Also from SMH's breaking stories: > Friday, February 5, 1999 > > Oldfield rejects ultimatum > > One Nation senior adviser David Oldfield today rejected a threat by > Queensland members of the party to resign unless its leaders stood down to > throw their posts open for democratic elections. > > The Queensland MPs have called for One Nation founder and national > executive member Pauline Hanson, national director David Ettridge and Mr > Oldfield to resign. > > The threat comes ahead of a bid by Mr Oldfield and One Nation to secure > seats in the New South Wales parliamentary elections next month. > > "I don't have any problem with us being elected by the membership," Mr > Oldfield told ABC radio. > > "But no, we will not accept any ultimatum and no-one ever should. > > "This issue will be resolved by the membership of One Nation, it will not be > decided by 10 people from Queensland, regardless of who they are, when we > have 10,000 or 20,000 members." > > Mr Oldfield's response follows a declaration by One Nation's 10 Queensland > MPs that they will resign unless the constitution of the party is reviewed and its > leaders stand down and stand for re-election at the party's upcoming annual > general meeting. > > One Nation Queensland deputy leader Dorothy Pratt said she would be > prepared to resign unless the party's leaders adopted the measures the > Queenslanders called for. > > "I can't speak for anybody else but I will," she said. > > "It's a matter of principle at this point in time. > > "One Nation stands for true democracy in all its forms and the will of the > people and to me the constitution does not reflect what the will of the people > is." > > She said the document called for an immediate response but would not confirm > how soon she might resign if the call went unanswered and whether she was > the One Nation MP speculated to have resigned already. > > "All things are possible," Ms Pratt responded. > > "It's possible that David, Pauline and David will stand down at the AGM and > put it to the vote. > > "The chances are that they will be re-elected, possibly even unopposed, and I > believe that is the way AGMs should progress and so do the other nine MPs in > the room." > > Mr Oldfield responded that most people understood the party's constitution > was a draft constitution. > > "And that is quite clearly laid out in the covering letter and quite clearly > understood, but apparently not entirely understood by some people," he said. > > He had not spoken to Ms Hanson but believed that she, like him, would have > no problem standing for election at the AGM, he said. > > However, he said no bid would be made to ease the concerns of those > threatening to resign. > > "No, I don't think so. I think that what we will be doing is looking at the various > submissions that are put in," he said. > > Ms Pratt said she believed the Queenslanders' decision could be difficult for > Mr Oldfield as it came ahead of the NSW campaign. > > "I would imagine David would be very uncomfortable and perhaps it is > unfortunate in thatrespect," she said. > > Queensland One Nation deputy leader in state parliament Dorothy Pratt today > said she would make an announcement about the identity of a One Nation state > MP who had resigned from the party. > > One Nation senior policy adviser Ian Petersen has confirmed one MP had > resigned from the party, which was "disappointing" but "healthy". However, the > MP's identity remains unknown. - AAP Sharon Byard [EMAIL PROTECTED] "Nothing is more dangerous than an idea, when you have only one idea." (Alain) ------------------------------------------------------- RecOzNet2 has a page @ http://www.green.net.au/recoznet2 To unsubscribe from this list, mail [EMAIL PROTECTED], and in the body of the message, include the words: unsubscribe announce or click here mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20announce This posting is provided to the individual members of this group without permission from the copyright owner for purposes of criticism, comment, scholarship and research under the "fair use" provisions of the Federal copyright laws and it may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner, except for "fair use."
