There have been few politicians more demonised in recent Australian history than Pauline Hanson.
To be fair, Hanson initially invited criticism with her foolish comments about Asian Australians. But the media-political response was feral. The media in particular, in a fore-runner of Trump Derangement Syndrome, were indecently giddy at the prospect of a “real” racist to scream at. Hanson’s political naiveté also made her easy prey for some unscrupulous political grubs to exploit.
But, Pauline has been a dogged stayer. After 25 years she shows no signs of giving up. Like many minor policiticians, such as Tasmania’s Jacqui Lambie, Hanson grew into her role. Of course, she still provokes the left-media and “polite” company into howling condemnation, but she has a Trumpian knack for winning the hearts of many ordinary people who see through the media hysterics.
When a delegation of Aboriginal women travelled to Canberra to make their cri de coeur over domestic violence in remote communities, there was one politician they sought out, before all others: Pauline Hanson. Why? “Because she listens.”
Similarly, when Queensland mother Kellee Clarkson was desperate for help for her sick little girl, Wynter, there was one politician who stepped up and got things done.
The One Nation leader used her leverage in the Senate to prevail on the government to stump up, paving the way for other infants with incurable spinal muscular atrophy to receive a new lease of life.
Marking the fifth anniversary of her return to federal parliament at the head of One Nation 2.0, Senator Hanson said saving little Wynter was her proudest achievement, the pay-off for the titanic lows she had experienced during a rollercoaster 25 years in national politics.
Those lows include a stint of jail time on a conviction that was later quashed. But the highs clearly make up for all that.
“I’m passionate about what I do. I believe in what I’m doing,” she said. “It’s not just a job to me – it’s a commitment that I have … to be a voice for people who don’t have a voice and are not represented.”
This is a side of the fiery Queenslander rarely glimpsed. Considered, gracious, kind – the grandmother who appealed last year to the father in then-finance minister and government hardman Mathias Cormann to help Wynter before it was too late.
Wynter Clarkson was born with the worst form of a rare genetic disease (spinal muscular atrophy, or SMA) that gradually paralyses infants. Few live beyond their third birthday.
The only known treatment is a gene replacement drug, Zolgensma. But that comes at a staggering $3.1m per dose.
Parents Kellee and Jamie Clarkson tried everything. Jamie lined up a job in the US, where company health insurance would have covered the cost – but Covid put an end to that. By the time the family would have got its visa re-arranged, it would be too late for Wynter.
Approaching drug maker Novartis for compassionate access failed. Australia’s Medical Treatment Overseas Program, designed to give Australians access to new medicines or therapies unavailable here, was also a no-go. A GoFundMe drive raised $60,000 – nowhere near enough.
Then a friend of the family contacted Pauline Hanson’s office.
When Senator Hanson phoned out of the blue in February last year, Ms Clarkson didn’t want to get her hopes up. “I will do what I can,” the senator said.
At the end of a negotiating session with then senator Cormann, on his way out to pursue the top job at the OECD in Paris, Senator Hanson pushed a document detailing Wynter’s plight across the table. “Mathias melted,” she recalled. “He’s a father with children himself … he just said, ‘leave it with me’.”
Within hours Mr Cormann had an answer: the government would come to the party after all. Soon enough, an official from the Finance Department was on the phone to Ms Clarkson, saying the costs would be paid through MTOP and requesting her details.
Even then, red tape threatened to end Wynter’s hope: the family were still unable to travel to the US.
So special arrangements were made to cut the red tape and bring the world’s most expensive drug to Australia. The little girl was dosed at Sydney Children’s Hospital, Randwick, by child neurologist Michelle Farrar.
Wynter is now three, and making striking progress: sitting up, eating, and developing motor skills. Since then, 17 other Australian children with SMA have benefitted from similar treatment.
Senator Hanson said: “Let me say to you, you have your ups and downs in this business. There are moments when you don’t want to be involved … you know, I just want to curl up in my home and do my gardening, do my knitting.
“But then you have a win like this, and it makes it worthwhile. People can say what they like about me, they can keep throwing everything they throw at me, accuse me … of being things I am not. But helping that family is something I am proud of.”
The Australian
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