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Pauline Hanson advises politics students to “think for themselves”

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MEDIA RELEASE

When One Nation leader Pauline Hanson was asked to Skype chat with politics students at a Western Australian high school, she read the request but went one step better: she turned up and met with the students in person.

The visit was a thrill for the politics and law students at the Living Waters Lutheran College, in Warnbro, who listened as she outlined her determined journey into federal politics, some of her personal beliefs, and then answered a range of their questions on a wide range of topics.

One of the key pieces of advice given by Australia’s most famous female political leader was to encourage young people to get involved in politics and also to think for themselves on political and social issues.

“What I say to everyone, and what I say to you, ‘Make up your own minds because, when you go to vote, it’s all about your future’,” Senator Hanson told the seniors.

“I might have policies that you don’t agree with, and the same with the other parties, but the whole thing is that you’re not going to agree with any political party on everything – I’m sure you won’t – but it’s about taking an interest in your future, and don’t be led into a certain way of thinking.”

Senator Hanson spoke on various issues, from her jailing for upsetting the two-party system, her unrelenting desire to fight for positive outcomes for Australia, she gave examples of political and media bias against her, her concerns about politicians’ perks, and her willingness to support good policy regardless of what party proposes it, if it’s for the good of Australia.

In response to students’ questions, she revealed her support of medicinal cannabis but strong objection to recreational drug usage, her opposition to pill testing at festivals, her thoughts on climate change protests, her support for religious freedoms including at religious schools, and her views on immigration.

“The media suggests that I’m against immigration – I’m not against immigration,” Senator Hanson explained.

“It’s about finding that balance where you can actually accommodate the people you bring in, and provide the necessary infrastructure for an increased population – the roads, the hospitals, the schools, the health care … so we have to ensure that the people who are here already have those services provided to them and that there is a decent standard of living.

“My duty is not to people in the rest of the world; my duty and my responsibility is the people who are here already.

“So, I’m passionate about looking after our own, clean up our own back yard first, and when we get it right then you can actually invite more people in because we are very fortunate with what we have in this country.”

Senator Hanson also responded to the students’ questions about allegations of racism.

“Criticism is not racism,” she explained. “My job is to assess issues, based on fact, and have an opinion.

“Everyone is entitled to an opinion – you may not be right, but you have a right to have an opinion – and then debate it.

“You will never solve the problems of this country if you are shut down because you want to speak outside the box.”

She spoke also of her meetings with the Bamaga Council in Torres Strait and with the traditional elders at Uluru, in the Northern Territory.

“Some people are actually hijacking the agenda and trying to be a voice for these Indigenous people, but they are not representing them,” she explained.

“And that is why, of all people, they’re coming to me, and I have their respect and gratitude, and I respect those people – I respect all Australians – it’s about working together and understanding each other.”

Senator Hanson scheduled the college visit soon after completing a stint on the HMAS Stirling submarine, which is based not far from the college, as part of the ADF Parliamentary Program.

She also joked about the “theft” of one of her life-size cardboard cut-outs from the Federal Election campaign, which is among the political paraphernalia that the students have on display in their classroom.

She happily autographed the cut-out to help enhance the students’ political collection.

Senator Hanson also met with the school’s principal, Francois Pienaar.

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Pauline Hanson: More subsidised apprenticeships needed

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One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has called for extra apprenticeship funding to add to Australia’s Regional Apprenticeship Program, along with some tweaking of guidelines, to help boost graduate numbers.

Places are particularly urgent in the electrical trade in Western Australia as numbers are in decline.

Senator Hanson negotiated an apprenticeship pilot program with The Australian Government, creating 1600 new subsidised apprenticeship places for regional Australians.

The program’s success has led to a further 1600 additional places being announced on July 1, to meet the countries growing demand for trainees and graduates in a number of trades.   

“The only way we reduce Australia’s reliance on overseas workers is to rebuild our own skilled workforce, using young Australian people,” Senator Hanson said.

“I’m very pleased that the Government agreed with my push for more apprenticeship places, but it’s no longer a pilot program and I’d like to see an extra zero added to the original number used in the trial.”

The comments follow a visit last month by a One Nation delegation to the National Electrical and Communications Association’s Western Australian apprenticeship training facility. One Nation’s WA leader Colin Tincknell led the delegation after Senator Hanson was a late withdrawal due to the flu.

NECA’s College of Electrical Training is the largest employer of electrical apprentices in Australia, with its apprentices regarded as being amongst the safest and best trained in the electro-technology industry.

But the college and the industry generally needs more funded training places to meet demand.

“Apprentice commencements in the electrical trade in Western Australia have been static and declining over the last couple of years; we’re not replacing the natural attrition in our industry, so, if we’re not careful, we’ll see a trade shortage within a couple of years and, with a four-year apprenticeship, that lag cycle will impact on the workforce,” Steve Hall, NECA’s GM of Training, said.

“It’s a wonderful start, but it’s a drop in the ocean compared to what we need; when you actually translate it out into actual apprenticeships that we can utilise, it worked out to maybe 16 or so for the electrical trade here in Western Australia, so we’ve got a long way to go.

“It’s a great start but we’d like to see a lot more places.”

Mr Hall also suggested support for mentoring, which he said had a huge impact on apprenticeship completion rates. He also suggested tailored incentives to encourage higher numbers of females, who traditionally enter apprenticeships a little older and therefore qualify for higher wages and fewer government support initiatives.

“Particularly novice learners as they’ve left school, enter a trade or an apprenticeship they often have those life issues, and having a mentor helps them get over those issues and allows them to complete their trade,” Mr Hall said.

“Often those programs only run for two years, so we never realise the true benefit of them, so it would be ideal if we’re going to fund a mentoring program, to fund it for at least the entire four-year program, that way we get a real longitudinal study and really see the results of providing mentoring for apprentices.

“Currently we have a female participation rate of between one-percent and three-percent; considering that over 50% of the population are female, we’re missing out on a lot of potential employees in our industry simply because we can’t attract them in.

“Whether it’s in the form of incentives to help the employees bridge that gap for the wages, or alternatively, maybe some concessions toward taxation or other things that allow the employer to not have to absorb the full cost of that wage increase by taking on a mature age person.”

The Regional Australia Apprenticeship Program secured by Senator Hanson sees the Federal Government pay 75% of the apprentice’s first year’s wage, followed by 50% in the second year and 25% in the third year.

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