Though shalt not commit electoral fraud, or Pauline gets 3 years

[reprise]

Hanson jailed for 3 years (http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,7012240%255E1702,00.html)

Backstory for non-Aussies (http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,7011530%255E421,00.html)

Memorable Pauline quotes (http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,7011799%255E2,00.html)

[reprise]

Hanson jailed for 3 years (http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,7012240%255E1702,00.html)

Backstory for non-Aussies (http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,7011530%255E421,00.html)

Memorable Pauline quotes (http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,7011799%255E2,00.html)

[athon]

I wonder if she asked the judge to 'please explain' that one.

On a side note, I actually went to her infamous fish n' chip shop before she was famous. I went to school in Ipswich, sadly, and when I was over a friend's house we went to her shop in the suburb of Booval.

To be honest, I kind of feel sorry for her, as one would feel sorry for a dog too stupid to know why it's been kicked. She was no more redneck / uninformed than half of our population, except she felt she could perform the mighty 'backstreet lass => parliament' jump (typical 'rags to riches' tale). The media had a field day (and why wouldn't they) and chewed up this woman who had no idea of how to play politics.

Nonetheless, the real crime she committed here was thinking the 'common voice' was 'the informed voice'.

Athon

[a_unique_person]

They knew right from the start that the formation of "One Nation" was a joke, as it only had three members. Here she was, supposed to be giving the average Australian there voice back in politics, and the first thing they do is lock their party up in a con.

[a_unique_person]

Spamming JREF again, Reprise?

[athon]

When I saw this, I wondered if you two had started a new thread just so it wouldn't have my post in it.

*sob*

Athon
(Just 'cause you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not watching...)

[reprise]

I was hoping to get the duplicate deleted before anyone posted to it...

Bugger.

[reprise]

There are some really, really scary stories around about the extent of PH's naivete during the time at which One Nation was formed and the extent to which she was manipulated by D1 and D2. Let's just say that she isn't "bright" by any stretch of the imagination.

[Mr Manifesto]

What's really fascinating to see is ex-One Nation'er David Oldfield -who usually calls for tougher sentences, mandatory minimum sentences, death penalty, etc- suddenly finds it within himself to call for leniency in the case of David Ettheridge and Pauline Hanson.

"Aw, they just made a mistake, they didn't mean to do it..."

Yeah, Pauline accidentally spent party funds on house extensions. I can see how someone can make a mistake like that.

[a_unique_person]

Originally posted by reprise
I was hoping to get the duplicate deleted before anyone posted to it...

Bugger.

Not good enough, I shall report this to Hal at once.

[The Don]

and Mr. Potty Mouth also used a naughty word...

[Mr Manifesto]

"Bugger" has been de-sworn in Australia. We even have an ad for a utility van where the van- so powerful it destroys everything in its wake- causes observers to say 'bugger'.

Besides, 'bugger' is really only a swearword if you say 'bugger that' or 'I'm going to bugger you'. It isn't a swearword if you mean it as 'The Don is a silly old bugger' (See "The King's English" by Kingsley Amis). We don't know which inflection of 'bugger' reprise meant, she could have been saying 'I'm a bugger, aren't I?'

[Pyrrho]

I've merged the duplicate threads.

[a_unique_person]

Originally posted by Pyrrho
I've merged the duplicate threads.

Now you've really confused things.

[Mr Manifesto]

Sydney Morning Herald, "Appeal in Offing; Plea for Protective Custody" (http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/08/20/1061368351369.html)


Hanson, who sported a variety of smart outfits during the four-week trial including a navy suit today, will be given a blue-grey tracksuit prison uniform.

She will be strip-searched and have a medical check-up before being assigned to a cell.

Hanson will be entitled to keep few personal possessions and was to be issued with a standard hygiene pack.

Visits will be restricted to just a few each week.

Hanson could end up like jailed former Queensland chief magistrate Di Fingleton and be transferred at a later date to a low security facility elsewhere in Brisbane.

But both she and Ettridge for the moment have been classified as maximum security prisoners.


I wonder if this experience will temper One Nation's views on tougher sentencing and mandatory minimum sentencing?

[a_unique_person]

Originally posted by Mr Manifesto
Sydney Morning Herald, "Appeal in Offing; Plea for Protective Custody" (http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/08/20/1061368351369.html)




I wonder if this experience will temper One Nation's views on tougher sentencing and mandatory minimum sentencing?

