February 2000

It’s Christmas Eve in the Manly Head Office of One Nation and National Director David Ettridge is having a problem. What does he wish his Jewish friends at this time of year? He has so many you see, he always makes this mistake. I tell him it does not matter, David, I’m Church of England. "Oh, really?" Yes. So we exchange Yuletide greetings.

What I really want to know is, just what does Mr Ettridge think of One Nation’s former Queensland MPs up and leaving to form their own party? I can’t see David, but he probably leans back in his chair and strokes his chin. "You’d better write this down correctly because I have absolutely no faith in your publication any more. You bend the truth."

"The City Country Alliance is born out of the remnants of the old Confederate Action Party, born out of a large degree of infidelity and treachery as a magnet for radical extremists." So they’ve really stolen your mantle then? "They were quite welcome (the five Qld MLAs) to remain within our organisation, until they tried to register the name One Nation Queensland. That is an infringement of our trademark, and we told them so. They were concerned about the deregulation of the Queensland party, in case there was a state election. We told them they could not use that name, and off they went. Now they’re involved with conspiracy theorists like Tony Pitt and Scott Balson. They have no support, I cannot see them lasting."

According to Balson’s Australian National News of the Day, Ettridge is a bad man. Balson used to be webmaster for One Nation, but he just could not get along with either of the two Davids. Pauline remains sacred, if she wants she could still become President of the Alliance, their Executive Director Ian Petersen says so. You see, it has all gone what some might call ‘a little pear shaped’ up at the Manly Reichstag for the two Davids and poor Pauline. First you have one MP, then you have none. Then you get eleven elected in one state, and somehow you lose them too. You make a huge hoo-hah about expelling extremists from the movement, and all the other extremists follow them out as well. And when you try and heal the wounds, kiss and make up for the sake of the Party (registered as a trademark), Ian Petersen tells Scott Balson that it was your mate and fellow franchisee Oldfield’s "pigheadedness, his arrogant attitude and intemperate language" that caused the "irreparable damage".

There’s money in politics. The Alliance’s secretary, Mrs Heather Hill, is reported as saying she had seen a cheque reconciliation from One Nation’s account showing $100,000 a year was paid to Champions Magazine, the private company of David Ettridge. Mindful that Mr Ettridge is already threatening to sue Mr Balson, Hill quickly adds "I’m not saying there has been any impropriety… I’m just saying there are questions that need to be answered." The former Senator-elect (she who forgot she was a foreigner) says she could only see how $2.6m of the $5m that went into ON was spent.

Throughout this whole amusing squabble Ettridge is the victim of the most bitter hatred. Balson claims he is still waiting for Ettridge to follow up on his legal threats, while a long list of former members line up to take pot-shots at him. Although the City Country Alliance is only registered in Queensland, Hill is confident that associations will grow up right around the country with other former members, possibly even AAFI’s Robyn Spencer. Whatever happens, there does not seem to be much chance of reconciliation between the two sides. In fact, there is absolutely no record of that in the tiny history of ON, and Ettridge and Oldfield in particular.

Writing it all down correctly as we went, Ettridge said it was "probable" he and the other David would stand for election at the next Party conference. At the 1999 Rooty Hill conference, 835 out of the 850 people present expressed much love towards both Davids. It’s these fifteen nutters that are ruining everything. David does not read the Review anymore. Neither do any of his Jewish friends either. Still, I said I’d send him a copy and even cracked a little Jewish joke too. He laughed, eventually.

No sooner had Yuletide passed, and I had correctly typed up my article on One Nation, than the grapevine was alive. Former Hanson aide John Pasquarelli was reported to have claimed in a private conversation that Hanson’s recent visit to the US was more of a begging mission, catering to the extremes of the American far-right’s purse strings. Surely not those conspiracy theorists that David had warned me about? "I cannot comment on that" breathes Ettridge wearily into his mobile. "Ask Pauline yourself."

Now if David does not like the Review, Pauline really does not like us. "You consistently print articles about me that are untrue," she complained from Senator Len Harris’s office, where she opens his mail and advises him on policy. Having pooh-poohed the very idea that her US visit was anything more than a "wonderful holiday," she reiterated Ettridge’s previous comments about her former Queensland members, in particular Heather Hill. "They are disgusting," she wavered. As for the allegations of financial irregularities, "So too are they."

Within days, Ettridge has forgotten the love shown to him by the Rooty Hill conference and was announcing his retirement from One Nation. He said his job was "done". Within days, police were kicking down the very doors from behind David and I mused over the Yuletide dilemma that brought us so close together a few weeks before. We await with interest the findings of the investigation, which in typical far-right fashion One Nation are comparing to jack-boot intimidation of a democratic organisation.

Copyright © AIJAC 2000
Last Updated 5 November, 2001