Unity Party Ideology

The Unity Party is a small multiculturalist party in Australia, formed in 1998 and with the aim of opposing the rise of the controversial anti-immigration politician Pauline Hanson. It was initiated by Doctor Peter Wong who was born in October 1942 in Guangdong Province. When he was 7 years old, he transferred to Indonesia with his father and later went to the University of Sydney to study pharmacology. After graduation, he worked as a doctor in Australia and was awarded as one of the top 10 doctors throughout the country. Successful as he is, Peter Wong believed it is of greater significance to take an active part in politics in order to speak for the ethnic minorities and protect their interests. So he withdrew from the Liberal Party and

4.1.1 Against Pauline Hanson’s One Nation Party

The year 1998 was tagged with turmoil in Australia because at that time Pauline Hanson’s One Nation Party exerted intensive influence on Australian politics with its populist and conservative ideology. The One Nation Part was formed in 1997 by Pauline Hanson, David Oldfield and David Ettridge. The name “One Nation” was chosen to signify belief in national unity, in contrast to a perceived increasing division in Australian society allegedly caused by government policies favoring immigrants and indigenous at the expense of the white Australian majority. In May, 1998, the One Nation Party won 11 seats in Queensland’s state election with over 20% of the approval rate (Tian 55). As the approval rate kept riding high, Pauline Hanson even began to influence the federal parliament. Meanwhile, Australia’s major federal political parties have been, to some extent, influenced by the Hanson phenomenon. There have been substantial defections from major political parties and One Nation is influencing the political agenda for these parties. While there have been instances where major political parties have taken a stand against One Nation, other sections of these parties appear to have given in to political expediency, which is a major concern for the Unity Party. For instance, in an attempt to win back disenchanted voters, the Federal Liberal-National Coalition Government has violated the 1996 pre-election promise not to cut immigration and delayed and downsized the $10 million anti-racism campaign promised by the Coalition before the 1996 election. Similarly, the Labor Party has also been influenced by the rise of Hansonism. Labor has demonstrated an ambivalence towards Howard’s immigration cuts. It has not guaranteed that these