WI Australian 1998 Federal Elections

What if the Port Arthur massacre was committed by an Aboriginal Australian instead of Martin Bryant? 1996 was a year that saw Pauline Hanson disendorsed by the Liberals shortly before the elections, but she still ascended to the House on Liberal merits as an Independent. Pauline Hanson was disendored due to her statements on Aboriginals and other sensitive issues.


Maybe IOTL now that an Aboriginal has committed the worst mass murder in Australian memory, Pauline Hanson is a celebrated member of Parliament and her support base rallies around her. Her speeches are attended by more and more people, and this leads to her accelerating the founding of Pauline Hanson's One Nation in December of 1996. Could this lead to PHON becoming a reckoning force and possibly bring a Donald Trump-sequel figure to the helm of a nation 18 years before 2016?
 
Their is something about Hanson that would prevent her from being a celebrated MP. More than likely she will say something down the line that gets her kicked out.

Also what are the motivations behind said aboriginal to mass murder that many people (surprisingly this may have an impact, if it was just cause then i imagine most aboriginal elders come out quickly and renounce this, if its about aboriginal injustice then I imagine it leads to something substantial). Either way i don't think you will have a situation where we go back to pre-mabo because of one person and honestly it would lead to protests.

Pauline Hanson can't really be Donald Trump because unlike Donald.

1. Australia in general doesn't lean that right at all (as their is less emphasis on rural areas than in the states), the major forces historically have been ones who have a pragmatic approach overall and overall are honest (also why the two majors are doing badly right now). Hanson is the anti-thesis of honesty.
2. Unlike Trump, Hanson isn't that smart. By smart i mean Trump at least in his rise to power, played his cards right and played to the right people well enough to see him elected. Hanson has said things that have alienated her own base (her position on penalty rates for example).

She may be successful short term, but ultimately if she were given a portfolio or even made it as far as Leader of the National Party (in the late 90's she may end up being national party leader if Fischer and Anderson retire and she does have rural appeal, also because she has no hope of jumping ahead of Howard, don't even like Howard but even he realised she was a nut), the damage she would do to the brand would be pretty catastrophic if its run anything like one nation (alienating potential candidates, running the party like a dictatorship, not providing any assistance etc), also if she ended up as leader of the national party I imagine the coalition breaks and he starts running MP's in rural areas and probably has some success because lets face it, if she had to have a debate against Howard and Beasley, she'd get destroyed.
 
Paulines problem is that although she does have a pretty broad appeal I think she lacks the competence to run the country, and I think a lot of people would see that if she got close to taking power.
 
Yeah, Hanson makes Donald Trump look articulate and intelligent. Anyone seen the infamous "xenophobia - please explain?" interview?
 
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