Left Behind But Battling On

April 7, 2016

by Anne Miller

Meet Lynette. She’s a typical Aussie woman with a fairly typical story to tell.

She was born in Victoria but shifted to Queensland in 1987. Her father was a “£10 Pom” and her mother, a 5th generation Australian.

Her first marriage broke up … because of violence, she says. She describes it as a “multicultural marriage that didn’t work out”.

Lynette then met her current partner and they had a son. The couple decided to move to regional Queensland “for the lifestyle” and because they thought it would be a better place to raise their boy, somewhere where he could go fishing in the creek.

Lynette has been with her partner for 20 years and they now have four kids.

The couple recently tied the knot.

Lynette got a job working at the Dalby Bio-Refinery. She was originally working as a control operator but then went into the lab, a job she enjoyed. However, she left “due to workplace health and safety”.  She didn’t think her job was safe.

She then started work at a Jandowae company which was making headlines at the time because of its breakthrough RFID technology.

Unfortunately, the company shifted to Capalaba. Lynette wasn’t offered a chance to relocate …

Now she can’t get a job.

Meet Lynette Keehn (aka Lyn Azzopardi on Facebook), the One Nation candidate for Maranoa.

* * *

Lynette bristles when I suggest that some politicians might call her decision to stay in regional Queensland, even if there is no work her for her, as “a lifestyle choice” (the terminology tossed around by Federal politicians who have suggested some Aboriginal settlements should be closed).

“I don’t think it is a lifestyle choice. It’s where you can afford to live , where you can afford to buy  … some people don’t like a city lifestyle.”

And when I ask her what she thinks about Aboriginal people staying on their traditional country, she is supportive.

“It’s no different. If they feel compelled to live there …”

But Lynette is frustrated and angry.

She tells me someone needs to stand up and fight for Australia, for Australian people and Australian values.

She says people are “sick of struggling” .

Lynette says 457 Visa holders are taking jobs that Australians should be doing.

She has been told “people from the Philippines” have been brought into the country to do special jobs, but when they get here they are not doing these jobs.  “They are doing jobs Australians can do”. The visa holders were then being “stood over” and threatened with being sent back if they complained.

I ask her if she knows what industries this is happening in and she replies “truck driving” … that’s what people have told her.

Lynette is also worried about homelessness  –  her daughter works at a guesthouse for homeless people in Brisbane – and asylum-seekers and refugees are on her mind.

“I think we should look after our own people in our own backyard first.”

However, she understands some people are fleeing because their lives are at risk.

“Once their country is back up and running, when it’s safe for them to go back, (they should) go back.”

Last August, Lynette signed an online petition to “Ban the Burqa” and posted it on her Facebook page.

I asked her about that …

“I don’t believe they should be allowed to cover up. Rules are for everyone.”

Which rules? She points to people being asked to remove their motorcycle helmets when they enter banks.

So what about Woolies? Should burqas be allowed in supermarkets?

Lynette seems unsure.

 “It’s fairly confronting for Australians who are not used to that sort of thing.”

I mention nuns, wondering how old she is as nuns used to wander around the streets in their long black habits when I was young.

I discover she is only a few years younger than me, but she doesn’t answer …

So is Islam the problem? Does she see Islam as a threat?

“I think it is a threat as a religion. A threat to Australia.”

She says other countries “are trying to warn us” … England, Sweden …

“It’s all over the news, it’s constant on social media.”

I ask her why she sees Muslims as a threat, as there are millions of Muslims in the world, but only a very small minority are involved in terrorism.

“We are talking about Islam, not talking about Muslims.”

I query this … she repeats she’s talking about Islam and terrorism, not Muslims.

“If you come to our country you should try to fit in.”

The interview goes off on a tangent … so should Europeans have fitted it with Aboriginal people 200 years ago? Taken off their European clothing and learned the local languages?

She laughs and says she doesn’t think so, and when quizzed she believes Aboriginal people have the right to speak their languages today.

