Quarterly Essay 65 The White Queen: One Nation and the Politics of Race (65)

The White Queen: One Nation And The Politics Of RaceMost Australians despise what Pauline Hanson stands for, yet politics in this country is now orbiting around One Nation. In this timely Quarterly Essay, David Marr looks at Australia’s politics of fear, resentment and race. Who votes One Nation, and why? How much of this is due to inequality? How much to racism? How should the major parties respond to anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim voices? What damage do Australia’s new entrepreneurs of hate inflict on the nation? Written with drama and wit, this is a ground-breaking look at politics and prejudice by one of Australia’s best writers."Marr is devastating in showing both major political parties in the country entirely preferenced One Nation last while essentially endorsing her racism on the boat people." - The Age/Sydney Morning Herald"We can’t go back to the White Australia policy. It’s impossible to ban Muslim immigration. We can’t rebuild tariff walls. Much of the time all government can offer Hanson’s voters are consolation prizes. That’s happening now: more pork for bush electorates; stiffer citizenship tests; new cruelties for boat people; fresh barriers for Chinese investment; the prospect of more coal-fired power stations dotting the landscape; and giving at least a sympathetic ear to calls for hate speech to be let loose by gutting the Racial Discrimination Act... It’s hardly the agenda of modern Australia. The pact is pure One Nation''. David Marr is the author of Patrick White: A Life, Panic, The High Price of Heaven and Dark Victory (with Marian Wilkinson). He has written for the Sydney Morning Herald, the Age, the Saturday Paper, the Guardian and the Monthly, been editor of the National Times, a reporter for Four Corners and a presenter of ABC TV’s Media Watch. He is the author of five bestselling Quarterly Essays. Most Australians despise what Pauline Hanson stands for, yet politics in this country is now orbiting around One Nation. In this timely Quarterly Essay, David Marr looks at Australia's politics of fear, resentment and race. Who votes One Nation, and why? How much of this is due to inequality? How much to racism? How should the major parties respond to anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim voices? What damage do Australia's new entrepreneurs of hate inflict on the nation? Written with drama and wit, this is a ground-breaking look at politics and prejudice by one of Australia's best writers. ‘This woman went to prison, danced the cha-cha on national television for a couple of years, and failed so often at the ballot box she became a running joke. But the truth is she never left us. She was always knocking on the door. Most of those defeats at the polls were close-run things. For twenty years political leaders appeased Hanson's followers while working to keep her out of office. The first strategy tainted Australian politics. The second eventually failed. So she's with us again – the Kabuki make-up, that mop of red hair and the voice telling us what we already know: “I'm fed up.”'—David Marr David Marr has written for the Sydney Morning Herald, the Age and the Monthly, been editor of the National Times, a reporter for Four Corners, presenter of ABC TV's Media Watch and now writes for the Guardian. His books include Patrick White: A Life, The High Price of Heaven, Dark Victory (with Marian Wilkinson) and five Quarterly Essays: His Master's Voice, Power Trip, Political Animal, The Prince and Faction Man. Most Australians despise what Pauline Hanson stands for, yet politics in this country is now orbiting around One Nation.

In this timely Quarterly Essay, David Marr looks at Australia’s politics of fear, resentment and race. Who votes One Nation, and why? How much of this is due to inequality? How much to racism? How should the major parties respond to anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim voices? What damage do Australia’s new entrepreneurs of hate inflict on the nation?

Written with drama and wit, this is a ground-breaking look at politics and prejudice by one of Australia’s best writers.

“This woman went to prison, danced the cha-cha on national television for a couple of years, and failed so often at the ballot box she became a running joke. But the truth is she never left us. She was always knocking on the door. Most of those defeats at the polls were close-run things. For twenty years political leaders appeased Hanson’s followers while working to keep her out of office. The first strategy tainted Australian politics. The second eventually failed. So she’s with us again – the Kabuki make-up, that mop of red hair and the voice telling us what we already know: ‘I’m fed up.’” —David Marr, The White Queen Annotation. In this timely Quarterly Essay, David Marr looks at Australia's brand of the politics of resentment now sweeping the world. Pauline Hanson is not alone out there. A million votes are in play. Strategists in both Labor and the Coalition are asking, what can we give them? At stake are the progressive hopes of most Australians, hopes held hostage more than ever to the fears - especially the race fears - of old Australia. This is a riveting essay by one of Australia's best writers, examining the peculiar power of the fearful in this confident and prosperous nation