It’s hard to imagine what exactly Pauline Hanson does on a daily basis to earn the $199,000 a year that she is paid by taxpayers. My educated guess is that most of her days consist of a lot of faffing about, fart-arsing, jerking around, and doing shit all. Whatever it is that she does, it leaves her a lot of time to think — and think she does, coming up with all sorts of wonderful ideas. Ideas like ‘we should model our government on an isolated group of people with little to no contact with the outside world’.
[jwplayer CwUqv6Y6]
The Sentinelese people of North Sentinel Island in the Bay of Bengal came to Hanson’s attention after a 26-year-old missionary was killed while repeatedly trying to access the island and convert the Sentinelese people to Christianity, despite being shot at with arrows in the days prior and it being illegal to travel within 4.8 km of the island.
Hanson, using the immense intellectual power at her disposal, attempted to introduce a motion to the Senate asking that it be acknowledged that the Sentinelese — who are at risk of being wiped out by pathogens for which they have no immunity and have had their culture remain more-or-less untouched by outside forces — have a right to a strict no-immigration policy.
Yep.
UPDATE | The Government refused to allow a vote on the matter of the Sentinelese people and their closed border immigration policies, citing diplomacy concerns.
In response, Senator Hanson made the following statement… pic.twitter.com/M9O2Znbaga
— Pauline Hanson 🇦🇺 (@PaulineHansonOz) November 27, 2018
Interesting to note her deep appreciation for the ‘beautiful and unique culture and way of life’ of the Sentinelese people, given that we know basically nothing about them.
While you might find it surprising that Hanson would be supportive of an Indigenous culture’s right to self-determination and freedom from colonial influence, given her track record with Australia’s Indigenous people and her position on Australia Day, I urge you, do not be surprised: it is not an argument offered in good faith.
Obviously, if people think the Sentinelese should be left alone, then it should be fine for Australia, a multicultural, pluralistic country that is part of a wider global community, to become ethnonationalist. How will we ever find our way out of this incredible logical trap???
Oh, that’s right, by using our brains even slightly.
