The jailing of Pauline Hanson : a victory for democracy?

The conviction and jailing, in August this year, of former MP Pauline Hanson and one of her One Nation Party co-founders, David Ettridge, on charges of fraud set a dangerous precedent for use against any electoral grouping considered a threat to the political establishment. This author has fundamental differences with One Nation and its right-wing nationalist politics. But a careful review of the case shows that after a protracted political and legal campaign, involving senior members of the Howard government, the law was misused to remove an opposition party from the political scene, violating basic democratic rights in the process.