Politics

The Government Just Supported Pauline Hanson’s “It’s Okay To Be White” Motion

Derryn Hinch said it all when he remarked that Hanson's motion "could have been written on a piece of toilet paper".

by Sam Langford  15 October 2018
Pauline Hanson in the Senate moving a motion that it's "okay to be white".

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Uh, so remember how Pauline Hanson has been crapping on about wanting Parliament to acknowledge a rise in what she terms “anti-white racism”? Well, she got her chance to put her motion to the Senate today, and members of the government supported it.

Yes, you read that right — the members of our own government just voted in favour of Pauline Hanson’s motion to “acknowledge the deplorable rise of anti-white racism and attacks on Western civilisation, and that it is okay to be white”. The motion ultimately failed, going down 31-28, but man, that’s uncomfortably close.

Crossbenchers David Leyonhjelm, Fraser Anning and Cory Bernardi also reportedly voted with One Nation and the government. Meanwhile Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi, who opposed the motion, has tweeted describing it as a “white supremacist motion”.

Speaking before the vote, Hanson said she hoped the Senate would do “the reasonable thing” and support it. “Anyone who pays attention to the news or spends any time on social media has to acknowledge that there has been a rise in anti-white racism, and a rise in attacks on the very ideals of Western civilisation.” She did not give any specific examples, because come on, this is Pauline Hanson.

“I would also hope the Senate does the right thing and acknowledges that it is indeed okay to be white,” she said. “People have the right to be proud of their cultural background whether they are black, white, or brindle. If we cannot agree on this I think it’s safe to say that anti-white racism is rife in our society.”

“Uh, wow,” the President of the Senate responded, laughing. Senator Derryn Hinch then got up to say that “with a federal election looming, I’m starting to think that Senator Hanson and her colleague Senator Anning are now locked in a race to see who can be the biggest and the loudest racist bigot — to see who can get to the bottom of the sewer first.”

“That’s what this obscene motion is all about. It could have been written on a piece of toilet paper,” he said. “She’s using this chamber as a conduit for her headline grabbing stunts. Just remember the burqa.”

And to those people planning on commenting on this article asking if Junkee thinks it’s not okay to be white, then, here’s what Greens leader Richard di Natale had to say on the matter (also, get a hobby). “It’s not just okay to be white in Australia, it’s actually a ticket to winning the lotto,” he told Hanson. “Just look around this chamber — see how many faces you see that aren’t white? Have a look in the privileged positions of Australian society, and the people who occupy these seats of the rich and powerful. How many of them are not white?”

“Last time I checked, it’s the privileged white Anglo community that are the ones occupying the seats of influence. The reality is that this ‘it’s okay to be white’ slogan has a long history in the white supremacist movement.”

“The reality is this does nothing than foster more division and hatred in our community.”

The only statement made by a government MP was “the government condemns all forms of racism”. The government then voted in favour of Hanson’s motion. Actions speak louder than words.