Why do the establishment media continue to legitimise politicians like One Nation's Pauline Hanson and Barnaby Joyce? Managing editorMichelle Pinianalyses the media's obsession with the PHONies.

Its hard to believe there was a time when Barnaby Joyce was representing the nation as Australias Acting Prime Minister and, on the day he was promoted to Deputy PM, proudly strutting his stuff on the streets inshortsand Akubra.

It was also during those heady days that Barnaby then married for 24 years, a father of four and a staunch Catholic hid his secretaffairwith a staffer, who also ended up pregnant with his child, triggering the infamousbonk banin his honour.

It was difficult to avoid seeing him and hearing his fulminations back then, which later includedranting at the skythat he was sick of the government being in his life, despite him being an MP of said government at the time. Was he largely incoherent back then? Yes. Was he more frequently than not turning up to Parliamentlooking bedraggled and worse for wear? Of course. But he was also the Leader of the Nationals and the person who took over when the PM was otherwise disposed. It made sense for the media to give him airtime, no matter how insane his ramblings often were.

Fast forward several years, a few intimate moments with a planter box and a few hundred obscenities later, plus turning up to parliament allegedly inebriated and falling asleep on a more regular basis, among other career highlights, and Barnaby finally relegated to the back bench by the party to which he was tethered for 30 years, three of them as leader has now defected.

These days, Joyce may be seen and heard ranting about, well, mostly the same stuff, and on the same mainstream media outlets, except now spewing forth with his knockabout larrikin ways from the warm embrace of the even less respected (hard to believe, we know) Pauline Hansons One Nation (PHON). Only his chief sponsor remains unchanged, billionaire Gina Rinehart.

These knockabout larrikin ways, whichextend to disinformation and general idiocy on a wide variety of subjects, such as climate denial, support of Trump, a penchant for drilling and digging every natural resource, and are sprinkled with regular doses of bigotry, racism, misogyny and all the Far-Right hatred on which Pauline Hansons One Nation has staked its reputation.

There is no doubt that Barnaby suits the PHONies the party that shares its unqualified opinions on repeat, and without concern for the feelings of others, the accuracy of its claims or, well, the existence of any facts whatsoever. What may be harder to understand, however, is why the media, including the public broadcaster, continue to amplify him, his even more unintelligible leader, Pauline Hanson and PHON's ratbag collection of... let's call them "larrikins".

This week, Barnabyopined that there is "nothing to be gained"from condemningTrump'.He also ranted about fossil fuel policy, why we should frack the living daylights out of everythingand why we shouldnt have any climate policies. Oh,and also, why a violent rapist deserves a second chance in a plum role, working for parliamentarians, and paid for by the taxpayer.

Pauline Hansons One Nation party has thrown a "warm protective blanket" over Sean Black violent convicted rapist, wife-beater and purveyor of chaos. Investigations editor Ross Jones reports.

Profound words from the man who is known for taking to YouTube to yell loudly at thesky, publicly shouting profanities into his phone while lyingon the ground andhas ahistoryof disturbing sexual harassment allegations against him(whichIAhasinvestigated).

His boss, Pauline, meanwhile, often takes to the airwaves to share her thoughtsabout Trump and how she loves "absolutely everything about Donald Trump and thinks all of his policies are fantastic. Pauline alsocalledfor Australia to "help stamp out evil"by joining in the U.S.-Israeli military action against Iran.

Pauline also expressed support this week for their former staffer and convicted rapist, Sean Black, and blamed the other parties for forcing One Nation to sack him because of the harassment the PHONies endured.

Now, with an obscene war and ongoing genocide in the Middle East, the oil crisis and a looming global recession, on what does the media wish to focus: One Nation.

Some time back, David SpeersinterviewedPM Albanese, who criticised the preference deal between the Coalition and One Nation, which he said legitimised One Nations hard right grievances, which are presented without solutions, as a cul-de-sac that doesnt lead the country anywhere.

But Speers kept interrupting, demanding answers to idiotic questions, such as:

The only self-respecting answers to these questions then and now are surely:No,No and Never WTF?!

Nonetheless, Albanese calmly responded by explaining that Pauline Hanson cant even engage, rarely rocks up to work and often isnt in Parliament. The PM drew the line at pointing out that the media was also legitimising PHONs idiocy,though, of course, they were and they continue to do so. Nor did he stoop to mention thatOne Nation is unelectable and Barnaby and Pauline, at best,buffoons.

Don't believe the News Corp bots, Pauline Hanson's One Nation failed dismally inSouth Australia and will continue to fail in every subsequent election.

AsIAfounder Dave Donovanwroterecently:

All of which brings us back to the question of why the mainly billionaire-owned mainstream media, led by Murdoch and bolstered further by the national broadcaster, and of course, the billionaire-controlled algorithms of social media platforms, continue to prop up these grifters?

For the same reasons that Trump was twice catapulted to the presidency. Because, like Trump, Barnaby Joyce and Pauline Hanson, and the PHONies are not "larrikins".Their toxic diatribes give people permission to be obnoxious, misogynistic, racist and bigoted, and to publicly express all the other dark parts of the human psyche that should not see the light of day.

In the past, such behaviourwould be unseemly in a politician. Politicians wereonce respected as village elders, not idiots.

Disturbingly, enabling people to be hateful and cruel,and still obtain respectability, provides for the media and its billionaire backers the opportunity to sow doubt, prey on ignorance, legitimise and stir up divisions, and ultimately, create an environment where policies based on "othering" and greed can continue to line the pockets of the actual elites, while labelling everyone else "the elites".

The aims are really pretty simple: the principles of low regulation, which permit thecontinued pillagingof the environment and workers,more wars requiring more armaments and ultimately,more money for the already obscenely affluent.

This editorial wasoriginally publishedas part of the Independent Australia weekly newsletter.Subscribeto IA to access all our workfrom as little as $1.15 per week and help power our journalism in 2026.

Follow managing editorMichelle Pinion [email protected] Independent Australia on [email protected], X/Twitter@independentausand FacebookHERE.

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