Hanson-Young vs Hanson-old cat fight

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Forgive the sexist imagery but two of my least favourite women today sum up a lot of what’s wrong with politics today:

Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young has accused Pauline Hanson of “doing ISIS’s work” as she criticised the One Nation leader for wearing a burka in the federal parliament.

Senator Hanson-Young told the One Nation leader the “next attack in Australia will be on your head” and that her actions had put the country at a heightened risk of a terror attack.

…Senator Hanson hit back at the Greens education spokeswoman, declaring she was simply starting a debate about whether it was appropriate to allow the burka to be worn in parliament.

“Why have we got Islamic countries around the world that are banning the burka? Tunisia, Turkey, Congo, Malaysia, these are countries that banned the burka for national security,” Senator Hanson said.

“There is no requirement for dress code for parliament. When we go to vote the vote is taken on facial recognition so it shouldn’t be (allowed) on the floor of parliament in the first place.

Hanson-Young is right which means Hanson-old is hardly working in the national interest.

But Hanson-Young also bears a large responsibility for having to have this debate with Hanson-old at all. If The Greens did not so obsessively shut down population debates whenever they are raised, and returned to their own pre-Pauline days of sustainable immigration levels, then Hanson-old would not exist. Moreover, Hanson-Young would surely identify herself as Left yet her defense of immigration at all costs represents a very destructive class war for wage earners and youth. Hardly in the national interest, either.

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Stop polarising the debate you wankers.

About the author
David Llewellyn-Smith is Chief Strategist at the MB Fund and MB Super. David is the founding publisher and editor of MacroBusiness and was the founding publisher and global economy editor of The Diplomat, the Asia Pacific’s leading geo-politics and economics portal. He is also a former gold trader and economic commentator at The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, the ABC and Business Spectator. He is the co-author of The Great Crash of 2008 with Ross Garnaut and was the editor of the second Garnaut Climate Change Review.