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SYDNEY: Australian anti-immigration firebrand Pauline Hanson on Sunday said many migrants had no intention of becoming “proud Aus-tralians,” as she again called for a ban on Muslim immigration.
Hanson, who gained international notoriety in the 1990s for saying Australia was in danger of being swamped by Asians, repeated her call for a moratorium on Muslim immigration as she campaigned ahead of elections on November 24.
The former fish and chip shop owner is running for the Senate on policies similar to those that saw her elected to the House of Representatives as a One Nation Party candidate in 1996.
Speaking to the non-partisan political website federal
election.com.au, Hanson said the most important election issue for her in 2007 was the loss of Australian values.
She said these included the nation’s culture, way of life and standard of living.
“I’ve seen the destruction of our industry, manufacturing, our farmers, everything that is Aussie,” she said.
“I think immigration has... they’ve just opened up the floodgates to allow people here that have no intention of being Australian or being proud Australians.
“I’ve actually now called for a moratorium on Muslim immigration because I believe — it’s not for reasons of religious or any other reason — but I think it is a cultural difference to us as Australians and we must protect our own culture.”
Hanson, who was briefly jailed in 2003 for fraudulently spending electoral funds before the judgment was overturned, said she was encouraged to re-enter politics by support from people who felt politicians were no longer accountable.
“They (voters) don’t believe that there is true representation,” Pauline Hanson said.
“I think people want repres-entatives that are going to be there for them, not for multinationals, not for the other countries around the world, not for the do-gooders — for us.”
As a candidate with the newly formed Pauline’s United Australia Party, the Queenslander has pursued her old campaign against immigrants, targeting Muslims and accusing Africans of bringing diseases such as AIDS into the country.
Pauline Hanson briefly
enjoyed strong support around the country for her One
Nation Party in the mid-1990s before she lost her seat in 1998.
—AFP
