Charges Against One Nation Leader
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 4:58 a.m. ET
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) -- The One Nation Party, which has shaken Australia with its attacks on immigrants and Aborigines, is fighting for its life with its firebrand leader facing electoral fraud charges that could land her behind bars.
Pauline Hanson is to appear July 31 on charges of electoral fraud, following a 21-month police investigation into allegations she fraudulently claimed One Nation had 500 members in 1997 -- a prerequisite for its registration as a political party.
If convicted, Hanson faces up to 10 years in jail, which would amount to a death sentence for the party, said Margo Kingston, author of ``Off The Rails,'' a book about the One Nation leader.
``It would die with her. It's a party based on a cult,'' said Kingston.
A flamboyant 47-year-old mother of four who once owned a fish and chip shop, Hanson is seen as a savior by supporters who fear Australia's conservative British traditions are being eclipsed by liberal social reforms and Asian immigrants. Detractors see a racist politician who has divided Australia and damaged its standing in the region.
Mainstream lawmakers and analysts write off Hanson and her party as reactionary with no plausible policies. The media have dubbed the party ``One Notion.''
The party rose to prominence in 1998 when its anti-establishment platform opposing Asian immigration, welfare for Aborigines and economic globalization attracted almost a quarter of the vote to win 11 seats in the Queensland state legislature.
At a 1998 federal election the party won almost 9 percent of the vote nationally.
Hanson held a seat in federal Parliament for one term as an independent lawmaker and shocked the nation in 1996 when, in her first speech, she claimed Australia was ``in danger of being swamped by Asians.'' She also advocates barring foreign investment in Australia and ending Canberra's foreign aid programs.
By 2000, analysts had written the party off after internal bickering tore it apart, but it made a surprise comeback in Queensland and Western Australian state elections early this year.
``This has been the most chaotic party in Australian history and it doesn't matter what happens to the party they still seem to poll well,'' said Antony Green, an electoral analyst with the Australian Broadcasting Corp.
Attracting mainly right-leaning voters, its success is spreading alarm in Prime Minister John Howard's conservative government which is seeking a third term at elections expected in November or December.
Police have not detailed the charges, but they are believed to relate to One Nation's establishment in 1997, when Hanson claimed it had 500 members in order to register it as a political party. At the time, the party is believed to have had fewer than 500 members.
Hanson told The Associated Press the fraud charges were a political ploy to torpedo her campaign for a Senate seat.
``I do believe it's a witch hunt, but I am in a position where I cannot make comments about it,'' she said.
Authorities have not set a date for trial and it could be months before hearings open. In the meantime, Hanson is free to run for the Senate.
Hanson says her party is still growing, recently opening its 250th branch, and will field candidates in all 149 House of Representatives seats and Senate candidates in all states.
Kingston said Hanson could win a Senate seat if she is not convicted, but the party itself is in decline.
``In the medium-term One Nation will die, but the forces it unleashed have produced a flowering of new parties that realize they can intervene in the two-party structure and make a difference,'' she said.