Of course not, she only meant that to be for 'criminals'.

[The Fool]

Originally posted by Pyrrho
I've merged the duplicate threads.

Typical crypto fascist jackbooted lackie of the great evil oppressor (Hal).

Obviously you are supressing something and when I finally figure out what it is I'm going to start a whiney thread about it!!!!!!!

[Zep]

Office comment overheard: At least Wacol Gaol will be having well-cooked fish 'n' chips regularly. (An Oz joke, folks...)

Also noted: Today's Courier Mail (Brisbane's ultra-parochial daily tabloid, for the non-Oz) devoted the first seven(7) pages to Pauline plus commentary. The Israel bombing made page 20, the Baghdad bombing page 21. Who says we can't produce world-class dullards of our own!

[a_unique_person]

I saw a headline that compared her to Nelson Mandela.

Uh, oh. I think my head is going to explode.

[The Fool]

Originally posted by a_unique_person
I saw a headline that compared her to Nelson Mandela.

Uh, oh. I think my head is going to explode.

Hmmmmmmm, Is Nelson a Racist Nazi? Did he falsify records to claim electoral allowance money? Did he spend large amounts of money donated "for the cause" on personal Items?

Yep, the similarity is astonishing. About the only thing they will ever have in common is time in prison.

She is scum, trying to tap into the underlying racism and fears of the ignorant to feather her own nest. Good riddance.

[reprise]

Originally posted by Pyrrho
I've merged the duplicate threads.

Thanks Pyrrho.

And it's Ms potty-mouth, The Don. :p

[Zep]

For those who care to see, here (http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/qld/consol_act/ea1992103/index.html#s84) is the actual Act that applies - S70.

The joys of the law come full circle to one who trumpeted its tightening...

[Mr Manifesto]

What cracks me up is how much she's trying to use the fact that she didn't know she was breaking the law. Well, all right then. I didn't know I was doing 60 in a 40 zone (I didn't know I was driving in a 40 zone). Can I get my fine waived?

[reprise]

Originally posted by Mr Manifesto
What cracks me up is how much she's trying to use the fact that she didn't know she was breaking the law. Well, all right then. I didn't know I was doing 60 in a 40 zone (I didn't know I was driving in a 40 zone). Can I get my fine waived?

The scary thing is that people voted for a woman who was so stupid that she not only didn't understand the legal requirements of the Electoral Commission, she didn't even have enough brains to hire people who do understand those requirements to check the legality of her actions - and this woman's followers actually wanted her to gain significant political power.

I will be hugely pissed off if she serves no significant time over this - we might as well stop trying to safeguard our electoral process at all if we're going to let stupidity be a defence which mitigates electoral fraud.

[Mr Manifesto]

Originally posted by reprise


The scary thing is that people voted for a woman who was so stupid that she not only didn't understand the legal requirements of the Electoral Commission, she didn't even have enough brains to hire people who do understand those requirements to check the legality of her actions - and this woman's followers actually wanted her to gain significant political power.

I will be hugely pissed off if she serves no significant time over this - we might as well stop trying to safeguard our electoral process at all if we're going to let stupidity be a defence which mitigates electoral fraud.

She'll probably get most of her sentence knocked on the head on appeal. Too late to avoid the cavity search, though. And we don't know yet if her bid for protective custody was successful or not. It'll be interesting to see how her comments about Aboriginies, immigrants, single mothers and criminals went down with her new neighbours.

I'm not smiling. I'm not. :D

[reprise]

The news reports last night and this morning indicated that she was to serve her sentence in a maximum security facility - I assumed that this was for her own protection (she's hardly intelligent enough to break out of the place).

[Zep]

I rarely bet, but I reckon her sentence will be reduced on appeal. My guestimate: six months instead of 36 months.

Either way, I would say her political career is over. However there will still be lots of people who WOULD vote for her or her party if she did get involved again, and with a gaol sentence she is sure to use that as her "Mein Kampf" moment. So the Pauline Hanson Party will roll on with its own candidates and she will be the "put upon and martyred" leader doing the well-paid political speaking circuit a la Alan Jones.

Perhaps we could encourage her supporters to try to break her out of Wacol - think of the consequences of that...!

[reprise]

When my partner was in hospital in Brisbane, all the meals for Royal Brisbane Hospital were prepared by the inmates at Wacol. At least Pauline has some experience in cooking.

