Activists in Australia advised to avoid personal attacks on One Nation leader Hanson
In the Australian state of Victoria, progressive activists and trade unionists have been advised not to resort to personal attacks on One Nation leader Pauline Hanson or call her a racist when speaking with the party’s supporters ahead of the November election. As The Guardian reports, this is part of a strategic shift amid growing support for One Nation and its recent successes in a by-election and in South Australia.
Conversations about the economy
Training sessions for activists are being held by the Victorian Trades Hall Council and the progressive campaign group GetUp. Their representatives warn that failing to show sufficient respect for people’s economic concerns may inadvertently push them toward supporting One Nation.
Oscar Kaspi-Crutchett, a senior researcher at Trades Hall, said that people considering voting for One Nation shut down when they perceive personal attacks on the party’s leadership without acknowledgement of their concerns. In his view, activists should look for the economic reasons that may underlie statements about immigration, crime or cultural issues.
Kaspi-Crutchett also said that for many campaign participants, ignoring Hanson’s racism is impossible or undesirable. At the same time, he believes it should be explained not only as a character trait, but as a political tool that creates divisions between groups of people.
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Moving away from personal campaigns
GetUp also recommended not opening a conversation with Hanson’s ties to billionaire Gina Rinehart. The group called these ties a problem, but noted that raising the issue at the start of a dialogue may be perceived as a standard party-political attack and trigger a defensive reaction.
The approach differs from GetUp’s campaign during the Farrer by-election. At that time, the group spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on advertisements containing personal attacks against Hanson and her deputy Barnaby Joyce, linking them to Donald Trump. According to the publication, the advertisements had little impact, while One Nation won the electorate convincingly.
Among the issues on which One Nation is vulnerable, Kaspi-Crutchett named working conditions, labour rights and maternity leave. According to him, it is precisely on these issues that the trade union movement has a high level of public trust.