“Why not? I do believe there’s programs for Aboriginal children in schools to learn (their languages).”

I remind her that it wasn’t long ago, that Aboriginal children were forbidden from speaking their languages.

“Australia’s come forward.”

Lynette turns the conversation back to the issues she says are most relevant.

“Let’s talk about the people who are struggling every day.”

I suggest many farmers are struggling, especially because of drought. Did she have any ideas about how to improve this?

“I propose that more dams can be erected.”

And she mentions water issues in the Jandowae area.

“Miners came in and our water supply went down significantly. We’re in drought and what water we do get, we use wisely.

“A few years back the township wanted to dig out the local dam, Council refused.”

Why did the Council refuse?

She doesn’t know but I get the impression she feels Council doesn’t really care very much.

Lynette is also concerned about feral pests.

“Feral pests affect farming and our own animals, Australian animals.”

And firearms ownership … and the ICE epidemic.

What is she concerned about with firearms ownership? Should gun laws be tightened or relaxed?

“I support responsible gun ownership. And tougher sentencing for gun-related crimes.”

Lynette says guns should be “in the right person’s hands”.

“People are using guns and they are not licensed and making licensed gun owners suffer, by tightening up gun laws.”

She doesn’t believe semi-automatics should be allowed, even by farmers, but handguns are good for farmers “in emergency situations”.

“I think a farmer should know what sort of gun he needs.”

So should farmers be able to just walk into a gun shop and buy whatever they need?

“Nobody can do that. It is stringently monitored. There should be tougher sentencing for gun-related crime and (gun) trafficking. Farmers should be able to, within the law, know what sort of calibre of gun they need.”

Lynette doesn’t like politicians very much but she likes Pauline Hanson, and joined her on the recent Burrumbuttock Hay Run.

She believes Ms Hanson can put forward her grievances and give people like her a voice.

“People don’t have a voice. I watch TV. I see what’s going on. The two major parties are too busy squabbling amongst themselves. Nothing gets solved. Nothing ever gets solved.”

Lynette believes the issue is pretty basic.

“People want to have a say. Everything is so politically correct these days, you can’t have a say as an Aussie, we’re always tip-toeing around things.”

I ask her what she wants to say. Her reply is sad:

“Why are we struggling? Why are cattle dying? Why do farmers have to blow off their heads?”

She wonders why the hay run was ignored by mainstream politicians when in towns like Barcaldine, people were lining the streets and applauding.

I suggest to her that that some pollies may have thought it would have been wrong to try to steal the limelight.

“Who cares? All those people involved should have had a pat on the back.”

The conversation turns back to political correctness. I suggest that PC is often about just being polite.

“I want to be able to say the things the way I say them … sometimes political correctness stops you from having an opinion.”

I ask her what opinions she has that she feels that she cannot express because of political correctness.

I toss at her some of the worst stereotypical racist non-PC “opinions” that I can think of …  is this what she means?

She’s rightfully horrified.

So what opinions does she feel she cannot express?

“I won’t bow down to political correctness.”

I’ve seen that phrase in a few memes on Facebook and I tell her so.

“It’s not acceptable to be straightforward.”

So what do you want to say? This is your opportunity.

“I won’t be pussyfooting around. I am not going to be politically correct. I am going to say it how it is.

“I won’t bow down to political correctness. I want to say things in my way, in the way that I was brought up.”

Does she means swearing?

No.

I’m puzzled and I admit it but she says she means politicians.

“What they’re telling me. Speak in layman’s terms. Politicians using big words are intimidating people.”

I suggest Australian voters are more clever than what she’s giving them credit for.

I confirm her Facebook name and the interview ends.

* * *

I wanted to speak to Lynette for two reasons:

1. Her Facebook page was littered by the type of anti-Halal and anti-Islamic memes that had just caused the resignation of Racing Queensland official Jim Rundle. I discovered Lynette’s page on the same day that Mr Rundle resigned.

