This is one of the few news stories that I have ever seen that mentioned the effects of the method being used. ---------- Australia's Pauline Hanson Eyes New Target in Political Turmoil Canberra, Feb. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Pauline Hanson, the former owner of a fish-and-chip shop who leads Australia's anti-Asian One Nation Party, makes a habit of proving so-called experts wrong. Newspaper editors, politicians, business leaders and academics have continually written off Hanson -- first as a political never-would-be and then a political has-been. Each time, the fiery redhead has proved them wrong. She did it again last Saturday, bursting out of political ruin -- which had seen her fined A$500,000 ($267,000) and her party declared illegal -- to engineer the overthrow of the Western Australian state conservative government led by Premier Richard Court. And she hopes to do it again this Saturday on the other side of the nation in Queensland state. Her target this time is two- term Labor Premier Peter Beattie. ``The general feeling is that people feel forgotten, that government and oppositions are more concerned about boat people and are actually providing more for them than for our own people,'' Hanson, 46, declared this week as she hit the election trail in her home state. While the major parties concentrate on responsible fiscal management and educating Australians on-line, Hanson has released policies on turning back refugee boats, the death penalty, letting parents hit their children as punishment and lowering the IQ level for entry to the nation's police forces to bolster cops on the beat. Bright Spark Her policies are popular with the 10 to 20 percent of Australians who don't want to vote for the major parties anymore. ``What I am trying to do is give the Australian people a voice and true representation,'' Hanson said. ``A lot of Australians say to me, `Pauline, you are only saying what we have been thinking but you get up and have the guts to say it'.'' One week ago, Hanson couldn't buy a spot on Australian television. Now, the media can't get enough of her in her bright- colored, low-cut frocks and plastic sandals. She has dominated evening TV news bulletins and newspaper front pages this week. ``I might dress differently. I like bright colors, I am a bright and happy person and I like to dress feminine,'' said Hanson, who fewer than 10 years ago was running a fish-and-chips shop. The contrast to Liberal party Prime Minister John Howard couldn't be starker. Howard looks like a worried man. Suicide and Desertion Howard, 61, has tried to convince the nation that One Nation's success in Western Australia was a fluke anti-state government protest. One Nation received 10 percent of the vote in the election and 20 percent in rural areas -- traditionally the conservatives' stronghold. The federal government thought it could forget about Hanson and her pesky party drawing conservative voters into its fold. The woman didn't even understand the word `xenophobia' when asked by a reporter in a 1998 TV interview about her anti-Asian policies. In its halcyon days in Queensland in the late 90s, 11 members were elected to the state parliament. Six months later none remained under the One Nation banner. One quit and committed suicide, four deserted to become independents and six formed the new City Country Alliance (CCA) party. One Nation was deregistered because it was found to be fraudulently registered for the 1998 election. Hanson was then fined because she signed the registration papers, and the conservatives breathed a collective sigh of relief. Her fine has since been paid by supporters, saving Hanson from bankruptcy. Romance and Bankruptcy The media turned on Hanson, and the woman more at home in front of a deep fryer than a camera faded from public view. Still, neither suicide, allegations of romantic liaisons, the threat of bankruptcy and even her party being deregistered have stopped Hanson. ``Like Lazarus with a triple bypass,'' in the words of a former prime minister, she rose on the weekend and now she has her heart set on Beattie, then on Howard, who must call a federal election by November. A poll published in the Sunday Mail newspaper in the Queensland capital of Brisbane showed Labor ahead with 39 percent over the coalition's 30 percent. It showed 20 percent of people in Queensland state planned to vote for One Nation. Labor holds 45 seats in parliament, the coalition 32, the City Country Alliance has six and there are six independents. The renaissance of One Nation is accompanied by a new electoral weapon that is shrewd and simple -- a message that voters should put sitting members last on ballot papers. Election analyst Malcolm Mackerras told The Australian newspaper that if the weapon had been applied to the 1998 federal election, Labor's Kim Beazley, not Howard, would be Prime Minister. An Eye for Fashion Australia's proportional electoral system allows people to number parties in order of preference on the ballot paper. The preferences are distributed, unlike first-past-the-post systems, to determine the winner. Some analysts believe Queenslanders have had enough of One Nation, its support won't be enough to win a seat and its preferences will not oust the Labor Government, which holds power by one seat. ``One Nation preferences will, at best, help maintain the status quo,'' said Paul Reynolds, a professor at Queensland University. Howard and Beazley will contest a federal election later this year. They will be watching this weekend to see whether the anti- government vote in Western Australia was just that or a protest against mainstream parties. The Coalition holds 80 seats in federal parliament, Labor 67 and there is one independent. Both leaders probably also hope Hanson pursues her latest dream of becoming a fashion designer before the national poll. Feb/13/2001 19:53 ET
