One Nation (Australia)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

One Nation Party




Leader

Founded	1997
Headquarters

Political Ideology	Populism, Nationalism, Conservatism
International Affiliation	No affiliation

Website	http://www.onenation.com.au/

See also	Politics of Australia Political parties Elections

One Nation is a nationalist and protectionist political group in Australia. It won nearly a quarter of the vote in a Queensland state election in 1998 and threatened to make major inroads into the vote of the main parties. It then suffered many damaging internal conflicts, and by 2005 ceased to exist as a federal party.

1 Overview
2 Electoral performance
3 Decline
4 Notes
5 Reference
6 External links

[edit] Overview

One Nation was formed in 1997 by Pauline Hanson, David Oldfield and David Ettridge. Hanson, an endorsed Liberal Party candidate for the seat of Oxley at the 1996 federal election, had been disendorsed by the party shortly before the elections due to comments against what she saw as "race-based welfare," made to a local newspaper in Ipswich, Queensland. Oldfield, a Councillor on Manly Council in suburban Sydney and at one time an employee of Liberal minister Tony Abbott, was the organisational architect of the new party. He and Ettridge were known as "the two Davids" and were seen as the brains behind Hanson's populist image.

The name "One Nation" was chosen to signify national unity, in contrast to what Hanson saw as an increasing division in Australian society caused by government policies favouring migrants (multiculturalism) and indigenous Australians. The term was used in British politics (where it is used in a quite different sense: see One Nation Conservatism), but was last used in Australian political life to describe a tax reform package by the Labor government of Paul Keating, whose urban-based, Asia-centric, free-market, and pro-affirmative action policies were representational of exactly what One Nation voters were opposing.

Political commentator B.A. Santamaria attributed One Nation's rise to a "sense of alienation" that many Australians felt towards the political system in the 1990s and the failure of mainstream political parties to respond to this disaffection. ^[1] Other media views emphasised One Nation's unequivocal views on immigration, multiculturalism, and indigenous Australians. Believing the other parties were out of touch with ordinary Australians, One Nation promised to reduce immigration and to abolish "divisive and discriminatory policies... attached to aboriginal and multicultural affairs." The party also denounced economic rationalism and globalisation, reflecting working-class dissatisfaction with the neo-liberal economic policies embraced by the major parties. Adopting a strong protectionist platform, One Nation advocated the restoration of import tariffs, a revival of Australia's manufacturing industry, and an increase in support for small business and the rural sector. ^[2]

[edit] Electoral performance

One Nation's peak was the 1998 Queensland state election, at which the party won 22.7% of the vote and 11 of the 89 seats. This was more support than received by both the National Party and Liberal Party of Australia, and second only to the ALP. Subsequently, the One Nation contingent in the Queensland Parliament split, with dissident members forming the rival City-Country Alliance in late 1999.

At the 1998 federal election, Hanson lost her seat to ALP candidate Bernie Ripoll, but One Nation succeeded in electing Heather Hill as a Senator for Queensland, only to see a successful Constitutional challenge on Hill's eligibility to sit on the basis that she had failed to renounce her childhood British citizenship, despite being a naturalised Australian citizen. The seat subsequently went to the party's Len Harris following a recount. At the 1999 New South Wales election, David Oldfield was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Council.

In the 2001 Queensland state election, One Nation won only three seats and 8.69% of the primary vote. The City-Country Alliance won no seats.

At the 2001 state election in Western Australia, One Nation won three seats in the state's Legislative Council. One Nation was unable to obtain any seats in state elections in Victoria, South Australia or Tasmania that year.

At the 2001 federal election, the party's vote fell and Hanson failed in a bid to win a Senate seat from Queensland. She also failed to win a seat in the New South Wales Legislative Council at the 2003 state election. She then withdrew from the party's leadership.

[edit] Decline

Since the 1998 peak, One Nation has been plagued by internal divisions and has split several times. Lawsuits from ex-members forced Hanson to repay approximately A$500,000 of public funding won at the 1998 Queensland election amid claims that the party was fraudulently registered. The suits alleged that the party was undemocratically constituted in order to concentrate all power in the hands of three rulers - Pauline Hanson, David Ettridge and David Oldfield (in particular Oldfield), and that it technically had only two members - Ettridge and Hanson.

At the 2004 Queensland election, One Nation polled less than 5% of the vote and its sole elected representative, Rosa Lee Long, acted as an independent. One Nation attempted to defend its Queensland Senate seat at the 2004 federal election, but lost it (effectively to the National Party). Len Harris's Senate term expired on 30 June 2005.

On 8 February 2005, One Nation lost federal party status^[3]. It still had state parties in Queensland and New South Wales. Soon after it created another state party in Western Australia. In the February 2005 Western Australian election, the One Nation vote collapsed.

In the 2006 South Australian state election, six One Nation candidates stood for the lower house. Their highest levels of the primary vote was 4.1% in the district of Hammond and 2.7% in Goyder, with the other four hovering around 1%. They attracted 0.8% (7559 votes) of the upper house vote. One Nation consequently won no seats in that election.

In the 2006 Queensland state election, the party's vote collapsed, largely because it only contested 4 seats of the total 89. It suffered a swing of 4.3% to be left with just 0.6% of the vote. Despite this, their only remaining seat in the state (and country), Tablelands, was retained with an increased majority. [1]

On 27 December 2006 the Queensland and Western Australian divisions lost federal registration. ^[4]

During its brief period of popularity, One Nation had a great impact on Australian politics. The appeal of its policies to the National Party's constituency put great pressure on that party. For the rest of Australian politics, the party revealed a substantial minority of discontented voters dissatisfied with the major parties. Prime Minister John Howard's campaigning on issues of "border protection" at the 2001 federal election was widely seen as a successful effort to win One Nation voters back to the Liberal and National parties.

[edit] Notes

One Nation is not to be confused with the One Nation program of infrastructure works carried out from 1991 to 1996 by the Keating Labor Government.
The party's site tells new members: In future years, when your grandchildren scream at you for all the wrongs of the day, you can look back with pride and say, "Don't blame me. I was a member of One Nation." [2]