Pauline Hanson’s Back: Here’s What You Need To Know From Her 20 Years Of Notoriety

Ah, Australian politics; the best/ worst thing in our lives for the past week or so, amirite?

The Libs have finally declared victory (#ReturnoftheMalc) and we can now reflect on the memories of this election, both good and bad.

Good: Linda Burney and Anne Aly becoming the first Indigenous woman and the first Muslim woman to be elected into the House of Representatives, respectively.

Bad: Bill Shorten eating a sausage sandwich sideways. #neva4get

Also bad: Pauline Hanson, aka our very own Donald Trump, being elected to the Senate for One Nation.

Pauline has criticised Islam, Asians, immigration, climate change and halal snack packs (how could she dare to declare war on the HSP?!), and has been known to use the phrase “reverse racism” un-ironically. Yep.

But who is she? What does she stand for? Why the hell did she ever think Dancing with the Stars was a good idea?

We take a look at Pauline’s past life and her current policies, so you can make your mind up on Hanson (the politician, not the classic '90s band that brought us “MMMbop”).

Then:

In her 1996 maiden speech to federal parliament, Hanson said, in regards to Indigenous Australians:

“I am fed up with being told, ‘This is our land’. Well, where the hell do I go? I was born here… I draw the line when told I must pay and continue paying for something that happened over 200 years ago.”

She also allegedly accused Indigenous people of being cannibals. In the book, Pauline Hanson – the truth: on Asian immigration, the Aboriginal question, the gun debate and the future of Australia (whatta name), these claims were made . In 2004, she said she was unaware the material was being published under her name, and that it was actually written by others, despite holding the copyright for the book herself.

Hanson also spent time in jail in 2003 after being convicted of electoral fraud. However, she was released after serving 11 weeks of her three-year sentence when the Queensland Court of Appeal quashed the conviction.

We shouldn’t also forget her infamous appearance on Dancing With the Stars (slightly more impressive than her Celebrity Apprentice stint).

Oh, and did I mention the video she made in case of her assassination? In 1997, she recorded a video that includes the following excerpt:

“Fellow Australians, if you are seeing me now, it means that I have been murdered. Do not let my passing distract you for even a moment. For the sake of our children and our children’s children, you must fight on.”

And fight on we did, just not in the way she anticipated.

Now:

Fast forward to the present, and Pauline’s comeback has arrived. The DWTS leotards are gone; the racism isn’t.

She claims Halal is linked to terrorism, and that Australians “feel they have been swamped by Asians.”

She also wants to install surveillance cameras in mosques.

“I’d like to know what they are teaching in those mosques. You can’t deny the fact that in these mosques, they’ve been known to preach hate towards us,” Hanson said.

Hanson’s party likens asylum seekers to “someone coming into your home telling you they like your house better than theirs and they are going to live with you.”

“Your children now have to share a room and you have to make the dollars stretch further to provide for them,” she said

(If you wake up tomorrow morning with an asylum seeker in your spare room, consider yourself warned.)

But a Junkee investigation has since revealed that large slabs of One Nation’s policies appear to be plagiarised from sources including Wikipedia.

Ah, the ol’ Ctrl+C, hey.

So, from jail and sequins to copy and paste, Pauline is back, and here to keep on fighting the (not so) good fight. To appropriate Joe Hockey, will you Paul-Lift or Paul-Lean?

Jokes aside, the impact of Pauline Hanson’s policies really is quite serious.

“Ms Hanson is poised to command at least two senators, and perhaps as many as five; this will give her considerable influence,” The Age stated in a recent editorial.

“Ms Hanson is wrong that immigrants are a threat. Study after study shows their net contribution to the economy and to our society is positive.

“Ms Hanson's policies … should be politely rejected by Mr Turnbull, Mr Shorten and all those who actually do believe in tolerance and equality.”

Brittney Rigby is one of Student Edge’s student contributors. Learn more about the contributors program.

Photo: iStock.