an unholy alliance of the ruling class
Pauline Hanson’s National Press Club speech was widely interpreted as a glorious triumph of the populist demagogue. Dr Martin Hirst explains why journalists love Hanson’s anger politics.
In his FIRST National Press Club speech on Wednesday, June 17, Senator Pauline Hanson scolded journalists SBS And Guard for asking uncomfortable questions.
This became his go-to move when he came under pressure from a not-so-docile journalist. He then celebrated those moments with a highlight video compiled by his expanding team of handlers, squirrels and furries. More importantly, none of the senior journalists in the room made any attempt to defend the journalists asking difficult questions. The Canberra press pack has the collective courage of a custard pie.
Hanson has always had an adversarial relationship with the news media, but we’ve begun to see that change in recent months. His apparent popularity in opinion polls is certainly a factor, predicting notable results for One Nation in future elections. As public support for Hanson grows, it becomes necessary to devote more columns and valuable TV pixels to his coverage.
But this news requires careful scrutiny, not flattery bordering on cheerleading.
As we might expect, the Murdoch media wrote of Hanson’s appearance at the Press Club as a victory that “awakened” his enemies.
Nine media was far behind in painting Hanson’s speech as an example. game changer The article announcing his arrival on the political main stage:
‘Pauline Hanson passed the test by turning up today… Hanson didn’t miss a beat in her speech, even as a protest banner was unfurled behind her and the transformation of One Nation into a mainstream political party continued apace.’
Not only are the senior Press Gallery journalists embarrassingly giving Pauline Hanson a free ride, they are also apparently quite weak. Australian Institute economist, Greg JerichoAfter gently rebuking Hanson’s docile questioning in the Press Club, his ten-year Press Gallery permit was withdrawn.
gallery sir Jane Norman He explained Gericho’s dismissal as the result of an “audit” that showed Greg was no longer “entitled” to a parliamentary press permit. This excuse doesn’t pass the sniff test. Less than two hours had passed since Gericho’s post about X, making Norman’s judgment extremely questionable.
This incident also highlights the tight and unethical links between the leadership of the press gallery at Parliament House and the leadership of the National Press Club.
Another legendary reporter Margo KingstonHe was invited to ask Hanson his first question and traveled to Canberra from his home on the mid-north coast of NSW. Near Goulburn, about two hours from the national capital, Kingston received another call withdrawing his invitation. The caller was the president of the National Press Club Tom Connell from Sky News. Jane Norman is also a director of the National Press Club.
The final nail in the coffin of the elite political media driven home at the Hanson press club event is that they are a bunch of humorless whistleblowers.
Liberal-progressive activist group To wake up! During Hanson’s speech, he committed a humorous ambush: he lowered a banner behind him while talking about his (imaginary) pro-labor policies.
The banner was probably the most honest presence in the room during the lunch shenanigans. But this turned up the snooty noses of the Press Club committee and no doubt led to a dressing down (a long whine) from Hanson later.
The Press Club’s reaction to this stunt was not to accept that this was a clever ruse of otherwise boring events, but instead to refer the matter to the Australian Federal Police for an investigation. The club blamed and named GetUp! David Sharaz He offered a humble apology to Hanson for leaving the banner.
The evidence is everywhere; The press pack clearly shows his sympathy for Pauline Hanson. The question is: Why?
There are various theories about this, and it’s fair to say that none of them sit well with the country’s senior journalists.
The least insulting suggestion is that news reporters like to focus on controversies and colorful characters. Hanson brings controversy in spades and sees colors as mostly black and white. Add to this the apparent rise in Hanson’s popularity, but the press corps is unwilling to acknowledge its own role in fueling this.
The dynamics of this situation are never brought into focus, simply repeating the populist line that Hanson “speaks” on behalf of the voiceless and the powerless as a common-sense observation.
The answer to the conspiracy theory is also simple: the press corps hates Prime Minister Albanese and the ALP, and the traditional conservative parties are in terminal decline; so the conservative press gallery will turn to Hanson. I think there is some generational truth to this. The general worldview of the press pack in 2026 is conservative, which is a big change from my generation.
When I worked for the ABC and SBS in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra in the 1980s, the majority of journalists were Labor, decidedly left-leaning in terms of social consciousness, and there was a good concentration of unions in most major workplaces. Today the situation is completely different. Murdoch newspapers dominate the news agenda and News Company exports its reporters to senior positions at most other major news organizations.
Journalism education has also changed; Any idealistic young progressive going to J-school today will not survive very long. Dogged business skepticism is now the most important trait a new hire can take to their first job in the newsroom.
However, although the answer to the conspiracy theory is attractive, it is not satisfactory.
I prefer a more complex explanation that stems from my Marxist class analysis of journalism and the news industry. The short version is that journalists are popularizers and disseminators of ruling class ideas (hegemonic ideology). In this role as “organic” ruling class intellectuals, journalists adopt the political ideas of capitalists as their own.
For Hanson, this means:
The Australian ruling class wants a non-Labor political option, but also recognizes that the traditional guardians of ruling class interests (the Liberal-National Coalition) have run out of ideas and are no longer popular. It is unlikely that there will be another Liberal-National government in Australia.
So the ruling class needs another political champion, and they may have found it in Pauline Hanson. Hanson is a populist demagogue who preaches fear, fire and brimstone. Hanson has no politics, but that doesn’t matter. With Gina RinehartOne Nation could buy policy expertise and turn some ideas into sensible policy documents.
As the leading luminaries of Australian journalism, the press gallery and the National Press Club recognize that their role is not to question authority and speak truth to power, but to carry out the orders of the ruling class.
The ruling class needs Hanson and the press gang will save him.
Dr Martin Hirst is a journalist, author and academic. You can follow him on Twitter @ethicalmartini.
Support independent journalism Subscribe to IA.
Related Articles
