From Newsgroup: aus.politics

SYDNEY, June 17 (Reuters) - Australia cannot be a multicultural society
and immigration policies have put the country in crisis, Pauline Hanson
said on Wednesday, as the right-wing leader enjoys a ?surge in support
for her One Nation party.

Hanson, whose policies have drawn comparisons to those of ?U.S.
President Donald Trump, blamed the centre-left Labor government for
"this immigration catastrophe", saying a recent influx of migrants had
pushed up house prices, making ?it unaffordable for families.

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"Undeniably, immigration or migration policy has our country in the
state of crisis. At the centre of this crisis is the utterly flawed
policy of multiculturalism," Hanson told the National Press Club in
Canberra, in one of the veteran lawmaker's highest-profile speeches to
date.

"We cannot be a multicultural society. We are a multiracial society. But
we ?must be monocultural," she said, adding that ?she was gravely
concerned about "radical Islam".

Almost one-third of Australia's 28 million population was born overseas, according to the Bureau of Statistics, double the proportion of the
United States or France.

Hanson ?refused to start her speech with a customary acknowledgment of Australia's Indigenous communities, a practice she called "divisive".

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A banner highlighting Hanson's opposition to pay rises for workers was
unfurled behind her as she was speaking and was quickly removed by
organisers, ?while protesters ?gathered outside.

One Nation, which wants to emulate President Trump's aggressive
?deportations in the U.S., proposes mandatory visa cancellation ?for
criminal offenders, withdrawal from the U.N. Refugee Convention, tighter
visa rules and a longer wait for Australian citizenship.

An opinion poll conducted for the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper on
Monday showed Hanson had overtaken Prime Minister Anthony Albanese as Australians' first choice for the top role.

Founded in 1997, the party was long seen as fringe but Hanson's headline-grabbing comments and hard line on immigration have drawn more support, recent polls show.

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Australian media have also compared ?One Nation's rise with Nigel
Farage's Reform UK amid gains for ?right-wing parties globally. One
Nation has polled ahead of both Labor ?and the conservative coalition opposition in some recent ?surveys, a sharp shift in a system long
dominated by the two major parties.

Despite the ?gains, Australia's preferential voting still favours Labor,
and ?some data suggest it would ?likely retain power if an election were
held now. Under the system, votes are distributed until a winner is
declared.

One Nation currently holds only one lower house seat, which it secured
in a May ?by-election in the rural New South Wales ?seat of Farrer,
defeating a conservative Liberal Party candidate in a historical
stronghold for the coalition. ?The party has four of the 76 seats in the
upper house Senate.

(Reporting by Renju ?Jose in Sydney; Editing by Alasdair Pal and Lincoln Feast.)

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/australian-wing-leader-pauline-hanson-051222436
.html

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