A cursory reading of the mass media might lead you to wonder if Pauline Hanson is set to be our next PM. Don't panic. The answer, I think, is as the lovely Princess Anne once said "Not bloody likely".
It is true there has been a massive downfall in support for the two major parties and for the Greens. And there's no doubt about the uptake in One Nation popularity. But rather than One Nation being miles ahead there is a fairly even distribution of voting intention. If that stays as is, where the preferences fell would decide the day.
But will it stay as is? Perhaps not. Voting for someone, colloquially speaking, to stick it up the major parties is one thing. Making them Prime Minister is quite another.
Pauline seems to think she is a genius because she can tell people that she knows what they think. And in many cases she, along with most parliamentarians can. So what? That's just the beginning. You then have to work out what to do in response to public concerns. Pauline isn't big on solutions. Yes, Labor has let the immigration program fall out of control. We all know that. Even Labor knows it. They have recently cut back. You can argue about how much and in which categories, but there's movement. The opposition are crystal clear on cutting back. So what do you get if you vote for One Nation?
You get her, talking about her. Her communications are designed to confuse. You will have heard her say, almost ad infinitum, "It's not about me". It's just a cunning way of mentioning herself all the time. In a stunning explanation for not attending to parliamentary duties she said she gets out there with the people because "they like to see me". She can go out and see people in non sitting weeks, just like your member of parliament does. One Nation is, in the end, all about her.
She says she doesn't attend the boring administrative stuff. Yes, that's found in most jobs. Pauline, however, is too important to bother with that. The MPs and senators you elect, many of them ministers or shadow ministers can do all the dross. The stupidity and self centeredness of her position can be seen if you ask yourself what happens if everyone fails to show up because they think something would be boring.
Queenslanders will want to talk about the northern prawn fisheries, West Australians about gold and South Australians about wine. But who wants to hotly debate the solubility of nickel? It is important for trade purposes. There would be a myriad of legislation which is not particularly interesting to anyone but a few, but it needs to be dealt with. It may not be of interest to the general public but it sets up some sort of regulatory framework that is needed. That's the job of parliament. Pauline just can't be bothered. Unless of course she features in the debate. Lights, cameras ... she's there.
In a revealing sweep of arrogance and ignorance she says she doesn't go to Senate estimates because the bureaucrats don't answer her questions. What a joke she is. Doesn't she realise that bureaucrats have never gone along to estimates in order to dob a government in. We have this wonderful committee process that allows bureaucrats to be cross examined. Getting the answers requires effort, patience and skill. She just can't be bothered. She doesn't take the job seriously enough. Or maybe she is incapable of an attention span that would allow her to succeed. Unless she's talking about herself her attention span seems to rival that of a gnat.
Maybe she doesn't realise how lucky we all are to live in one of the few liberal democracies there are in the world. She clearly has not a clue about the infrastructure required to give us those freedoms. A functioning parliament, independent courts and an executive. To her that's just a stage that others can build and maintain. She'll dance on it when she chooses.
She's like the mum who makes a brief appearance at the fundraising cake stall. She stands out the front for a short time, spruiking the wares over which others have laboured. She gets her photo taken. She does neither the setting up or cleaning up. She contributes nothing. She's a star in her own eyes.
With a declaration that she might want the top job will come greater scrutiny. One Nation has been involved in a variety of financial issues that do leave you wondering how the budget would be managed if she were PM. Various court cases have raised eyebrows. The management of finances doesn't need to be criminal to collect the accolade 'shady'.
Eyebrows have also been raised higher over some staffing decisions. One in particular comes to mind. The employment of a convicted rapist in today's climate showed a lack of judgement. An ABC report in April detailed concerns from former One Nation candidates about the hiring of a former campaign director who had been jailed for rape in 2018. Numerous people have come forward saying that Pauline and her staffer James Ashby were warned about the situation. Hanson initially followed the line that the rapist had done his time, paid his price. That's true. But that doesn't mean he would be an ideal choice to work in a prominent political office. If he'd done drugs he could show he'd been clean for a decent time and rehabilitated. That would be fair enough in my view. But that is just not possible for rapists. If you think this is nit picking, ask yourself what you would think and what the general media line would be if Albo, Abbott, Howard or Gillard had employed someone with that history.
As for being PM she doesn't convey the possession of a worldly view or even much knowledge beyond the front lines of Australian media politics today. It is important to know what the man in the street is thinking about a whole range of issues. But there's a lot of stuff that we expect governments to deal with that we do not think about daily, if at all. Foreign Affairs, Defence and security issues come to mind. Will the bureaucrats she is so dismissive of suddenly become people she trusts?
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Pauline also exhibits a degree of paranoia that would be unbecoming in a PM. It is her standard line . "They're out to get me". She beefs up the bogeyman. It is designed to get you to stand with her lest the bogey man turn on you. Her latest incantation about this is as follows.
"These bastards, all they are worried about is trying to kick me in the guts to make out that I'm not doing anything," No, labor frontbencher Murray Watt is just pointing out that she hasn't been doing Senate estimates , missing nearly 90% thereof and that she skips regular sitting days as well. She is not doing the parliamentary stuff that she finds too hard or boring. But her persona is built around painting herself as the hero who stands up to the bad guys. Its a crock of.. No more, maybe a lot less.
On the world stage "They're out to get us" would just look stupid. My uneducated guess is that she has always felt looked down on, persecuted, not liked enough. This paranoia drives her. She says she's sure she could do the job. Again it's about her. But she doesn't tell us what she would do with the job. Its not the right motivation to be PM.
A Prime Minister needs to have an instinctive view about Australia's place in the world and how we enhance it. Hanson doesn't seem to have a clue. There's just a vacant space .
