One Nation is currently the only significant party that genuinely
opposes both the ALP and the Coalition. A great deal of their popular
support arises because of that and DESPITE their actual policies.
They are compelled by the rigged electoral system to give preferences to
one or the other, but they actually oppose both and direct their
preferences tactically to achieve their objective of undermining both
(e.g. they handed the ALP several seats in WA to punish the WA Liberals
for accepting national Liberal Party policy to put One Nation last
despite their own inclination to put the ALP last, but they handed the
Coalition several seats in other states).
The Democrats do not oppose the bipartisans but pretend to be
indifferent between them to maintain a "balance of power". In practice
they usually side with the ALP.
The Greens nominally oppose both but more openly side with the ALP.
One Nation, the Democrats and the Greens have very similar policies on
such issues as Telstra, the GST and globalization, and also on zero-net
immigration although the Greens now pretend otherwise.
They differ strongly on racism (including Aboriginal policy and
attitudes towards multiculturalism and immigrants, as opposed to
immigration).
Although Pauline Hanson did not vote against the anti-Neither
legislation and is currently talking ignorant nonsense about "first-
past-the-post" voting, the logic of that party's situation is that they
are bound to end up supporting Proportional Representation just as the
Democrats and Greens do.
The difference is that when they do they are more likely to put up a
fight about it rather than passively accept their exclusion from any
representation in the House of Representatives as the Greens and
Democrats do.
The widespread celebration of the fact that One Nation won no seats in
the House of Representatives will also be used as an argument against
Neither's campaign for PR. When PR is introduced, a party with 8% of the
vote will get 8% of the seats and that means One Nation will be a
significant force in the House of Representatives. (They will be
significant on such issues as Telstra, and the GST where the major
parties are divided - not on their racist policies where
they will be voted down by 92% majorities instead of being able to
pressure the other parties into making concessions by preference threats
as at present).
Neither has to face that issue squarely.
We cannot oppose the "two party state" and support PR without admitting
that this does indeed mean we support One Nation being fully represented
along with the Democrats, Greens and other minor parties in a
representative House of Representatives.
That makes it all the more important for Neither to clearly oppose One
Nation and add them to the list of parties to put equal last, despite
their (anticipated) support for PR.
We want to reduce their representation by reducing the number of people
who support them, not by denying the elementary democratic right of
representation in Parliament to our political opponents.
The media rejoicing about the extinction of One Nation just shows how
out of touch they are. One Nation is now twice the size of the Democrats
and larger than the National Party. They have not been defeated but
merely denied representation. They will not be defeated
until they have been given representation and thus helped to demonstrate
that their policies are just as bankrupt as the ALP and the Coalition.
Neither should be seen as the OTHER significant force in Australian
politics that genuinely opposes both the ALP and the Coalition - for
very different reasons.
There are at least as many people who do oppose the two party state with
a progressive outlook as there are who oppose it with a reactionary
outlook.
There is an obvious vacuum on the left of Australian politics and we
should aim to fill it.
