By Graham Matthews
Whatever the final seat count in the Queensland election, the June 13 poll was a massive victory for One Nation. The left in Queensland is asking how the apparently spent force that was One Nation was able to establish itself as the third force in Queensland politics.
Some have blamed the mass media entirely for One Nation's rise. Although the media (particularly the Murdoch press) gave One Nation a free run during the election campaign, the reasons behind the party's success are elsewhere.
The Labor Party must accept a large share of the blame. Despite its decision to put One Nation last on its how-to-vote cards, Labor prepared the ground for the rise of One Nation with its refusal, while in office, to seriously confront the problems of Aboriginal people, implement land rights legislation, and tackle racist ideas deeply entrenched in sections of the working class.
Labor in office consistently scapegoated migrants for unemployment. It refused to fund English classes and reduced the availability of welfare payments to new migrants. It's little wonder that Labor, as well as the conservatives, lost seats to One Nation.
Some blame for the rise of Pauline Hanson must also be laid at the feet of those who argued "ignore Hanson and she will go away", an idea which dominated among the more "respectable" opponents of racism.
Likewise, attempts at "shutting Hanson up" by closing down One Nation meetings failed to stem the drift toward One Nation.
Both strategies — ignoring Hanson or attempting to silence her — leave her racist message unanswered and the vast majority of people who oppose her passive.
Only a strategy of creating a broad, active mass movement around clear demands like defence of native title and reversing the attacks on migrants can give the anti-racism movement the confidence and strength to combat the racist myths that fuel One Nation's support.
One Nation's gains have presented the left with a big challenge. Much of One Nation's support came from those looking to an alternative to the two main capitalist parties — Liberal and Labor. One Nation offers no solutions, merely utopian schemes mixed with racist lies, but our task is to seize this rejection of Labor and Liberal away from Hanson and her ilk and build a real opposition to capitalist austerity. We have to start now.
The Democratic Socialists are committed to building such an opposition. As the first step to re-igniting the campaign against racism, we are calling a public rally against One Nation in the Brisbane City Mall on June 19 at 5.30pm. For more information, phone (07) 3254 0565.