AUSTRALIA, WE HAVE SEEN THIS MOVIE BEFORE Anthony Albanese has just declared that One Nation “must” be defeated, saying Labor “owe it to history”. Those words made me go back and look at the history. Australians should do the same, because what happened to Pauline Hanson and One Nation more than 20 years ago should never be forgotten. In 1998 One Nation exploded onto the Queensland political scene, winning 11 seats and nearly 23% of the statewide vote. It represented a serious threat to the political establishment, particularly the Coalition’s traditional voter base. Then Liberal frontbencher Tony Abbott went after One Nation’s registration. This isn’t conspiracy theory. Abbott established Australians for Honest Politics, a trust fund that raised almost $100,000 to support legal action against One Nation. Former One Nation candidate Terry Sharples launched the Supreme Court challenge. Abbott openly said he considered it important to challenge Hanson’s party. The challenge succeeded. One Nation’s registration was overturned in 1999 and the matter was referred to police. After a lengthy investigation, Hanson and David Ettridge were prosecuted. In August 2003 Pauline Hanson was convicted of electoral fraud and sentenced to three years in prison. She was also convicted over almost $500,000 in electoral funding. Then something extraordinary happened. After Hanson had spent 11 weeks behind bars, the Queensland Court of Appeal unanimously quashed the convictions and directed that verdicts of acquittal be entered. Chief Justice Paul de Jersey’s judgment raised serious concerns about the evidence and the case that had put her behind bars. To be clear, a later Crime and Misconduct Commission investigation found no misconduct or political interference in the criminal prosecution. Tony Abbott did not prosecute or jail Pauline Hanson. But he absolutely participated in the political and legal campaign against One Nation that preceded it. That is historical fact. Now jump forward 23 years. One Nation is again threatening the established political order, and Anthony Albanese is publicly declaring: “We simply must defeat them. We owe it to history.” That should make Australians pay attention. I am not a member of One Nation. I am not a member of Labor or the Liberal Party either. I don’t believe One Nation is perfect and I don’t agree with everything Pauline Hanson says. But right now I see One Nation as a wrecking ball through a political system desperately in need of disruption. For decades Australians have bounced between Labor and the Coalition expecting something fundamentally different. #Meanwhile housing has become unaffordable, cost of living is smashing families, government debt has exploded and Australians increasingly believe the political system isn’t working for them. And now voters are moving. #My concern is that history may repeat itself, not necessarily through exactly the same events, but through the same political instinct: destroy the threat rather than ask why millions of Australians are turning to it. Watch carefully from here. #Scrutinise One Nation. Absolutely. Investigate its candidates, challenge its policies and expose wrongdoing if it exists. But apply exactly the same microscope to Labor, Liberal, Nationals and Greens. Because when the Prime Minister says a political opponent “must” be defeated and that Labor “owe it to history”, Australians should remember what that history actually contains. #Twenty-three years ago Pauline Hanson went to prison. Eleven weeks later, the convictions were thrown out and she walked free. Australians should never blindly follow any political party. But neither should we blindly trust the political establishment when its control is threatened. This time, watch everything. History has already given us the warning. What’s your thoughts…? Peter Lyndon-James 🇦🇺 @PeterPerthWA Sources: Queensland CMC, The Prosecution of Pauline Hanson and David Ettridge (2004)