Asians set up new party to fight Hanson

Singapore Straits Times 

MELBOURNE -- A group of prominent Asians, including several Malaysians, has formed a political party out of frustration at the Australian government's handling of the Pauline Hanson phenomenon.

More than 700 people, mainly former members of the Liberal Party led by Prime Minister John Howard, have joined the breakaway Unity party.

Unity convenor Dr Peter Wong told The Australian newspaper that those who had joined the new party were mainly young people from Chinese, Lebanese and Vietnamese backgrounds.

Unity organizers are reported to be seeking a non-Asian leader to broaden the party's

appeal.

Dr Wong, a former active member of the Liberal Party, said that "migrants on the whole were totally unhappy with the Liberal Party".

He said Unity would aim to secure at least one Upper House seat in the various state Parliaments and work towards standing candidates in electorates with high ethnic concentrations.

He said he had sought advice from Mr Andrew Pye, who wanted to form a Say No To Hanson party.

"The Unity party aims to galvanise anti-Hanson forces...Hanson is challenging democracy, the right of ethnic communities to exist in Australia. She must be stopped," Dr Wong said.

According to the newspaper, high-profile Labour Party supporter and Sydney Deputy Lord Mayor Henry Tsang said he supported the idea of Unity in the short term, but believed it was not the ultimate solution to turning the nation against Ms Hanson and her anti-Asian and anti-Aborigine views.

In her maiden speech to Parliament about two years ago, Brishane-based Hanson, who had a surprise win in the federal election, said that there was a threat of Australia being "swamped by Asians".

Last month, her One Nation political party scored a stunning 11-seat victory in the Queensland State elections, much to the horror of all other political parties and to the dismay of ethnic and aborigine communities in Australia.

Some political analysts predict that Prime Minister Howard could lose a big chunk of his mammoth majority in the House of Representatives at the next Federal election -- expected before the end of this year -- or could lose government to the Labour Party as a result of "the rise and rise" of Ms Hanson's One Nation.

In defence, the controversial MP has said that her statement about Asian immigration was what Mr Howard had said in the late 80s. Bernama

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