Hanson should quit Australian politics for good of nation
By Paul M. Franks
ROCKHAMPTON, Queensland, Australia (JP): Australia is receiving a significant amount of negative publicity in the Asian media as a result of the racist political image and anti-Asian rhetoric of Pauline Hanson, the leader of the One Nation party.
As a politician, Hanson should be well aware of the importance of creating a positive image of, and for, Australia and Australians. Her racially founded and divisive comments are, at the very least, prompting Asian neighbors to re-evaluate their relationship with Australia.
In an article in The Jakarta Post (June 11, 1998), Marta Wiedenhiller pointed out that "the successful rise of Pauline Hanson has, at the very least, hurt the country's (Australia's) chances of gaining acceptance (as an Asian country)".
It is no secret that during the past two decades, Australia has aligned itself more closely with Asia both culturally and economically. Australia's former ambassador to Japan, Rawdon Dalrymple, said last year the people of Australia needed to be reminded that Australia's dealings with Japan and other east Asian countries would determine its success in the 21st century.
Surely Hanson must concede that her racist political image and anti-Asian rhetoric are jeopardizing the future prosperity of both this country and its people.
Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics reveal the extent of Australia's economic relationship with Asia. The dollar value of Australian exports to Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) countries for the financial year 1995/1996 exceeded A$57 billion (US$31 billion). More than 60 percent of Australian exports are sold to Asian countries while 11 of Australia's top 12 export markets are members of the APEC forum.
The rise of One Nation has caused concern in many Asian countries, most recently in Japan, Australia's and Queensland's biggest trading partner. In addition to two-way trade with Japan of more than A$27 billion in 1995/1996, figures released by Australian Minister of Foreign Affairs Alexander Downer reveal nearly 4.5 percent of all employment in Australia is dependent on Japan. With more than 813,000 Japanese tourists visiting Australia in the 1995/1996 financial year, the potential loss to the Australian economy is immense.
Hanson and her supporters should consider the possible ramifications, should the perception in Asian countries of Australia as a racist country intensify. In Hong Kong, Hanson and One Nation received front-page coverage in many of the major newspapers following the party's success in the Queensland state election, while Malaysian media coverage of Australia has also been less than favorable since their rise.
Hanson's "policy" of zero net migration is, according to her, one way of reducing unemployment. Surely Hanson is aware the tourist industry in Australia provides more than 530,000 jobs (nearly 7 percent of total employment) and that more than half of all visitors to Australia are from Asia.
What will happen to the many people employed in the industry if there is a sharp decline in the number of Asian tourists?
If Asian visitors perceive Australia, and in particular Queensland, to be a racist holiday destination, tourist numbers will certainly drop. This will then impact on other service industries which rely either directly or indirectly on the tourism dollar. Perhaps, people within the tourist industry should ask Hanson to "please explain" the ramifications of Australia's increasingly negative image on their future job security.
Queensland has a wealth of natural tourist attractions and accounts for nearly one quarter of all international visitor nights. To see Queensland referred to in the Asian press as "the maverick tropical state" and One Nation's Queensland supporters branded "rednecks" does not auger well for the Queensland tourist industry, an industry already in damage-control mode.
This perception of Australia as a racist country has not developed overnight. The following excerpt, published in a May 1997 edition of The Jakarta Post and taken from a story titled "Australia copes with yellow peril", is typical of the growing anti-Hanson sentiment in Asia: "Hanson called for the control of Asian immigration and the abolishment of a multicultural policy".
In her opinion, Australia is flooded with Asians who have brought in criminal elements and fouled the Australian culture. Her prejudice against nonwhites appears to be prevalent to this day.
It is apparent Hanson is not aware that of all the international visitors to Australia in 1995/1996 Indonesian visitors were the highest spenders, spending an average of $3,409 each. When compared to average expenditure of $1,160 by New Zealand visitors, most operators and service providers within the tourist industry would prefer to entice their big-spending northern neighbors to holiday here.
The stereotypical image of Asians and Aboriginals that One Nation policies are promoting in Australia is not lost on its Asian neighbors. Unfortunately, unless Australia can control the negative image Hanson and One Nation are giving the country, there is a danger all Australians will be tarred with the same brush.
This has serious ramifications for not only those with overseas trade and business interests, but also for the more than 2.5 million Australians who travel abroad each year.
Of Australian's top 10 overseas tourist destinations, five are in Asia. If, as a result of Asian perceptions of Hanson and One Nation, anti-Australia sentiment become prominent, this could at the least deter people from traveling to Asia, and at worst pose a threat to the safety of Australian tourists.
This type of stereotypical image is also coming to the fore in Australia. A Queenslander who recently visited Sydney was immediately labeled with the stereotypical image that all Queenslanders are acquiring as a result of Hanson and One Nation's success in the state election -- the image of a racist, gun-toting redneck. In fact, the majority, 77 percent no less, of Queenslanders did not vote for One Nation.
Is Hanson aware she is giving all Australians and all Queenslanders a bad reputation? In doing so, does she realize she is also taking away some of Australians' basic freedoms?
The freedom to travel, both interstate and overseas, without fear of reprisal from people who (rightly) consider her racial comments insulting.
What is equally disturbing is the ignorance of the people who either support Hanson or voted for One Nation in the recent Queensland state election. Many of those who voted for One Nation must surely be unaware of the possible impact on their own livelihoods.
Queensland's biggest export industries -- coal, sugar, beef, cotton and cereal crops -- directly and indirectly provide employment for many thousands of Queenslanders. The rural towns and businesses which service these industries ultimately rely on export dollars generated by the mining sector and primary producers.
If Queensland's exports to the Asian market decrease as a result of the Hanson/One Nation backlash, this will surely result in tough economic times for many rural Queenslanders and leave many pondering whether by voting for One Nation they have in fact shot themselves in the foot.
As Downer pointed out at an Asian conference last year, if Australians telegraph racist sentiments to the Asian region, not only will it reflect badly on them morally, it will also threaten tens of thousands of jobs.
The rural, mining and tourist sectors are not the only major income-producing industries being threatened. The education industry is also in jeopardy. When combined with the effects of the Asian economic crisis, the Hanson effect can only exacerbate the situation.
Perhaps if Hanson visited one of the neighboring Asian countries, spoke with the local people and the Australian expatriates who live and work there, her outlook might change.
After all, the world is embracing globalization and global trade and as a political representative of Australia, Hanson must adapt to change.
Who is she really concerned for? If, as she claims, Hanson is concerned for Australia's future, the economic, social and moral responsible course of action is to disband One Nation and withdraw from politics.
The writer is currently researching the Asian press and the "Hanson phenomenon" as part of studies for a PhD at Central Queensland University. A regular visitor to Indonesia, most recently in June 1998, he also interned at The Jakarta Post (May/June 1997).
Window: Surely Hanson must concede that her racist political image and anti-Asian rhetoric are jeopardizing the future prosperity of both this country and its people.