Liberal MP Julian Leeser will declare the Greens are more racist than One Nation in a speech to the Robert Menzies Institute conference on Friday, arguing that “anti-Semitism is now a full-blown feature of the extremists-Greens political ideology”.
“As a Jewish Australian, I have always had an aversion to race-based politics. It’s why I have always preferenced One Nation last. But … it’s clear to me that the Greens are now worse than One Nation.”
Since Hamas’ October 7 attack on southern Israel and Israel’s subsequent bombardment of the Gaza Strip, there has been a reported surge in anti-Semitism worldwide, so it’s important to be serious and identify the sources of this bigotry.
But how do One Nation and the Greens actually compare? Let’s look at the scoreboard.
One Nation
In 1996 Pauline Hanson, then-newly elected member for Oxley, says in her maiden speech:
Present governments are encouraging separatism in Australia by providing opportunities, land, moneys and facilities available only to Aboriginals … I and most Australians want our immigration policy radically reviewed and that of multiculturalism abolished. I believe we are in danger of being swamped by Asians … A truly multicultural country can never be strong or united.
In 2006 Hanson tells AAP:
We’re bringing in people from South Africa at the moment. There’s a huge amount coming into Australia, who have diseases; they’ve got AIDS. They are of no benefit to this country whatsoever; they’ll never be able to work.
In 2016, on her return to the Senate, Hanson says in her maiden address: “We are in danger of being swamped by Muslims who bear a culture and ideology that is incompatible with our own.”
Several times over the next few years, she calls for a ban on allowing Muslims to enter Australia, at one point saying: “Islam is a disease; we need to vaccinate ourselves against that.”
One Nation Senator Malcolm Roberts frequently cites The Secrets of the Federal Reserve by Eustace Mullins, an anti-Semitic US author whose books include The Biological Jew and The World Order: Our Secret Ruler. Mullins claimed that “international banking families” and the US Federal Reserve were part of a Jewish conspiracy to introduce global socialism.
Asked to distance himself from this, Roberts says: “I repudiate anything anti-Semitic that Eustace Mullins has said, and anything he has said that tarnishes the Jewish people. But I will not repudiate the facts in his books.”
The same year conservative columnist Andrew Bolt notes Roberts’ fixation with Jewish banking families.
In 2017, Hanson grills ASIO boss Duncan Lewis about the links between refugees and terrorism. He indicates there is no evidence to back up any such assertion. Also in 2017, she dons a burqa in the Senate, arguing that women in the religious garb present a “security risk”.
After the High Court finding that Roberts was ineligible to be elected on account of his dual citizenship, Fraser Anning — a party veteran going back to 1998 — is elected in his place. He immediately quits One Nation and in 2018 gives a maiden speech calling for a “final solution” on immigration, and a plebiscite on re-implementing the White Australia policy.
In October of that year, Hanson — who condemned Anning’s speech — puts forward a motion “that the Senate acknowledges (a) the deplorable rise of anti-white racism and attacks on Western civilisation; and (b) that it is okay to be white”. The then-government supported the motion, something it later blamed on an “administrative error”.
The Greens
On November 11 the Greens put out a statement saying the Hamas attacks of October 7 were:
… not an act of resistance, nor a legitimate military offensive. This was a terrorist act and we will continue to condemn it as such. The scale and brutality with which innocent civilians were targeted, slaughtered, mutilated and abducted rightly moves so many in the Australian community to voice our compassion and solidarity with all members of the Australian Jewish community and all those impacted.
The party calls for “the unconditional release of those over 240 Israeli hostages and all political prisoners. We continue to condemn hostage taking for the war crime that it is.” The statement goes on:
The very same commitment to compassion, honesty, peace and justice required of us in response to the vile attacks of Hamas drives us as Greens to call out the war crimes and crimes against humanity being committed by the state of Israel in Gaza right now.
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We think you’ll agree, when it comes to inflammatory, nuance-free rhetoric, it’s just too close to call.
Same same but very different. Readers, we want to hear from you — especially while our comments are closed due to our website upgrade. Send us your thoughts on this article to letters@crikey.com.au. Please include your full name to be considered for publication. We reserve the right to edit for length and clarity.
