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The result of the Queensland election will not be known for some days,
perhaps longer.
Irrespective of the outcome it would be foolish for either the Coalition
or the Labor Party to ignore the very strong showing of One Nation.
There are clear lessons to be learnt from the result. These include
the genuine sense of vulnerability felt by many Australians during
times of economic and social change.
Now that it has won seats in the Queensland Parliament One Nation
must be made fully accountable for its policies. Glib one line responses
might work when a party is an outsider in an election campaign but
not once it holds seats in a Parliament.
There are, in truth, no simple solutions to Australia's challenges.
Like all other parties One Nation is about to learn this.
It is always an error to fully translate a State election result to
the Federal arena.
The Queensland result is no reason for the Federal Government to abandon
or modify such things as taxation reform, which are sorely needed
to strengthen the Australian economy and improve opportunities for
the Australian people.
It would appear that One Nation has the same negative approach to
taxation reform as the Australian Labor Party.
It is also essential that the Government's Native Title Amendment
Bill be passed into law.
Suggestions that the Government should further compromise on this
issue are totally misplaced. Not only would that be a betrayal of
the legitimate interests of farmers and others it would also allow
the Coalition's critics to argue that it was no longer prepared
to fight for the interests of rural Australians.
14 June 1998