2. I am a voter in the electorate of Maranoa. The voters of Maranoa deserve to know about their candidates especially when they seem to have such non-PC (yep, political correctness) Facebook pages. Are the political parties vetting their candidates at all?

When I spoke to Lynette I could feel her frustration and anger.

She doesn’t know it, but it’s class rage.

Don’t pretend social classes don’t exist in this country. It’s been here since there were ex-convicts and sons of earls rubbing shoulders with Aborigines and Chinese miners; when there were squatters fighting shearers in 1891.

Pauline Hanson rode it to success and then blew it. No, she wasn’t brought down by the Establishment. Her own “advisers” were the ones that were so far out of touch.

John Howard tapped into it with perfection.

Malcolm Turnbull will never get “it” because he’ll always be seen as the silvertail millionaire from Double Bay.

Paul Keating didn’t have “it” despite his working class background because he collected French clocks and wore Italian suits.

Swearing, drinking and womanising can be forgiven in this world view, being a wanker and using fancy words to skirt around a topic – “or dribble” as Lynette calls it – means you’re out of touch and don’t care.

I think that most of the political class, educated at the same schools and universities, just don’t get it, either.

Lynette seems to be a good person. She loves Australia. She wants to fix things, but she feels powerless.

She’s not a racist; she proved that to me. But she doesn’t understand that many of the things she believes and wants to say are now parsed as “racist” or “bigoted” by the mainstream, especially in cities.

This is not political correctness, it is society changing.

The mainstream political parties (and media) have left Lynette – and hundreds of thousands like her – by the wayside.

They no longer speak the same language as she does; they don’t seem to care.

Like the true blue Aussie she is, Lynette’s giving it a go.

She hasn’t got an ice block’s chance in hell of winning Maranoa, but she’s willing to try.

I don’t think she fully understands a lot of the issues that she’s been given as talking points by One Nation.

In fact, I think she is being cynically used by the One Nation party machine.

(Who asked you to remove your piercing, Lynette? Who asked you to dye your hair?  Was it so you’d make a “better impression” with the voters?  This IS political correctness in action.)

But none of this really matters. Lynette knows things aren’t right in her world.

When she watches the TV she doesn’t see herself. She sees stories about refugees and migrants, celebrities and disasters. She sees people wearing head scarves.

She’s told Christmas is under threat on Facebook, and she believes it. She reads that a Halal “tax” is taking her money at the supermarket and no one in authority tells her it isn’t, not in plain language, anyway.

And minority parties pander to her fears

Her private struggles and concerns aren’t the type that mainstream politicians talk about.

She knows cattle are dying and wonders why the people in Canberra can’t do more to help.

Why is it left to a few truckies to deliver the much-needed hay?

Why isn’t someone doing something?

Some of Lynette’s questions are very real and they deserve a better answer than what she’s been getting so far:

“Why are we struggling? Why are cattle dying? Why do farmers have to blow off their heads?”

* * *

There is a angry footnote to this editorial.

After I spoke to Lynette, I faced two choices: to go in hard and “expose”  her social media posts, or to try to write an opinion piece that may give some insight into what is motivating her to put her hand up – which, after all, is a massive commitment of time, if not money.

Then I received a telephone call from James Ashby.

Mr Ashby works for One Nation but has been in the news a lot himself in recent years.

He formerly worked for the former Member for Fisher Peter Slipper, and managed to get caught up in many of the controversies that dogged that MP over the last few years of his political career.

Mr Ashby tried to warn me off writing about Lynette.

He suggested I was unprofessional for daring to ring her directly and not emailing One Nation first to seek an interview.

He also warned me that she had taped my telephone call. That he was taping me now…

Well, Mr Ashby, I had never intended to drag your client over the coals.

She doesn’t deserve that. She isn’t from the political class, she doesn’t play your games.

I didn’t record my conversation with her. I did it the old-fashioned way, I took notes.

But I did take some screen clips from her Facebook page, and your call convinced me it was in my own best interest now to use them:

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