The Bug: Ms Hanson, welcome to Sunday.
Hanson: This isn’t Sunday?
The Bug: We know, but we’ve always wanted to say that.
Hanson: Fair enough.
The Bug: Mrs Hanson, let’s get down to tin tacks. Do you think
you’re a....
Hanson: Before I answer any questions, I’ve got one of my own.
Gordon-Brown? That’s English, isn’t it?
The Bug: Yeah, English. And Scottish somewhere down the track, I
believe. Have you got a problem with that?
Hanson: No. None at all. Fire away.
The Bug: Your public statements clearly show you are totally opposed
to any level of Asian immigration. Can you understand why you’ve been
labelled a racist?
Hanson: Can I clear up a point here? I believe the media has totally
and mischievously misrepresented what I have been saying. The good decent
people who live in Australia are having enough trouble finding a job without
bringing new people in. I’m opposed to all immigration, are you clear
on that? Not just those slanty-eyed gooks.
The Bug: Slanty-eyed gooks?
Hanson: And the Japs. And the curryeaters, the camel jockeys, the
wog dagos, the niggers, the pollacks, the jew boys...and the spics and the
specs. We don’t need the likes of them here.
The Bug: Because they don’t assimilate?
Hanson: Because they don’t eat mullet. Do you know that in all
the years I’ve run my fish and chip shop, not a solitary one of those
people have come in to buy takeaway? Not that I’d want them to come
in anyway. It’d be disastrous for business.
The Bug: I can’t quite see the point?
Hanson: Let me explain it this way. You enjoy a feed of takeaway
fish and chips, don’t you?
The Bug: Yeah, who doesn’t?
Hanson: Exactly. And you know that when you spread the paper out
and tuck into your two mullet and a dollar’s chips down on a picnic
table by the beach, there’s always one or two little black chips left
at the end?
The Bug: The little burnt ones you feed to the seagulls?
Hanson: That’s right. They’re always left on their own.
And why’s that?
The Bug: Because no one likes them?
Hanson: Exactly.
The Bug: You talk about Australia being swamped by Asians. Yet the
official statistics show a very small percentage of Australians - around
5 percent - who were born in Asia.
Hanson: The figures are wrong. Everyone knows that. The Bureau of
Stats has been swamped by Asians. It's the Cabramatta of the public service.
The Bug: What about the recent opinion poll which suggested a majority
of Australians supported the concept of multiculturalism?
Hanson: Bureaucrats make up figures all the time. The Government
orders them to.
The Bug: You don't have much time for stats, do you?
Hanson: Well, would you want one living next door?
The Bug: Next door? Mrs Hanson, if I may be rather blunt, your IQ
would have to be well below average?
Hanson: Oh, you'd just love me to say that, wouldn't you? Another
big headline to crucify Pauline Hanson with. But I won't say that. People
might be surprised to know that I've got nothing against Eyequees, nothing
at all. I simply don’t believe we should be letting any more Eyequees
into the country at all until our own people have jobs.
The Bug: Perhaps we should take a breather from this line of questioning
for a few minutes. Tell us about your life away from the political arena.
Hanson: Well, I’m kept fairly busy with the shop. But it might
surprise you to know that I’m just about to launch my very own cookbook.
The Bug: Really?
Hanson: And a lot the knockers out there will be very surprised to
know that it’s got an Asian flavour to it. Pauline Hanson’s
Multicultural And Asian Seafood Cookbook.
The Bug: That’s quite a mouthful.
Hanson: Do you think so? I’m always hungry again 20 minutes
later.
The Bug: You obviously like your seafood. You mentioned mullet before.
Is that your favourite?
Hanson: No, actually. I prefer my seafood rather rich. Believe it
or not, my favourite is baked eel with Mornay sauce.
The Bug: That does sound rich.
Hanson: Especially because I refuse to use a bland cheddar. Eel has
a strong flavour and a lot of people make the mistake of thinking it needs
a mild sauce. I like to complement that strong flavour with a rich Mornay
sauce made with heaps of coon cheese.
The Bug: Coon?
Hanson: Yes, I love it. My love affair with coon goes back as long
as I can remember. In fact, I’ve been a Kraft girl all my life.
The Bug: Fascinating. Back onto politics, it must be a nice feeling
to be so confident that you’re right on the issue of Asian immigration?
Hanson: It is. And that's why I don’t believe official figures.
I go by my own gut feeling and the very, very strong feedback I’m getting
out there. I’ve been amazed by the groundswell of support since my
election.
The Bug: From people on the street and customers in your shop?
Hanson: No. National Party branch meetings mainly.
The Bug: Mrs Hanson, are you xenophobic?
Hanson: Now, what sort of a stupid question’s that? I’ve
never even seen a xeno, let alone picked one up, so how the hell could I
know how to play one?
The Bug: No, I meant you don’t like people from other countries
much, do you? You don’t like their cultures being transported here.
You’ve been very critical of the Vietnamese, for example, for living
in their own group and not mixing in with longer-term Australians.
Hanson: Look, I’m quite happy to admit I was totally wrong on
that point. If these people want to cluster together in filthy ghettos speaking
silly foreign languages no one else can understand and eating chops with
sticks, that’s their business. Besides, it’ll make them much easier
to bomb.
The Bug: Bomb?
Hanson: Yes, when the civil war comes. As it surely will.
The Bug: You seem so adamant that Australia is on the path to racial
war. Why are you so sure that different races can’t live side by side?
Hanson: I was brought up believing in the three basic principals
of leading a good, Christian life.
The Bug: Those being?
Hanson: The only good Jap is a dead Jap; two wongs don't make a white;
and you're better dead than red.
The Bug: You've also been scathing about government expenditure on
Aborigines. You don't see them as being disadvantaged, do you?
Hanson: Look, I'd support those people one hundred percent if they'd
just be prepared to get off their big fat black arses and work like everyone
else has to.
The Bug: There must be some Aborigines around Ipswich who are out
of work. Would you be prepared to hire one in your shop?
Hanson: Of course I would.
The Bug: Serving customers?
Hanson: Heavens, no. Do you want me to go broke?
The Bug: Cooking duties perhaps?
Hanson: What! And let them handle food?
The Bug: Mrs Hanson, thanks for your time today.
Hanson: My pleasure. Don't forget to give my new book a plug, will
you?
The Bug: Consider it done.
