By Sarah Peart
In response to Pauline Hanson's racist lies and bigotry, her vehement attacks on Aborigines and migrants and the launching of her One Nation Party, Resistance has stepped up its campaign against racism. It has decided that wherever Hanson goes, Resistance will be there to protest against her.
Resistance campaigning stalls have been attracting people wanting to get involved in the anti-racism campaign. The rales rate of Â鶹´«Ã½ Weekly has been very high, bringing Resistance members into contact with heaps of young people who are absolutely furious about Hanson's anti-migrant, anti-Aboriginal agenda.
The fight against racism has only just begun. Following is a diary of some recent events in the campaign.
ADELAIDE, May 7: The front page of the Advertiser quotes Resistance national coordinator Sean Healy as saying that the socialist youth organisation promised "massive demonstrations" when Hanson came to town. Resistance initiates an organising meeting with other community groups and the Aboriginal Legal Rights Movement.
May 12: Forty-five people attend the meeting. Discussion focuses on what type of action should be staged when Hanson came to speak at the Adelaide Hotel. Discussion also condemns the Howard government for its attacks on Aboriginal land rights and for being soft on Hanson.
May 13: Local Radio station 5AN rings Resistance for an interview. The interviewer asks Sid Bay several times whether she could "guarantee that there would be no violence". Sid's reply was: " No, we can't guarantee what the behaviour of everyone there will be like, but the organisers are planning a non-violent event". That night Channel 7, which had taken a sound recording of the radio interview, broadcasts only the first part of her statement. As a result, the Adelaide Hotel decides to cancel the Hanson booking.
May 14: Resistance is back in the Advertiser again, and phones in the Resistance Centre are running hot. Channel 7 arrives at the Resistance Centre to film another member about the anti-racism campaign.
SYDNEY, May 15: Journalists from the Manly Daily ring Resistance wanting a reply to the remark, made by a spokesperson from the One Nation party, that Resistance is "a bunch of hoons". Sydney Resistance organiser Marina Carman stresses Resistance's non-violent involvement in the recent protests outside Hanson's public meetings in Perth, Melbourne and Hobart.
May 16. The front page of the Manly Daily quotes the national director of Pauline Hanson's One Nation party, David Ettridge, as saying Resistance are "dangerous hoons ... let's wait until Monday to see if the windows are broken". In reply, Carman says: "Ettridge is trying a paint us as the violent ones. What about the violence that the One Nation party promotes by spreading racism against Aborigines and migrants?"
In the afternoon, Resistance holds a vibrant anti-racism stall in the city, getting people to sign petitions and to join the protest on May 25 outside Hanson's office in Manly, and to join the Newcastle protest on May 30.
Those wanting transport to the Newcastle anti-Hanson protest on May 30 should ring the Resistance office in Sydney on 9690 1977. For more information about the campaign against racism, contact your nearest Resistance branch or ring the Resistance national office on 9690 1230.