia. Wake in Fright is a good movie. I wonder if Summer Bay will ever get a terrorist attack. Maybe that’s the only way to kill off Alf Stewart.

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truebluebasher Wednesday, 27 Jul 2016 at 4:38pm

Asian/Islamic nations ,for whom Australian aboriginals still long trade and permeate within their culture, have been doing their thing at least 500 years. Followed by Spanish,Portuguese Dutch relations probably whole world then us being most likely last in a long queue. White Australia is well documented as the recent most destroying of invaders upon all Australian nationalities before.(Sorry Pauline Islam here first none can argue that). Our 'compulsory voting' companion nations are ALL well known to be run by drug barons,dictators or as tax havens. Add to this our nation seems hellbent on persisting with child slavery and refashioning archaic white Australia policy.We place facebook ban on convenient outsourced 3rd country but never ours... that needs to be reversed before more of OUR govt/army alerts and emergencies are [BLOCKED]..(sign now to [F] to see more of your .. WAR...sorry too late_+_).Political correctness = 86% of preselected pollies are selfserving their outgoing pal pollies all declaring 1/4 of nothing to do with me..way way AFTER election win. This is why a growing loyal honest caring 3 million aussies wipe hands clean of worlds most dirty filthy stinking rotten political process resulting in most pollies per capita in world,all by law.. granting themselves yet more privileges and free exotic rides. Govt aside as for we the people telling the world who goes where and when and withdrawing aid. Australian individuals own the world more money than any other people on earth anytime before us in history and it's climbing outta control.(Never a like or cartoon on T.V. about our World record foreign PRIVATE debt) ...There are debt clocks on www for any brave to see. White Australians can least afford to say boo. (tip) GST= less taxing on importing a simple foreign factory(10%)a pop single on site processing to shelf but heavily penalises by layering of GST all nation building processes, multiple transported technological masterminded oz designed,labour built homes/bridges/cars/hi-ways add the triplicated 10% bureaucrats paper trail dreamt up to ever more fill GST State coffer quotas .. etc etc etc .Think a house in 1950's a couple mates a carton few trucks of gear a month's sweat tele on, now that's not enough to get a set of plans thru,with 250 more gst mates,several gst govt lapdogs lining up to screw you over. Hooroo! Surfs Up!

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Ventura Wednesday, 27 Jul 2016 at 5:25pm

MC Board is happy to ridicule Hanson in their marketing. Fair enough. But no company would do the same of a certain ideology/religion that believes female adulterers should be stoned to death and gays should be thrown off a cliff. I know what’s the lesser of two evils. Nothing is more “divisive” than killing “infidels”

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sharkman Wednesday, 27 Jul 2016 at 5:38pm

Vent, the MC Board advertisement is 18 years old , it was the yellow peril then that hanson was denigrating , now its the Muslims.
To say and stereo type all Muslims with your idea that Muslim ideology believes female adulterers should be stoned to death etc, is a bit like saying Australians mistreat and torture their indigenous youth and refugees!

stunet's picture
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stunet Wednesday, 27 Jul 2016 at 5:38pm

@Ventura,

Why do you keep referring to extreme Islam as if it's endorsed by every Muslim?

Is that wilful ignorance or are you simply uninformed?

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talkingturkey Wednesday, 27 Jul 2016 at 6:02pm
happyasS's picture
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happyasS Wednesday, 27 Jul 2016 at 6:47pm

she might be a nut, and she is, but that doesn't mean everything she stands for is wrong. we just gotta take the good and ignore the bad. if shes a decent politician she will not trade policies and instead treat everything on merit. if she doesn't then she will be a failure and even her own voters will see through that.

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stunet Wednesday, 27 Jul 2016 at 6:59pm

Couple of comments deleted and the thread closed. There were some good contributions from across the spectrum and would've been great if it could've continued.

But alas...