When Pauline Hanson and Tommy Robinson met, hatred was a given. More disturbing was the spectacle of their interaction, as described by Hugh Riminton, national affairs editor at Channel 10. The podcast was dispiriting in unexpected ways: racism was a given, but more deflating was the recognition of its entertainment value. Robinson, real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, is a thug, fraudster, bully, and bigot, yet many rush to align with him.
A Gift for Amplifying Grievance
Like Senator Hanson, Robinson has a gift for embodying and amplifying grievance. He is a skilled podcaster; with Hanson, he listened and directed the conversation intriguingly. His interruptions accelerated rather than halted the flow. His empathy when Hanson described being rocked on the day she was sentenced to jail, seeing her 19-year-old daughter interviewed on television, appeared convincing. At one point, they stared at each other, laughing for six seconds—open-throated delight, intoxicated by their moment.
Robinson's Remarks on Immigration
Robinson asked how Australia 'ended up with Pakistanis, Somalis, all of these African problems with violent Africans.' Hanson responded, 'It started in 1973 with Gough Whitlam. They opened up and got rid of the White Australia policy.' She stressed that postwar 'Italians, Germans, Polish and these people' were fine because they 'integrated into the system.' She then claimed Muslims come to Australia 'purely for the welfare system or to get on the NDIS.'
NDIS Minister Responds
NDIS Minister Mark Butler called the claim 'baseless,' stating there is no evidence of disproportionate enrolment in the NDIS based on race or religion. A senior immigration source noted that immigrants undergo strict health checks; any disability requiring NDIS support would be a disqualifying factor except in rare cases of ministerial waiver. This applies to dependent children under the 'one out, all out' rule. Hanson offered proof of a 'Hansonian kind': 'It is quite known that in the Muslim streets you’ve got quite a lot of that street who are on the NDIS scheme. So we know that it’s actually happening.'
Cultural Revolution and Conspiracy Theories
Robinson assured Hanson that people were 'waking up' due to Covid vaccinations and 'mass migration,' citing a 'cultural revolution brewing in Great Britain' and a 'revival happening in Christianity.' Malcolm Roberts, Hanson's Senate colleague, has been venturing into conspiracy theories, giving oxygen to the chemtrails conspiracy. In a YouTube chat, Roberts said, 'People ridicule the notion of chemtrails in Australia. I don’t ridicule the idea. I’m open to there being chemtrails in Australia.' Roberts has declared Alex Jones, the bankrupt US conspiracy barker, a 'beacon of hope.' Jones claimed the US government uses chemicals to make people gay: 'The reason there’s so many gay people now is because it’s a chemical warfare operation.'
One Nation's Polling Surge
Polls indicate One Nation would be the first choice of roughly a quarter of the population. As Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan observe in Regime Change, for Trump 'governing was, above all, a spectacle.' We live in an age of spectacle that surpasses substance and vaults reason. No outrage goes unapplauded; no bigotry goes unblessed. 'Are we not entertained?' asks Riminton.
