by Terry Sweetman
The Courier Mail, November 12th, 1998
The reported attempted suicide by former One Nation member for Mulgrave Charles Rappolt is a sorry end to one man's attempt to contribute something to his community.
Even sadder is the way in which Rappolt's political demise (and attendant mental distress) has been seized upon in a diversionary campaign of conspiratorial nonsense from Queensland party leader Bill Feldman.
At issue here are not the policies of One Nation, nor Rappolt's peculiar obsession with the rights of gun ownership. At issue is what is being fed to Queenslanders in media statements and under the privilege of parliament.
Rappolt, in an interview with Cairns radio after his resignation, complained of the pressures he had felt at the hands of the press, particularly the Murdoch press, of which The Courier Mail is part.
There's no denying he wasn't too happy with us but, it seems to me, the core of the issue was his discovery that "....the people...don't like Pauline Hanson's One Nation party, really, really, don't like Pauline Hanson's One Nation party".
By reporting on the performance of One Nation and Rappolt, the media, including The Courier Mail, undoubtedly played a role in fostering that dislike and in the erosion of the party's support in Mulgrave from 31% in the June election to 12% last week. It can hardly be blamed if it shines a spotlight on One Nation and the people decide they don't like what they see.
I Rappolt's case, he was handled no more severely than say, embarrassed National Party Minister Trevor Perrett, the maritally troubled Howard Hobbs, or Labor's travel rorter Nick Sherry sho sought a way out with a razor blade. That's how it is in politics, for people in publiv life and on the public payroll. That's how it will be for One Nation while ever it stays in business.
Feldman quickly seized upon Rappolt's displeasure with the media, beating it up into the major factor in his resignation.
He's had a lot to say, the majority of which has been covered in The Courier Mai, but he repeated the substance of his claims in Queensland Parliament on Tuesday.
First, he claimed that "media pressure" was the final straw that broke Rappolt and the "viciousness" of the attacks on One Nation had its roots in self interest because the party opposes the foreign domination of the media and "policies that allow multinational companies to extract enormous profits from Australia while paying little or no tax".
Leaving aside the small quibble that News Ltd (aka the Murdoch press) is an Adelaide-registered company, Feldman is suffering from delusions of adequacy if he thinks the likes of Rupert Murdoch would give a commercial toss about One Nation. However they must choose to exercise their power, Murdoch, Packer and whoever passingly owns Fairfax have the wits to know that One Nation does not call the tune on media ownership, taxation rates, or even morning prayers.
He then went on to list in some detail the personal and family stress suffered by Rappolt in the wake of the sorry on-again, off-again domestic violence order (DVO).
I would not dispute that the publicity - as much as the family tensions that led to the DVO - distressed rappolt and all under his roof, but it is a lie for Feldman to claim that "The Courier Mail ignored a Supreme Court injunction and published details of a domestiv violence disorder".
Feldman, a former police prosecutor who has spent more time in courts than most, should know better. Without burdening the reader with the arcane legalities that surrounded the issue, The Courier Mail gave an undertaking at a court hearing initiated by One Nation that it would not breach the Domestic Violence Act. It never intended to do so, nor did it. If it had, someone would now be getting a striped suntan.
What it did do was question certain statements made by Rappolt after he and Sandra Higgins called a press conference in the wake of her withdrawal of the DVO. At issue was the claim that Rappolt - later supported by One Nation officials - that he and Higgins had only had a "professional" relationship, this in the face of evidence that included her own statutory declaration and a One Nation Internet listing of her as his partner.
As Higgins was placed on the public payroll as Rappolt's electoral secretary, this is precisely the sort of information the public is entitled to know and precisely the sort of behaviour One Nation has so vehemently decried. It was a sticky web spun by Rappolt and One Nation.
One might wonder why Feldman is so determined to put his own spin on events. Given that he reigns over a party whose popularity has slumped disastrously, he might well prefer his dwindling band of supporters had something else to think about.
And, as he himself has been the subject of Freedom of Information inquiries from this paper in pursuit of what it believes to be its proper role in the community, we couldn't realistically expect him to be pleased with The Courier Mail.