Australia's racist debate

Like most Australians, I am deeply concerned about Pauline Hanson and her policies -- not just her statements implying Asians aren't good Australians, but her ignorant and foolish position on many other important things to our country. Unfortunately, her kind is not a new phenomenon in Australia.

In the last few elections, a national party called Australians Against Further Immigration (AAFI) has run in many electorates. In the 1996 federal election, no other party ran such a platform -- Hanson was yet to grace the national stage. The votes for Australians Against Further Immigration is therefore an indication of Australian electoral support for the policies of (politely disguised) racial discrimination.

The results are encouraging. In the House of Representatives, AAFI ran in about one third of the seats, and collected a paltry 0.67 percent of the vote. In the Senate, they ran in all electorates and won 1.26 percent of the national vote. They did not go close to winning any race they contested. I urge people to consider this before interpreting support for Pauline Hanson as a return to a racist White Australia.

Hanson, whose platform has not faced the scrutiny of a national election, offers a grab bag of knee-jerk policies, such as reversing tariff reductions, bashing unions and big business, as well as anti-Asian immigration and anti-Aboriginal welfare policies. Since she will say anything to get support, and cares little about changing her overworked mind from one day to the next, it is almost impossible to rationally attribute her opinion-poll support to one part of her platform.

Today, Australia is one of the most multicultural societies in the world. The evidence shows there has been negligible support for anti-Asian policies over the last decade. But please be assured that many Australians of all backgrounds are embarrassed, hurt and shocked by this debate, which has come as a nasty surprise. The campaign against Hanson is going from strength to strength. Her "One Australia" movement has united many Australians, from political leaders to religious leaders, from students to business executives, but only against her.

TIMOTHY RICHARDSON

Jakarta