Defections, Raids, Probes: The One Nation Meltdown

The Age

Saturday January 22, 2000

GREG ROBERTS

BRISBANE

The disintegration of One Nation as a political force is accelerating, with confirmation by police that they will examine financial records seized from party offices, and the defection of more branches from its Queensland heartland.

The prospect of One Nation's leadership facing criminal charges adds to the seemingly insurmountable barriers facing the party as it struggles to survive legal challenges and internal divisions that widen daily.

The perception of meltdown was enhanced when One Nation's national director, Mr David Ettridge, a central figure in the party since its inception three years ago, announced last week he was quitting.

The party is already deregistered in Queensland after a Supreme Court finding that its registration was ``induced by fraud or misrepresentation". If it loses an appeal against the finding, it may be extirpated in its strongest state.

The court finding led to the establishment of Operation Tier, a police investigation that culminated in raids on Thursday on One Nation's Sydney and Ipswich offices.

Police sources confirmed yesterday that among the thousands of documents and computer files seized, financial records would be scrutinised. Police would be examining more than the party's registration.

Mrs Heather Hill, the secretary of the City Country Alliance, a rebel group formed by One Nation's five remaining Queensland MPs after they quit the party last month, has welcomed the police investigation.

``The members have wanted answers to this for a long time and somebody has to look at it," Mrs Hill said.

She said that although $3.3 million in election funding had been ``more or less" accounted for in trust accounts, One Nation had yet to explain what happened to another $2 million received through membership fees, donations and other sources.

Mr Ettridge said the knowledge that police would examine finances proved their investigation was politically motivated. ``The only justification they had was the court finding and anything broader than that is a witch-hunt."

Mr Ettridge said police would find nothing irregular in the financial records. ``We are the most accountable political party in the country."

A police spokesman, Mr Eric Meyer, said: ``When we receive a complaint, we decide if it is worthy of investigation. On this occasion we decided it was worthy and that's what's been done."

The alliance's leader, Mr Bill Feldman, said One Nation branches in other states could expect similar police action. ``It's going to have far-reaching consequences outside Queensland," he said.

The frustrations of the party's president, Mrs Pauline Hanson, with recent events boiled over when she stormed out of a meeting of party members on Thursday night in the township of Oakey, near Toowoomba.

Mrs Hanson told the meeting she would not be ``railroaded" by the alliance, which was present in force. ``Political parties and branches don't invite other political parties to their meetings," Mrs Hanson said. Amid fiery exchanges, she told Mr Scott Balson, who until recently was one of her closest confidants, to ``shut your mouth".

Several One Nation branches, including Gympie, one of its biggest, have defected to the rebels. The Oakey meeting, attended by members from 15 branches, voted 62 to 15, with 24 abstentions, to support the alliance.

``People drove for hours to be at the meeting to hear both sides and it obviously didn't help her cause to storm out like that," said the alliance's director, Mr Ian Petersen. ``It really was crazy."

A former One Nation candidate at the meeting, Mr David Coburn, said Mrs Hanson's behavior had persuaded many undecided members to switch allegiance to the rebels.

Mrs Hanson was humiliated two weeks ago when she and One Nation's Senator Len Harris were locked out of a One Nation meeting at Wynnum, near Brisbane.

These are people who, until recently, would have walked on hot coals for the One Nation leader.

Mrs Hanson plans a political comeback in the Senate at the next election. She started work this week as a senior adviser to Senator Harris in a move that returns her to Canberra's corridors of power after she failed to be elected in Blair at the last election.

But the wheels of One Nation are clearly falling off and Mrs Hanson appears to be powerless to arrest the decline in its fortunes.

However, Mrs Hanson insisted that public backing for her party remained solid. ``If you have a look at what we've done over the years, you'll see what we have achieved," she told The Age.

``The support I get from the people wherever I go is strong."