Pauline Hanson\u2019s former mastermind and claimed ex-lover David Oldfield has declared he was \u201cthe brains\u201d of her operation and that the party will fail at the next election unless is changes tack.<\/p>\n
As the outgoing ALP President Wayne Swan warns at the ALP conference that Pauline Hanson poses a huge threat to Labor at the next election, the man who helped create her political party has spoken out.<\/p>\n
But Mr Oldfield \u2013 who has always denied a sexual relationship with his former boss \u2013 has warned that One Nation lacks a clear strategy and should stop playing the victim with the media.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne Nation is akin to a living entity and it has five component parts. Its face is Pauline, its heart is its manifesto, its lungs seek the air of freedom, its soul is its supporters \u2013 its brain was me,\u2019\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne Nation must win Labor seats, yet three decades on One Nation, which was designed to win seats from Labor, is actively and aggressively discouraging support from traditional Labor voters.\u201d<\/p>\n
Twenty years ago, Pauline Hanson claimed in her 2007 autobiography Untamed and Unashamed that she had a brief romantic relationship with Mr Oldfield at the Sundowner Village Motel in Canberra in 1996.<\/p>\n
\u201cI will always believe David used our short but close relationship to get a foot in the door,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n
\u201cI came to learn that he spent more time in the bathroom than any woman I know, including me.\u201d<\/p>\n
But he denied it at the time, claiming she \u201cwasn\u2019t his type\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were close, there was no question of that. We were living in each other\u2019s pockets,\u201d said Mr Oldfield, who was Ms Hanson\u2019s closest adviser.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t wish to put her down from a physical point of view, but she is not exactly my type.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf it had happened, it\u2019s not something we should be talking about anyway,\u201d he added. \u201cIt\u2019s always about the dough when Pauline is concerned.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Oldfield later failed Channel 7\u2019s lie detector test when he tried to prove it never happened.<\/p>\n
\u201cI haven\u2019t got Alzheimer\u2019s and I don\u2019t tell lies,\u201d Senator Hanson later said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t stand him. I don\u2019t like him at all. When someone is quite happy to see you go to prison for something you did not do, I think that clearly depicts the type of person that he is.\u201d<\/p>\n
In an opinion piece in The Australian newspaper this week, Mr Oldfield big-noted his own involvement in One Nation, claiming it was his own brainchild<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat would you know, you might ask,\u2019\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, I created Pauline Hanson\u2019s One Nation in 1996. I named it, wrote its platform and co-founded it in 1997. While interfered with, it remains fundamentally as it was. Yet the problem lies in the interpretation and the implementation, not the intention or the meaning.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne Nation was introduced using Pauline\u2019s name to capture brand awareness, provide high-visibility recognition and associate with what was perceived to be what Pauline stood for \u2013 the emphasis being on perceived. In reality, One Nation\u2019s guiding principle was its nationalism and unifying intent. Pauline was its facade. As the party became known, it was intended Pauline\u2019s name would be removed and the party name would become One Nation.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese days, many Australians see foreign interests getting priority and taxes spent recklessly and against their interests.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom its beginning, Australia naturally developed into a nationalist country.\u201d<\/p>\n
Labor\u2019s warning on Pauline Hanson<\/p>\n
Outgoing ALP president Wayne Swan will warn One Nation is now Labor\u2019s biggest electoral threat and that the government should not expect her popularity will collapse before the next election.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe fought (John) Howard. We fought (Tony) Abbott. And now we watch the conservative mantle pass to One Nation, and a new battle awaits us,\u2019\u2019 Mr Swan will say.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt runs through the late 80s with Joh, the original Pauline Hanson. We stopped his caravan rolling to Canberra when it looked like it had unstoppable momentum.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Swan will also warn the war chest that One Nation is accumulating, which means that Pauline Hanson cannot be underestimated.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause the money has not gone anywhere,\u201d he will say. \u201cIt has only changed horses. Look at where it went this year. The richest person in this country gave One Nation a $2 million aeroplane.<\/p>\n
\u201cHer right-hand man walked out of the Nationals to endorse them. The wealth that used to sit behind the Liberal Party has found itself a new home, and it did not have to travel far.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is what the culture war is for. It is camouflage. Strip it away and you find the oldest agenda in this country. A few people with a great deal, who would like rather more, and who have found somebody to grab it for them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Swan will be replaced as ALP president at the national conference by former Labor frontbencher Kate Ellis.<\/p>\n
PM pledges relief for uni students<\/p>\n
In an address on Thursday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will announce more cost of living measures for university students.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe last decade has inflicted one global shock after another,\u2019\u2019 he will say.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd people have been given every reason to feel like the economy is simply not working for them.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is why our focus remains squarely on helping with the cost of living, on the practical measures that matter to people and make a positive difference to their lives.<\/p>\n
Mr Albanese will announce an expansion of financial support for Australians doing unpaid practical placements that is currently offered to people studying to be nurses and midwives, as well as teachers and social workers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is one of those reforms where it is hard to believe that it didn\u2019t already exist,\u2019\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve heard from students who had to go straight from their hospital placement to their part-time job, just to pay the rent.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday I announce we will expand Paid Prac to physio and occupational therapy, clinical psychology, pharmacy and podiatry, speech pathology, audiology, radiography, rehab therapies, and our future paramedics.\u201d<\/p>\n