The Courier Mail Editorial, Wednesday 2nd December 1998
One Nation's Queensland Parliamentary leader Bill Feldman has been remarkably silent on the extraordinary comments by his party's national president Pauline Hanson that "democracy really means mob rule". He also had nothing to say about party adviser David Oldfield's observation that the trouble with One Nation was there were "too many idiots" who made delusionary comments to the media. One Nation's weekend state conference at Rockhampton was an exercise in damage control which barely worked.
After failing to win any House of representative seats at the October election and picking up just one Senate position - despite the fact the party managed to attract almost one million votes nationally - One Nation has engaged in that traditional party political sport of recrimination. The control obsessed leadership of Ms Hanson. Mr Oldfield and national director David Ettridge was called into question by rank and file which wanted more say on policy and administrative matters. The fact there was no revolt in Rockhampton was portrayed by Mr Oldfield as a vote of confidence in the leadership and he confidently predicts there will be no uprising at One Nation's national conference next month. This may be the case but the unquestioning acceptance of any kind of leadership that failed so miserably in October is not necessarily a recipe for political survival.
Mrs Hanson is wrong about democracy. Representative democracy should be as Abraham Lincoln said at Gettysburg in 1863, "of the people, by the people, for the people". That she exposed an anti-democratic disposition is not surprising as Ms Hanson became increasingly intolerant of questioning and criticism during the federal election. At the same time, Mr Oldfield laid down his own views of party members which should offend the many good men and women who put their faith in One Nation.
The problem for Mr Feldman and his now nine parliamentary colleagues is that to prevail as elected politicians they must carve out a profile which rises above the kind of arrogant politicking of Ms Hanson and Mr Oldfield. When he steps away from odd conspiracy theories, Mr Feldman has performed creditably as a state politician, as have john Kingston from Maryborough and Thuringowa's Ken Turner. Other One Nation MPs exhibit enthusiasm triumphing over wisdom especially the youthful Shaun Nelson who needs to think before he speaks.
Maintaining credibility in the community when your party is hell-bent on self-destruction and extra-parliamentary leaders make alienating and insulting comments is a difficult task for even experienced politicians - as the Queensland Labor Party of the 1970s and 1980s can attest. It will be even more problematic for a party which campaigned against the executive rule of elected parties, claiming they refused to listen to and obey the wishes of the people or the "mob" as Ms Hanson would say. If Mr Feldman and his colleagues are to survive they should repudiate the views of Ms Hanson and Mr Oldfield and assert their own leadership in One Nation. Otherwise they will continue to lose electoral support and will not be taken seriously in the general community.