Poetic Politics

It's not often that you see poetic justice meted out in the public arena. It appeals to my cruel sense of humour that there is an Australian politician who faces a 3 year jail term for fraudulently registering a political party and dishonestly obtaining almost $500,000 in electoral reimbursements. During her short political career Pauline Hanson was campaigning for tougher legal penalties and referring to Australian prisons as "4 star hotels". Now that she faces jail, it seems the penalties are too harsh.

The situation becomes even more amusing (in a twisted sort of way) when you understand the essence of the fraud and you see the letters from supporters calling her a freedom fighter and a political prisoner. Pauline and her small circle of advisors set up a political party where only a select group were voting members. They wanted to keep centralised political control rather than allow the general membership to have any weight in determining policy. The party needed a certain number of members before they could register so they included all the non-voting membership in their registration - in breach of the legal requirements for a political party.

Why is this funny? Because the minions are now hailing Hanson as their martyred heroine - the very person who was using them and disenfranchising them, and being charged for that duplicity.

"Free Pauline! We demand the right to be represented by a dictator."

Perhaps I can put a kinder spin on the situation. Let's suppose that the illegal party registration was done in complete ignorance (in Pauline's case this would be a fair assessment). Let's suppose that the inner circle of her party were all blissfully unaware of the documented conditions of registration. They were wanting to provide leadership to a nation - how could anybody possibly expect them to take the time to read the constitutional requirements?

"Free Pauline! We demand the right to be represented by an ignorant dictator."