From The Ballarat Courier:

Liberals flee from Hanson remarks
James Kelly

THE Liberal Party has distanced itself from comments made by Pauline Hanson when she visited Ballarat on Sunday.

Victorian Liberal senator Julian McGauran and former Ballarat East candidate Geoff Hayes have both said her visit to Ballarat and the comments she made had nothing to do with the Liberal Party or its policies.

On Sunday Ms Hanson said she wanted to see a stop to Muslim, Sudanese and black South African migration to Australia which was “flooding” the country. Her comments outraged the Ballarat Regional Multicultural Council.

Senator McGauran said Ms Hanson being photographed outside the front of Liberal House on Sturt St, had nothing to do with the party.

“She certainly would not have received an invitation inside,” he said.

“She has to be condemned. Australia has the largest and best organised refugee program in the world and Ballarat benefits greatly from the proportion it receives.”

“Her comments are designed to stir and are more suited to north Queensland, where she is seeking political office.” Cr Hayes said the comments she had made were an affront to the Liberal Party and was one of the very reasons why she was dropped as a candidate.

“She has got nothing to do with the Liberal Party and I find her comments not only irresponsible, but also bordering on the obscene. She has no idea what she is talking about,” he said.

Ms Hanson was in Ballarat celebrating the birthday of a former political adviser.

And the Courier Editorial:

No place for redneck views in modern society
PAULINE Hanson’s politics have no place in Ballarat.

While the woman herself is welcome to visit our beautiful city when she likes, she should leave her bigotted views behind.

Ms Hanson was in town at the weekend on a private visit but was still happy to promote her racist views.

“I want to see a stop to Muslims coming into Australia,” she told this newspaper.

“I want to see a stop to the Sudanese and black South Africans that are flooding our country.” Her comments were perhaps best summed up by chairman of Ballarat’s Regional Multicultural Council, George Fong: Sad, ignorant, uninformed and anachronistic.” He is absolutely on the mark. There is no place in our community for people who espouse such nonsense.

Ms Hanson need not have looked too far beyond her lunch table to find people of migrant backgrounds who have come to our country and made a contribution to the life and culture that we all enjoy today.

By singling out Muslims, Sudanese and black South Africans in her attack and not providing any bases for her concerns, she confirms in the minds of reasonable people that she is a woman without substance.

Reasonable people understand that onr conntry is built on a strong history of multiculturalism. Over 200 years we have welcomed people from all nations to our shores to share our wealth. Indeed, we have the physical labour of thousands of pioneering migrants to thank for the way our country has developed.

Reasonable people know that it is right for us to offer shelter to those whose lives have been torn apart by war and other tragedy beyond their control.

Australia is in a position to extend a humanitarian hand to those in need. Naturally, we must do this in a controlled and sustainable way.

But, to dismiss people out of hand purely because of their skin colour or their religious beliefs, as Ms Hanson would have us do, is ridiculous.

Frighteningly for Australia, Ms Hanson has indicated she will run for a Queensland Senate seat at the Federal election later this year.

Perhaps rejection for a second time at the ballot box will finally convince her that her politics are old hat.

We can only hope so.