Tas secondary students oppose Hanson
By Julia Perkins
ROSEBERY, Tasmania — On September 25, 40 high school students walked out of school to take part in a speak-out against racism in the Rosebery Plaza.
Students performed satirical street theatre with a 2.5-metre puppet of Pauline Hanson. This grotesque image, draped in a huge Australian flag, danced and mingled with on-lookers and passers-by to the music of Pauline Pantsdown.
A number of students then spoke against racism. One of the student organisers of the protest, Andrew Hunter, said he was pleased that so many young people from the small, west coast town were present.
Local federal candidates were also invited to speak. Ian Jamieson, Senate candidate for the Democratic Socialists, told the crowd that racism was not simply a moral issue but also a political issue because it helps those with power stay in power by keeping workers divided.
"If you keep kicking those on a lower rungs of society, then it is easier for those on the upper rungs to exploit everyone", Jamieson explained.
A fax sent by Labor's candidate for the federal seat of Lyons, Dick Adams, expressing support for the action was read out.
The Advocate newspaper reported it had received a fax from One Nation claiming that the young people had been manipulated and brainwashed by certain adults in the community. Hunter repudiated this claim. The initiative for the action and the opinions expressed at it were all the young people's own, he said.