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'One Nation' was a nationalist and protectionist political group in Australia. It gained 22 percent of the vote translating to 11 of 89 seats in Queensland's unicameral legislative assembly at the 1998 state election and made major inroads into the vote of the existing parties. Federally, the party peaked at the 1998 election on 9 percent but progressively lost ground at the 2001 and 2004 elections. By 2005 the federal party ceased to exist after suffering many damaging internal conflicts.

Contents

Overview

Electoral performance

Internal disputes and decline

Impact

Election results

Notes

References

External links

Overview

One Nation was formed in 1997 by Pauline Hanson, David Oldfield and David Ettridge. Hanson, an endorsed Liberal Party candidate for the seat of Oxley at the 1996 federal election, had been disendorsed by the party shortly before the elections due to comments against what she saw as "race-based welfare," made to a local newspaper in Ipswich, Queensland. Oldfield, a councillor on Manly Council in suburban Sydney and at one time an employee of Liberal minister Tony Abbott, was the organisational architect of the new party. He and Ettridge were known as "the two Davids" and were seen as the brains behind Hanson's populist image^[1].
The name "One Nation" was chosen to signify national unity, in contrast to what Hanson saw as an increasing division in Australian society caused by government policies favouring migrants (multiculturalism) and indigenous Australians. The term was used in British politics (where it is used in a quite different sense: see One Nation Conservatism), but was last used in Australian political life to describe a tax reform package by the Labor government of Paul Keating, whose urban-based, Asia-centric, free-market, and pro-affirmative action policies were representational of exactly what One Nation voters were opposing.
Believing the other parties were out of touch with ordinary Australians, One Nation promised to reduce immigration and to abolish "divisive and discriminatory policies... attached to aboriginal and multicultural affairs." The party condemned multiculturalism as a "threat to the very basis of the Australian culture, identity and shared values." Multiculturalism and high immigration, One Nation argued, were leading to "the Asianisation of Australia." ^[2] The party also denounced economic rationalism and globalisation, reflecting working-class dissatisfaction with the neo-liberal economic policies embraced by the major parties. Adopting a strong protectionist platform, One Nation advocated the restoration of import tariffs, a revival of Australia's manufacturing industry, and an increase in support for small business and the rural sector. ^[3]

Electoral performance

One Nation's peak was the 1998 Queensland state election, at which the party won 22.7% of the vote and 11 of the 89 seats. This was more support than received by the Liberal Party of Australia, and third only to the ALP and the National Party. Subsequently, the One Nation contingent in the Queensland Parliament split, with dissident members forming the rival City-Country Alliance in late 1999.
At the 1998 federal election, Hanson lost her seat to ALP candidate Bernie Ripoll, but One Nation candidate Heather Hill was elected as a senator for Queensland. Hill's eligibility to sit as a senator was successfully challenged under the Australian Constitution on the basis that she had failed to renounce her childhood British citizenship, despite being a naturalised Australian citizen. The seat subsequently went to the party's Len Harris following a recount. At the 1999 New South Wales election, David Oldfield was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Council.
In the 2001 Queensland state election, One Nation won only three seats and 8.69% of the primary vote. The City-Country Alliance won no seats.
At the 2001 state election in Western Australia, One Nation won three seats in the state's Legislative Council. One Nation was unable to obtain any seats in state elections in Victoria, South Australia or Tasmania in the following year.
At the 2001 federal election, the party's vote fell and Hanson failed in a bid to win a Senate seat from Queensland. She also failed to win a seat in the New South Wales Legislative Council at the 2003 state election. She then withdrew from the party's leadership.

