A Message to Current and Former One Nation Members:
This statement is intended as a positive, constructive message to the One Nation party, addressed in good faith to all members of One Nation -- and particularly to those members who still want to make a difference and who are now, or soon will be, considering their options.
It is not in any way an attack on One Nation or the many good people who joined that party for a variety of worthy reasons.
Nor is it an exercise in "triumphalism".
Rather it is an earnest attempt to get to grips with a simple matter of fact –that the One Nation Party is now in terminal decline– and to ask, constructively, the obvious question: what options are now available to members of One Nation who still wish to be active, to be part of a change for the better, to confront and overcome the corrupt globalist system that we all, on the nationalist side of politics, must and do oppose?
The options are, as we hope you will see it :1) attempt to resurrect One Nation
2) give up and admit defeat
3) do something else.
It is option one that brings us straight to the crux of the matter.
One Nation was a lightning rod for an angry, disillusioned and mobilised population. But those days of early triumph and the One Nation juggernaut have long since gone.
One Nation's current leadership has allowed the party to drift away from its original purpose to expose and attack the various forces at work in the sell-off and sell-out of traditional Australia. Under the specific direction of certain individuals, there has in particular been a complete retreat from one of the core complaints that defined the early One Nation party: namely, the Asianisation of Australia. One Nation once clearly opposed this attack on our national identity. It is now equally clear that this is not longer the case.
Pauline Hanson has vanished from Australia's political scene. There is no indication that she will ever be back. Nor has any individual emerged with her qualities who might plausibly revive the populism that underpinned the One Nation phenomenon.
As things stand, One Nation is facing an imminent crisis. The party likely faces Federal de-registration very soon. Some State branches are in sufficiently good shape to withstand similar moves in their own State electoral systems for perhaps some time to come, but the process nevertheless is very much a one-way ride to nowhere.
All in all, the picture would seem grim if we were to suppose that the continued survival of the One Nation party structure and its "brand" were somehow essential to the work that One Nation and its members set out to do.
Fortunately this is not the case.
That said, if One Nation as an entity cannot survive, what are its members to do?
The second option is to do nothing: give up and retire from active work.
While we do not support this option, we note it because the human spirit has its limits and --sadly-- a great many people have been, and will continue to be, burnt out by the long slumber and slow destruction of One Nation. Further, we mention this option because, if a suitable opportunity for real activism is not made apparent to One Nation members and soon, many more may take this path.
So we must look to the third option: find some other way to "fight the fight". Here there is a choice to be made.
There is the Katter party, of course. We have concerns about the Katter party, in particular its insistence on increasing our population no matter what the cost. We quote from their website: "Australia needs to increase its population to achieve acceptable levels of economic, scientific, strategic and personal development. Government must develop immigration and birth rate policies consistent with these principles. In addition, the population growth needs to be distributed widely throughout Australia and especially into northern Australia." Reference: Point 21 of the Australian Party's Values and Principles -- see http://www.ausparty.org.au/who-we-are/values-and-principles.html
The implications of this policy are clear: mass immigration into Australia's north.
Nevertheless we acknowledge that some One Nation people will get on board with Bob Katter on the grounds that he is (they will say) a patriot, a populist and a strong new force in the political scene. We will see what transpires, but note that the Katter phenomenon looks very much like a new variation on the Hanson phenomenon. Yes, there are points of difference, but overall we see a similar strategy, with electoral work being the only focus of the organisation, as well as similar structures -- the "strong" leadership figure and a support base of disillusioned people, but once again no attempt to unite the party around a single, consistent view of the national question.
If the Katter group turns into another One Nation, the danger is that yet again many good people will be first directed into what we feel to be futile vote-chasing efforts, probably for a number of years, and then, when it is all over, a large number of those people will leave yet another organisation disillusioned, worn out and ready to quit the fight for good.
There has to be a better option.
It is the view of Australia First that this better option is to break free from the obsession with vote-chasing and adopt a broader strategy in which electoral work is combined with -- and at times very much subordinate to -- community campaigns and educational work of all sorts.
We have outlined this strategy before:
"The Australia First Party is an incorporation registered as a Federal party. That does not mean that its function is only to contest elections. The party operates to the ‘three tier method’. This means that the party contests elections, wages community campaigns of all sorts to build links with fellow Australians and to unite all Australians - and develops its ideas and principles into an Australianist ideology that also carries on a cultural defence of Australianity against globalisation. The three tiers operate as a unity." ( http://afpwa.blogspot.com.au/2011/01/for-patriotic-united-front.html )
We suggest to One Nation members that this kind of approach is the one to which they too should turn their attention and efforts. We make this recommendation to all activists and would-be activists, regardless whether they remain for a time within what is left of the One Nation structure, leave the party and operate on their own for a time, join the Katter party, or eventually come over to Australia First, by whatever circuitous route they may take. We are not out to exclude or vilify good people. We do however point out that this three-tier approach to activism was largely absent in One Nation, despite the best efforts of some members to change this fact. One Nation, as a whole, sought only to engage with ordinary Australians as "ballot-box fodder". We hope the Katter party will be different, but fear that it too is caught up in the hypnotic dance of the electoral cycle and will likely remain so until its eventual demise.