[reprise]

One of the funniest aspects of this whole affair is that Pauline Hanson is probably the only person who could use "I was too stupid to know what I was doing" as a defence and actually be believed.

I propose Reggie from Big Brother 3 to be the new leader of One Nation - she has meets the vocal and intelligence requirements for the position.

[Mr Manifesto]

Originally posted by reprise
One of the funniest aspects of this whole affair is that Pauline Hanson is probably the only person who could use "I was too stupid to know what I was doing" as a defence and actually be believed.

I propose Reggie from Big Brother 3 to be the new leader of One Nation - she has meets the vocal and intelligence requirements for the position.

Oh, no, not Reggie... I only heard her once and went hoarse from shouting, REGGIE! USE YOUR MOUTH! TALK OUT OF YOUR MOUTH! NOT YOUR NOSE YOU STUPID $&*^@!

Not to mention Reggie is also a Fish and Chip shop owner, and spent the pre-requisite period sequestered from reality (despite the term they use for the format of the TV show).

We could argue that we don't know her stance on race, immigration, multinationalism (see right-wingers? It's not just the left that whine about globalism!), criminal justice, homosexuality, etc, etc, etc, but then neither did Pauline know her own stances on same until someone told her.

[Mr Manifesto]

BTW- as a prisioner of public significance, poor Pauline automatically got protective custody. I suspect One Nation will be a bit softer on protective custody issues from now on.

Here (http://www.onenation.au.com/Pages/ONNSW_Policies/Policy_Frame.html?Blue%20Book%20Info=Blue_Book_Law&Order.html) is One Nation NSW (different from One Nation- its President, David Oldfield used to be Pauline Hanson's right-hand man, but formed a breakaway party in NSW when he saw the ship was sinking)'s policies on crime. They would only be slightly different, if at all (David Oldfield was the prime developer of One Nation's Law and Order policies when he was part of the original party) from the original ON party.

Of interest:

"truth in sentencing", where 10 years means 10 years and life means life.
acknowledging victims rights. To the greatest extent possible, victims should be compensated by offenders for the effects of criminal acts.
the introduction of more effective rehabilitation programs emphasising education and literacy, skills training, discipline, respect, responsibility and community service
minimum sentencing provisions consistent with the seriousness of the offence
annual judicial reviews to ensure the sentencing policies of the government of the day are upheld and not compromised by the separation of powers.

and finally...
ensure equality of treatment before the law, regardless of race or cultural background.

[Zep]

The poor diddums is now sedated in the Women's Prison hospital.

Reality bites...

And I would think that Mr Oldfield, a current Right Honourable MP in the Upper House of the NSW Parliament, had better mind his back because if there IS an appeal, his name could be dragged into it...! Oh frabjous day!

[reprise]

Originally posted by Zep
The poor diddums is now sedated in the Women's Prison hospital.

Reality bites...

And I would think that Mr Oldfield, a current Right Honourable MP in the Upper House of the NSW Parliament, had better mind his back because if there IS an appeal, his name could be dragged into it...! Oh frabjous day!

I wonder if Pauline has contacted Rene Rivkin yet to get the name of his neurologist. :rolleyes:

I'm really having a problem understanding how Oldfield managed to avoid the same charges as those faced by Pauline and David 1.

If anyone is thinking this is rough justice, a Queensland magistrate was recently sentenced to gaol for threatening another magistrate.

Queensland seems to have woken up to something the rest of the nation has yet to discover - the only way to deter powerful public figures from committing crimes is to ensure that when they are found guilty of having done so they serve gaol time rather than being given the "soft" options of fines and community service. Incarceration might not be an effective deterrent in respect of crimes of violence (where the offender is often less concerned with the possibility of serving a prison term), but it seems to be a punishment which high-profile figures seek to avoid at almost any cost.

[Mr Manifesto]

It's also an honorable tradition in QLD to toss the book at 'em. If it were up to the states to have the death penalty, you can bet QLD would have it.

[reprise]

You can rest assured that if I was to obtain $500,000 to which I wasn't entitled from Centrelink neither Bob Carr nor John Howard would be suggesting that my offence was a "technical breach" for which a prison term was "too harsh" a punishment - even if I had made full restitution.

[Mr Manifesto]

I can tell you for a fact that Centrelink would go after you with everything they had. If you managed to get off somehow, they'd appeal it. Uhm, unless they bungled and missed the appeal-by date.

