The Election Is In Limbo, But Hanson Is For Real; What Pauline Hanson's Return Means For Australia

Vote counting has resumed today, to hopefully clarify who is meant to be running the country.

(Australian leadership looks a little like this at the moment: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯)

The Australian Electoral Commission is hoping to deliver a more definitive result to Saturday’s election soon, though the Coalition is “quietly confident” of securing a “working majority” in the House of Representatives. Whether or not Malcolm Turnbull will remain at the helm as Liberal party leader and Prime Minister remains in question.

Labor, meanwhile, is unlikely to manage the 76 seats required for a majority government, but is hoping to form a minority government with some of the elected independents. For the meantime, Bill Shorten is not facing an immediate leadership challenge (though a party room spill will occur the moment Labor is declared the election’s loser; a rule instituted by the spill-happy Kevin Rudd, back in the day).

All of this is to say, no, we still don’t know what the outcome of this ceaseless election will be.

There is one certainty that the country is reckoning with, however: the rise of Pauline Hanson.

Hanson – who was imprisoned for fraud and, perhaps even more damningly, once competed on Dancing with the Stars – was returned to the Senate on Saturday under the One Nation banner, on a platform of anti-Islam sentiment.

As her website points out, Hanson wants to “abolish multiculturalism”, “ban the Burqa and Niquab in public places”, “stop further Muslim immigration” and install “surveillance cameras… in all Mosques and schools”. She also wants to ban Halal certification, which Labor’s Sam Dastyari memorably poked fun at on Election night.

Though Hanson was underestimated leading up to the election, she is once again facing intense scrutiny.

Her fellow, newly-elected independent Derryn Hinch – who has also been imprisoned over the years – told the ABC today that he’s “not looking forward to [working with her]."

“She is very pleasant but what comes out of her mouth isn’t that pleasant. I don’t agree with a lot of stuff she’s talking about.”

Derryn @HumanHeadline Hinch says he is "not looking forward" to working with Pauline Hanson in the Senate #ausvotes https://t.co/V5xCNIV1de

— ABC News (@abcnews) July 4, 2016

It seems some of the more experienced senators are similarly hesitant to work with Hanson, with the AFR reporting a scheme by the Coalition and Labor to keep independents from only serving a three-year term, rather than the full six years. This potential ‘countback provision’ would then see them face a half-Senate election in 2019, where twice the number of votes are required to secure a seat – meaning, most would be ousted.

Whether or not this plan goes ahead will rely on bipartisan support, and it doesn’t seem like that’s the in-thing in Canberra today. Its implementation might also smell of conspiracy against the minor parties, and that will certainly rankle the one in five Aussies who avoided voting for a major party on Saturday.

Nonetheless, Racial Discrimination Commissioner Tim Soutphommasane has warned that Hanson’s election, and subsequent comments, could lead to violence.

"There was a great deal of ugliness and division unleashed by Ms Hanson [when she was first elected in the 1990s] and it took us years to recover," he told the ABC.

“We are talking here about a debate that has implications for our cultural diversity and community harmony and the kind of Australian society we want to be in 2016.

"We shouldn't be doing anything to compromise the remarkable success story of Australian multiculturalism. Let's heed to lessons of history and not be complacent about the dangers that face us right now."

He followed in Dastyari’s footsteps and invited Hanson for a chat over some pho.

"I'm always open to dialogue and if Ms Hanson would appreciate a pho soup or pork roll in Cabramatta, then I'd be very happy to treat her to one and have a chat to her about questions on race and immigration," he said.

If there’s a silver lining, it’s that Pauline Pantsdown – the spooftastic invention of UNSW lecturer Simon Hunt – might also make a return to continue skewering Hanson.

Speaking to the SMH, Hunt said, “it’s about seeing what happens with her and how useful that activity is.”

"If I were to take on a song it would be about the same things: that she's talking rubbish and that the only things that are driving her are racism and hatred."

Pauline Pantsdown, as Hunt went by, released freakishly-catchy songs using Hanson’s reconfigured dialogue, including “Backdoor Man” (which was effectively banned via court injunction for being defamatory), and the top 10 ARIA hit “I Don’t Like It”.

Seems like the right time to revisit that tune.

Photo: Student Edge composite / YouTube / Channel Seven.