In 1996 Pauline Hanson made her entry to parliament felt with an incendiary speech which declared Aboriginal Australians were given unfair advantages compared to non-Indigenous Australians - or "mainstream Australians" as she called them - and famously declared the country was being "swamped by Asians".
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
These particular groups garnered little attention in the speech officially marking her entry to the senate on Wednesday, but many of the same themes were there. In fact, Ms Hanson's speech used a direct callback to her "swamped" phrase to show her attention and fears have officially shifted from Asian Australians and Aborigines to Muslims.
"Now we are in danger of being swamped by Muslims, who bear a culture and ideology that is incompatible with our own," she declared.
A basic numerical word analysis of both speeches highlights this shift in her focus. In her 1996 speech, she made 12 mentions of the words "Aboriginal" and "Aboriginals" and two of "Asian" or "Asians".
In her 2016 speech, the One Nation leader did not mention Indigenous Australians at all, and only said the word "Asians" twice - referencing her past comments on the issue.
Instead, Senator Hanson targeted Muslims, mentioning the words "Muslim," "halal", "ISIS", "burqa" "terrorism" (which she frequently linked with Muslims), "radicalisation" and "Islam" a whopping 45 times - an average of at least one mention per minute of her 30-minute speech. In contrast in 1996, Pauline Hanson did not mention the words "Muslim," "Islam," "terrorism" or "burqa" once in her speech.
In 1996, the MP spent the bulk of her speech attacking Aborigines claiming they enjoyed "privileges" over white Australians.
"Along with millions of Australians, I am fed up to the back teeth with the inequalities that are being promoted by the government and paid for by the taxpayer under the assumption that Aboriginals are the most disadvantaged people in Australia," she said.
Senator Hanson revived her complaints about the welfare system in 2016 but instead singled out Muslim recipients of welfare for criticism.
"We have the single mums having more children just to maintain their welfare payments, and Muslim men marrying multiple wives, under their laws, then having multiple children at our expense while they collect thousands of dollars a week from the taxpayer. How many have ever held a job? Why would anyone want to work when welfare is so very lucrative?" she said.
Senator Hanson did not present any evidence to back up her claims on these issues.
Senator Hanson returned to two issues she raised in her 1996: family law and globalisation.
"The Family Law Act, which was the child of the disgraceful Senator Lionel Murphy, should be repealed. It has brought death, misery and heartache to countless thousands of Australians," she said in 1996.
"Children are treated like pawns in some crazy game of chess."
But in this week's speech, Hanson went further to claim the system was driving male suicides.
"On average, three men, and occasionally a woman, suicide a day due to family breakdowns .. .suicide is the only way out for those who feel there is no hope after facing years of costly legal battles," Senator Hanson told the Senate.
One Nation wants the Family Law Court abolished and replaced with a "Family Tribunal" comprised of "people from mainstream Australia."
In 1996, Pauline Hanson opposed the privatisation of Telstra and Qantas.
In 2016, she focused on the sale of Australian farmland and singled out Chinese ownership.
"Any foreign ownership is regrettable, but why are we allowing the Chinese government, an oppressive communist regime, to own our land and assets? Why are we allowing our ports, utilities, services, agricultural land, and industries, to be acquired by foreigners of any nationality?"