[Mr Manifesto]

Oh, it just keeps getting better and better.

Before she went inside, poor Pauline would never have called for a ban of strip searches inside prison. Yet the publicity surrounding her incarceration has prompted Sisters Inside to launch another salvo...

Call(ing) to ban strip searches in women's prisons (http://www.abc.net.au/news/australia/qld/metqld-23aug2003-5.htm)!

Irony upon irony upon irony! I can't get enough of this!

Shouldn't laugh.

http://mysmilies.creativesell.net/otn/realhappy/xxrotflmao.gif

[reprise]

Originally posted by Mr Manifesto
Oh, it just keeps getting better and better.

Before she went inside, poor Pauline would never have called for a ban of strip searches inside prison. Yet the publicity surrounding her incarceration has prompted Sisters Inside to launch another salvo...

Call(ing) to ban strip searches in women's prisons (http://www.abc.net.au/news/australia/qld/metqld-23aug2003-5.htm)!

Irony upon irony upon irony! I can't get enough of this!

Shouldn't laugh.

http://mysmilies.creativesell.net/otn/realhappy/xxrotflmao.gif

Now if we can just get Rene Rivkin actually serving his periodic detention at Silverwater my feeling of schadenfreude will be complete. :D

[reprise]

Bail application denied.

Music to my ears. :)

Sweet dreams Pauline.

[Mr Manifesto]

She's in 'til NoVEEEEMBerrrrrrrrr!

She'll probably get a bit off her sentence after that. But in the meantime, enjoy your porridge, Pauline!

It also looks like Tony "Mad Monk" Abbott has a bit of explaining to do. It's too much wishful thinking to expect Mad Monk to fall on his sword for his part in all this.


Isn't it?

Imagine all the people on welfare cheering if he did go down! YEEEEEEEHAH!

[reprise]

Imagine all the people on welfare cheering if he did go down! YEEEEEEEHAH!

Not as much as they'd cheer if aliens abducted Amanda Vanstone (and boy, is the thought of Pauline, Bronwyn Bishop, and Amanda Vanstone sharing a cell delicious).

[Mr Manifesto]

Originally posted by reprise


Not as much as they'd cheer if aliens abducted Amanda Vanstone (and boy, is the thought of Pauline, Bronwyn Bishop, and Amanda Vanstone sharing a cell delicious).

That would be the people on disability and sole parent pension as well as the family tax benefit (nee family payment, nee child endowment, nee....).

But the doleys would hate Mad Monk for devising the Job Network, which has made finding a job harder than ever (and in some regions, forced jobseekers to sign up with a religiously-affliated job network due to the lack of alternatives); and, of course, for being responsible for the hated and pointless job seeker diary, and of course for setting up everyone's favorite sport "Centrelink vs Job Network ping-pong".

"I want to go on intensive assistance."
Centrelink: "See the job network"
Job Network: "See Centrelink"

Back and forth it goes until one agency concedes a point, or the job seeker commits suicide.

[Zep]

Pauline is in stir until November! The world's a bit safer for the next few months. I shall sleep SOUNDLY tonight!

And did you see the appeal judge's judgement? That the crimes she has been found guilty of are a strike at the heart of the Australian electoral process, or something similar. Which means that maybe her three year sentence could be reduced but SHE'S STILL GUILTY OF FRAUD!

Meanwhile, I'm worried a bit about her band of loonies that trail around after her - they will certainly try to make her out a wronged martyr and saint if they get their way. So it might just be a good time to initiate a letter-writing campaign to the press: "Pauline broke the law badly. Why should we think she is innocent? Why should we still trust her?"

And while I certainly sympathise with the opposers of Tony "Mad Monk" Abbott, I have yet to see anything actually illegal with him running a properly convened campaign to attack his "opposition". In fact, the major parties do this at each and every election, put huge bickies into the smear buckets for the ad companies, and go at it hammer and tongs! Of course, there's plenty of arguments that he should have been attending to his ministry instead and not wasting time on One Nation particularly, but as for illegal ... well, what were the Hansonites expecting? To be allowed in the bear-pit and remain untouched? Talk about naiveté !!

[Mr Manifesto]

Originally posted by Zep
Of course, there's plenty of arguments that he should have been attending to his ministry instead and not wasting time on One Nation particularly, but as for illegal ... well, what were the Hansonites expecting? To be allowed in the bear-pit and remain untouched? Talk about naiveté !!