Internal disputes and decline

Since the 1998 peak, One Nation has been plagued by internal divisions and has split several times. Lawsuits from ex-members forced Hanson to repay approximately A$500,000 of public funding won at the 1998 Queensland election amid claims that the party was fraudulently registered. The suits alleged that the party was undemocratically constituted in order to concentrate all power in the hands of three rulers - Pauline Hanson, David Ettridge and David Oldfield (in particular Oldfield), and that it technically had only two members - Ettridge and Hanson.
In October 2000, Pauline Hanson expelled David Oldfield, co-founder of One Nation and the sole representative of that party in the NSW state Parliament. Oldfield had been accused of abusing his authority, usurping power and setting up alternative political parties under his control. His expulsion created even more instability in a party which was constantly embroiled in scandal and internal strife. Oldfield engineered a split within the party, thereby creating One Nation NSW in 2001. The new party took advantage of electoral party registration laws to register itself as political party under the ‘One Nation’ name with the NSW electoral commission, and achieved registration in April 2002. The effect of this was that the original One Nation party was now unable to gain registration for NSW elections, and therefore any candidates which that party chose to represent them at state elections could not use the party name. Consequently, the original One Nation could only contest Federal elections in NSW under the 'One Nation' banner, whilst the Oldfield group could present itself as 'One Nation' only at state elections.
At the 2004 Queensland election, One Nation polled less than 5% of the vote and its sole elected representative, Rosa Lee Long, acted as an independent. One Nation attempted to defend its Queensland Senate seat at the 2004 federal election, but lost it (effectively to the National Party). Len Harris's Senate term expired on 30 June 2005.
On 8 February 2005, One Nation lost federal party status . It still had state parties in Queensland and New South Wales. Soon after it created another state party in Western Australia. In the February 2005 Western Australian election, the One Nation vote collapsed.
In the 2006 South Australian state election, six One Nation candidates stood for the lower house. Their highest levels of the primary vote was 4.1% in the district of Hammond and 2.7% in Goyder, with the other four hovering around 1%. They attracted 0.8% (7559 votes) of the upper house vote. One Nation consequently won no seats in that election.
In the 2006 Queensland state election, the party contested four seats of the total 89, and its vote collapsed. It suffered a swing of 4.3% to be left with just 0.6% of the vote. Its only remaining seat in the state (and country), Tablelands, was retained with an increased majority. [1]
On 27 December 2006 the Queensland and Western Australian divisions lost federal registration. ^[4]

Impact

During its brief period of popularity, One Nation had a great impact on Australian politics. The appeal of its policies to the National Party's constituency put great pressure on that party.
For the rest of Australian politics, the party revealed a substantial minority of discontented voters dissatisfied with the major parties. Political commentator B.A. Santamaria attributed One Nation's rise to a "sense of alienation" that many Australians felt towards the political system in the 1990s and the failure of mainstream political parties to respond to this disaffection. ^[5] Other media views emphasised One Nation's unequivocal views on immigration, multiculturalism, and indigenous Australians.
One Nation was subject to a political campaign by Government MP Tony Abbott who established a trust fund called "Australians for Honest Politics Trust" to help bankroll civil court cases against the Party. (''see Tony Abbott - Action against One Nation Party'') He was also accused of offering funds to One Nation dissident Terry Sharples to support his court battle against the party. Abbott conceded that the political threat One Nation posed to the Howard Government was "a very big factor" in his decision to pursue the legal attack, but he also claimed to be acting "in Australia's national interest".
Prime Minister John Howard's campaigning on issues of "border protection" at the 2001 federal election was widely seen as a successful effort to win One Nation voters back to the Liberal and National parties.

Election results

Election	Chamber	%of vote	Seatswon
Queensland state electionJune 1998	Legislative Assembly	22.7%	11
Australian federal electionOctober 1998	House of Representatives	8.4%
	Senate	9%	1
New South Wales state electionMarch 1999	Legislative Assembly	7.5%
	Legislative Council	6.3%	1
Victoria state electionSeptember 1999	Legislative Assembly	0.29%
	Legislative Council	n.a
Western Australia state electionFebruary 2001	Legislative Assembly	9.6%
	Legislative Council	9.9%	3
Queensland state electionFebruary 2001	Legislative Assembly	8.7%	3
Northern Territory state electionAugust 2001	Legislative Assembly	1.3%
Australian federal electionNovember 2001	House of Representatives	4.3%
	Senate	5.5%
South Australia state electionFebruary 2002	House of Assembly	2.4%
	Legislative Council	1.8%
Queensland state electionFebruary 2004	Legislative Assembly	4.9%	1
Australian federal electionOctober 2004	House of Representatives	1.2%
	Senate	1.7%
Western Australia state electionFebruary 2005	Legislative Assembly	1.6%
	Legislative Council	1.6%
South Australia state electionMarch 2006	House of Assembly	0.3%
	Legislative Council	0.8%
Queensland state electionSeptember 2006	Legislative Assembly	0.6%	1

Notes

★ For the offshoot One Nation Party in New South Wales see: One Nation NSW

★ One Nation is not to be confused with the 'One Nation' program of infrastructure works carried out from 1991 to 1996 by the Keating Labor Government.

References

1. Loane, S. & Kingston, M. 1998. One Nation, two Davids. ''The Age''. 17 June.
2. One Nation's Immigration, Population and Social Cohesion Policy 1998
3. Charlton, P. 1998. Full Circle. ''The Courier-Mail'', 13 June.
4. http://www.aec.gov.au/_content/what/media_releases/2006/12_22.htm
5. Santamaria, B.A. 1996. Beware the mass revolt. ''The Australian''. 21 September.

External links

★ One Nation official website

★ How the Victorian branch imploded