Only in the Australia First party is such a broad and dynamic strategy front and centre, supported and nurtured by the organisation at every level. Therefore we say to One Nation members: consider your situation. You are a great asset to our nation's cause, if only you will keep up the fight. We have suggested the only option we believe will allow you to do so. When you are ready, we will welcome you.
One Nation was a lightning rod for an angry, disillusioned and mobilised population. But those days of early triumph and the One Nation juggernaut have long since gone.
One Nation's current leadership has allowed the party to drift away from its original purpose to expose and attack the various forces at work in the sell-off and sell-out of traditional Australia. Under the specific direction of certain individuals, there has in particular been a complete retreat from one of the core complaints that defined the early One Nation party: namely, the Asianisation of Australia. One Nation once clearly opposed this attack on our national identity. It is now equally clear that this is not longer the case.
Pauline Hanson has vanished from Australia's political scene. There is no indication that she will ever be back. Nor has any individual emerged with her qualities who might plausibly revive the populism that underpinned the One Nation phenomenon.
As things stand, One Nation is facing an imminent crisis. The party likely faces Federal de-registration very soon. Some State branches are in sufficiently good shape to withstand similar moves in their own State electoral systems for perhaps some time to come, but the process nevertheless is very much a one-way ride to nowhere.
All in all, the picture would seem grim if we were to suppose that the continued survival of the One Nation party structure and its "brand" were somehow essential to the work that One Nation and its members set out to do.
Fortunately this is not the case.
That said, if One Nation as an entity cannot survive, what are its members to do?
The second option is to do nothing: give up and retire from active work.
While we do not support this option, we note it because the human spirit has its limits and --sadly-- a great many people have been, and will continue to be, burnt out by the long slumber and slow destruction of One Nation. Further, we mention this option because, if a suitable opportunity for real activism is not made apparent to One Nation members and soon, many more may take this path.
So we must look to the third option: find some other way to "fight the fight". Here there is a choice to be made.
There is the Katter party, of course. We have concerns about the Katter party, in particular its insistence on increasing our population no matter what the cost. We quote from their website: "Australia needs to increase its population to achieve acceptable levels of economic, scientific, strategic and personal development. Government must develop immigration and birth rate policies consistent with these principles. In addition, the population growth needs to be distributed widely throughout Australia and especially into northern Australia." Reference: Point 21 of the Australian Party's Values and Principles -- see http://www.ausparty.org.au/who-we-are/values-and-principles.html
The implications of this policy are clear: mass immigration into Australia's north.
Nevertheless we acknowledge that some One Nation people will get on board with Bob Katter on the grounds that he is (they will say) a patriot, a populist and a strong new force in the political scene. We will see what transpires, but note that the Katter phenomenon looks very much like a new variation on the Hanson phenomenon. Yes, there are points of difference, but overall we see a similar strategy, with electoral work being the only focus of the organisation, as well as similar structures -- the "strong" leadership figure and a support base of disillusioned people, but once again no attempt to unite the party around a single, consistent view of the national question.
If the Katter group turns into another One Nation, the danger is that yet again many good people will be first directed into what we feel to be futile vote-chasing efforts, probably for a number of years, and then, when it is all over, a large number of those people will leave yet another organisation disillusioned, worn out and ready to quit the fight for good.
There has to be a better option.
It is the view of Australia First that this better option is to break free from the obsession with vote-chasing and adopt a broader strategy in which electoral work is combined with -- and at times very much subordinate to -- community campaigns and educational work of all sorts.
We have outlined this strategy before:
"The Australia First Party is an incorporation registered as a Federal party. That does not mean that its function is only to contest elections. The party operates to the ‘three tier method’. This means that the party contests elections, wages community campaigns of all sorts to build links with fellow Australians and to unite all Australians - and develops its ideas and principles into an Australianist ideology that also carries on a cultural defence of Australianity against globalisation. The three tiers operate as a unity." ( http://afpwa.blogspot.com.au/2011/01/for-patriotic-united-front.html )
We suggest to One Nation members that this kind of approach is the one to which they too should turn their attention and efforts. We make this recommendation to all activists and would-be activists, regardless whether they remain for a time within what is left of the One Nation structure, leave the party and operate on their own for a time, join the Katter party, or eventually come over to Australia First, by whatever circuitous route they may take. We are not out to exclude or vilify good people. We do however point out that this three-tier approach to activism was largely absent in One Nation, despite the best efforts of some members to change this fact. One Nation, as a whole, sought only to engage with ordinary Australians as "ballot-box fodder". We hope the Katter party will be different, but fear that it too is caught up in the hypnotic dance of the electoral cycle and will likely remain so until its eventual demise.
Only in the Australia First party is such a broad and dynamic strategy front and centre, supported and nurtured by the organisation at every level. Therefore we say to One Nation members: consider your situation. You are a great asset to our nation's cause, if only you will keep up the fight. We have suggested the only option we believe will allow you to do so. When you are ready, we will welcome you.
No comments:
Post a Comment