The Age from Melbourne, Victoria, Australia • Page 8

A THE ACE WEDNESDAY 7 MAY 1997 Hanson talMng nonsense: PM a PS 1 4NNES WILLOX uKARAH FAROUQUE Jj Prime Minister, Mr John Bard, yesterday launched psirungesi criticism yei ui independent MP Ms Pau- Hanson, branding some ot beliefs simplistic non- te after several pro- fin recent days, Mr How-urged Ms Hanson's oppo-ts not to demonstrate her. SjHe warned that their actions 0ld only serve to boost her support among increasingly Meertam voters. TAi Mnrann Pnll tn ta miiK. today shows that voter (port for Ms Hanson's Nation party has risen percentage points in the PHI wee io per cent 9MF a series of meetings across Jitralia to galvanise her back- Mr Howard said Ms Han-fltjprs comments on relations Asia were irresponsible. Overs had been superficially ojjiacted to her views while not realising that she posed no real sBtins.

Ji'Cl haven't heard her articu- late one intelligent, alternative policy," Mr Howard said. "Her answer is an answer that would cause damage to this country. I mean, you can't appear inward-looking, you can't run policies that, however you might superficially explain them away, do appeal to prejudice within the community. "That kind of conduct for any political figure in Australia is quite irresponsible." Mr Howard said Ms Hanson's claim that the Government was inciting 'Violence against her was simplistic nonsense. He said many of Ms Hanson's backers had become frus-trated at the power of the "political elite" which he said flourished under the former Labor Government.

He said those who were superficially attracted to her "are not themselves racist or Senior government advisers have played down the importance of a speech Mr Howard will give to the Asia Society in Sydney tomorrow, suggesting it will not be a full-on assault on Ms Hanson. The Premier, Mr Jeff Ken- nctt, also called on Ms Hanson's opponents to refrain from rowdy protests. He said her views could be defeated simply through the strength of logic. Mr Kennett said people who disagreed with her views did a disservice by "encouraging some, in the security of numbers, to act irresponsibly and in a threatening "I don't support, condone it, whether it be against Ms Hanson, whether it be against other individuals or whether it be people after a soccer match," Mr Kennett said. He said people who expressed their opposition in that way probably strengthened Ms Hanson's position by such "outrageous "I think those who wish to indicate their opposition to what she is doing should do so peacefully," he said.

Asked if he believed that Mr Howard should do more to admonish Ms Hanson, the Premier said he "could only speak for He said he would make clear his opposition to Ms Hanson's views. PAGE A16: Editorial Premier looks into steward jailing By THOM COOKES and FARAH FAROUQUE The Premier, Mr Jeff Kennett, said yesterday he had sought Information about a Melbourne flight attendant held in the United Arab Emirates for alleged drug possession. "I have asked for a briefing," Mr Kennett said. "I will wait until I get the briefing to see whether we should, through our office in Dubai, intervene at all." He warned travellers from Australia to learn the laws of countries they were visiting and' comply with them. Ms Julia Alexander, 25, who is being held for possession of Valium and marijuana use, has pleaded for the Australian Government to get her out of jail.

Mr Kennett said yesterday: "I can only say to Australians when they travel into countries where the rules are substantially different from ours: learn the rules and then obey them. "If you don't, then quite obviously you have no reason to complain." He said he did not know the circumstances of Ms Alexander's arrest. Ms Alexander, an air hostess with Emirates Airlines, has been in jail in the United Arab Emirates sheikhdom of Sharjah for three months after being arrested in neighboring Dubai. The Foreign Affairs Minister, Mr Alexander Downer, had told the consul-general in Dubai to make representations to senior United Arab Emirates authorities, a Foreign Affairs spokesman, Mr Kirk Conningham, said last night. "The Australian Government is following the case closely, and while we don't wish to interfere in the UAE's domestic process, we want to be as helpful as possible," he said.

Consulate staff would visit Ms Alexander at least weekly, he said. Dr Tony Gherardin, of the Travellers' Medical and Vaccination Centre at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, said yesterday that overseas travellers carrying prescription drugs for pain or stress should be wary, and make sure they have adequate docu- mentation. "What is accepted as prescription drugs here could well fall outside the law in other countries," he said. "Codeine is the classic example." in 1 i ik Wr 1 tr i "J- is tit- eelong One Nation man Ipaims membership rush TO fljOHN ROUW 'Sm convenor of Monday debt's rowdy One Nation ducting in Geelong said yes-tiay that he had been Inun-aljed by requests from people wasting to Join the new party. JUr Andrew Came said he had distributed 600 membership forms to people wanting since the meeting, n)ouding 200 to one person.

JBut there was one call that leased him more than any other. The party's founder, the (Queensland Independent MP rj(s Pauline Hanson, rang to offer encouragement. It "(She said) good on me fpr sticking at it 'lob well done, you looked good, you kept your cool'," Mr Carne iiM, between fielding calls meeting'," Mr Carne said. Describing the bulk of those who had applied for membership forms as "ordinary, average Mr Carne said the applicants included Greeks, Swedes and Filipinos. He said this showed that the party was not racist.

With a members-only meeting to be held in the next three weeks at an undisclosed location, Mr Carne said the branch was looking for officers and, when the time came, would stand candidates at elections. "The groundswell is on the move," he said. "The Government reacting now Is too late. The bullfe already run through the gate, and whether people protest or don't protest the support base is there." from the media and the public at his wifefe Bellarine Peninsula shop, the proposed branchb contact point. Mr Carne said the disruption of his meeting in the Gee-long West Town Hall by a group of students, Aborigines and local ethnic community representatives had only strengthened his resolve to form a branch of Ms Hanson's political party.

"If multiculturalism means that we are going to lose our democratic right that we had to exercise then I will fight even harder against it, because (Monday) night was a clear example of multiculturalism saying 'You're Australian, we're going to get rid of your democratic right to have a rf i-vwvA his office behind the Bellarine members. Picture: JOE ARMAO A pensive Andrew Carne, the day after the stormy meeting in Geelong, studies One Nation literature in Peninsula shop that serves as a contact point. The address of the next meeting will he given only to mm "Every time I made a delivery, I knew something was wrong. You can call it a hunch. I just knew I'd stooped to an all time Sadly, complaints like this are all too common from delivery drivers everywhere.

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cargo door openings in the new Toyota TownAce SBV (Semi-Bonneted Van) are so high and wide they offer a freedom of movement that has its appreciative drivers standing tall. i bilk-1- Oh what TOWMAHF a feeling! QRV NEW TOYOTA DELIVERS THE DRIVER IN BETTER CONDITION. I i sutcN'i TC 1MSA mgwiBL.