A wise man once said, "If you sit under an elephant's @$$, you have to expect to get $4@t on".

[Zep]

Indeed, sir! Indeed! :D

[a_unique_person]

Originally posted by Zep

And while I certainly sympathise with the opposers of Tony "Mad Monk" Abbott, I have yet to see anything actually illegal with him running a properly convened campaign to attack his "opposition". In fact, the major parties do this at each and every election, put huge bickies into the smear buckets for the ad companies, and go at it hammer and tongs! Of course, there's plenty of arguments that he should have been attending to his ministry instead and not wasting time on One Nation particularly, but as for illegal ... well, what were the Hansonites expecting? To be allowed in the bear-pit and remain untouched? Talk about naiveté !!

I have no sympathy at all for Tony Abbot. The liberal party refused to say anything against Pauline and her policies, and were quiet happy to do all they could to make the Labor party squirm as it tried to keep it's traditional power base that was seduced by her policies, and did it's best to snap them up. All the while, it was doing it's best to undermine her by subterfuge. John Howard has no ability at all to just stand up for what he thinks and say it.

This is a pretty common fault with politicians, apparently, but he takes it to extremes.

How about the name of the slush fund Abbot set up to use to undermine Hanson, "Australians for Hones Politics".

[Zep]

AUP, my sentiments entirely and exactly.

But alas, nothing actually ILLEGAL has been done by Abbott and his crowd of spineless conniving wimps...that we are aware of yet, anyway.

Pity. But we live in hope...

[a_unique_person]

Originally posted by Zep
AUP, my sentiments entirely and exactly.

But alas, nothing actually ILLEGAL has been done by Abbott and his crowd of spineless conniving wimps...that we are aware of yet, anyway.

Pity. But we live in hope...

Maybe not, but the one nation guy he was dealing with was saying tonight that he has collected plenty of dirt on Abbot. I will be waiting on tenterhooks. Hopefully there will be a blow job in there somewhere, just to spice things up a bit.

[Zep]

:dl:

Who blew who's what, that would be the question! :D

The ON guy may have dirt but will it be more than smear? Wilson Tuckey got off a truly illegal act by acting pennitent in parliament (he wasn't - it was a total sham act). So Abbott's shennanigans may simply be overlooked if the ON guy can't come up with some juicy police-worthy dirt, I suspect.

As for Little Johnny in this, it's a bit like Hitler not signing any "Final Solution" orders. He's pretending he's "not really involved," but it was someone's idea in the first place.

Anyway, as long as they are farting about with this and are not getting us involved in any more pointless and expensive military forays, I'm happy.

[Mr Manifesto]

Here (http://www.courts.qld.gov.au/qjudgment/sentencing/ettridge%20hanson.pdf) is a PDF which explains the judge's reasons for the 3 year sentence. It illustrates that PH and DE gave the list of 500 supporters as party members knowing that they were not party members. Even more interesting:

Accordingly, in respect of count 1, David William Ettridge, I sentence you to imprisonment for three years. In respect of count 1, Pauline Lee Hanson, I sentence you to imprisonment for three years. In respect of counts 2 and 3, because you have suffered substantially as a result of the effect of your conviction and the events that have occurred since the decision and the proceedings in the Supreme Court began, the sentence I will pass for counts 2 and 3 is three years, no more. They are to be served concurrently with each other and with count 1 and all other sentences.

Serving sentences concurrently! Where are the One Nation supporters calling for consecutive sentences?

[Kevin_Lowe]

Originally posted by a_unique_person

I have no sympathy at all for Tony Abbot. The liberal party refused to say anything against Pauline and her policies, and were quiet happy to do all they could to make the Labor party squirm as it tried to keep it's traditional power base that was seduced by her policies, and did it's best to snap them up. All the while, it was doing it's best to undermine her by subterfuge. John Howard has no ability at all to just stand up for what he thinks and say it.

It's actually worse than that.

Howard rode to electoral victory on One Nation policies.

ON were the loons who originally proposed offshore detention for asylum seekers, and using the Navy to turn back asylum seekers where possible.

The Liberals realised that racist hatemongering got votes, and so we had the "children overboard" affair and all that jazz along with the wholesale adoption of One Nation policies by the Liberals.

The rednecks loved it. :mad: