We are in a post-fact world and Hanson revels in it |
Pauline Hanson wants to increase defence spending by an easy $340 billion a year or so, make it easier to sack workers (who she thinks are lazy), allow pensioners to work as many hours as they want without losing a dollar in their pension (so much for entrenching welfare), and she’ll pay for it by scrapping funding for ABC and SBS (raising about $1.5 billion) and maybe allowing Australia a stake in gas companies when the arse has fallen out of the gas price.
Does any of this matter?
Hanson’s first press club appearance, where she identified as a “proud nationalist” on Wednesday, was a speech worthy of Mar-a-Largo. It was aimed at the same audience.
Previously Hanson would have said she was a “proud patriot”. But in far-right circles, fresh from cheering on a racist pogrom in Belfast, “proud nationalist” is the new term du jour.
A nationalist isn’t proud of their nation, they think that their version of the nation is superior to others. That’s who Hanson is singing to, and it’s a dog whistle that her supporters hear loud and clear.
What is clear is the press gallery is still struggling to get a handle on how to handle Hanson. Unlike the 1990s, the One Nation leader no longer needs the mainstream media – although, like Donald Trump, she still craves its acceptance and approval.
Her social following, and reach through the algorithm means she is free to speak directly to........