Interview with Tim Foster

This is an interview I did with Tim Foster, President of One Nation Victoria. Tim stresses that he wishes to end the ‘racist tarnish’ against the party, and hopes that the interview will be read in that light. It was conducted via email. Some spelling/grammar mistakes have been corrected while most are left as they were.

What is One Nation's policy on the preference deals that go on in Australian politics?

One Nation prefers to preference on policy of other parties as opposed to backdoor deals. One Nation Victoria especially chose to give preference to other minor parties that we trusted above the two major parties. The two other major parties seem to take too much advantage of the fact that they are the two major parties and this doesn't appear to help with the Australian community’s respect, pride and admiration of their government. This of course can only be achieved when and at what time the Australian people stand together, rid the two party deadlock and vote in a group of people that would do no more than make them proud of their own heritage, or new found heritage for New Australians (We at One Nation prefer to use the term New Australians as it gives what everyone else likes to call immigrants, an open door to become a part of and more importantly, feel a part of the Australian people and culture.)

Does the public know enough about the backdoor deals – like Labor's preferences going to Family First in the last federal election – that go on?

No way, I don't think that the Australian people know a lot about anything that goes on in that House in Canberra. It comes down to the fact that politics in this country is like a product and whichever manufacturer has the better sales pitch, then that party is sold to the public. It might not be a good product, but who cares as long as it sells? A perfect example is the fiasco with the kickbacks for wheat. Man, that is the most disgusting lowlife act that I have ever heard coming from what is meant to be the pride of our Nation. Corruption at its pathetically highest pinnacle. This isn't honourable behaviour, it is most certainly not knightly behaviour, and people are so apathetic in this country that they don't seem to care that John Anderson pulled the pin for a reason. Why pull the pin on being National Party leader just when you won your seat? Even us in One Nation heard last year before the election that something sinister and big was going to come out of Canberra this year. It disgusts me. At least we in One Nation have managed to hunt out a lot of the potentially corrupt. I can sit as State President and say, 'well, we might not have a big membership in Victoria, we might not have a big State Executive, but at least we know that those that are still here, love this Nation, love being Aussie and are not in it for the money.'

Australia's two-party system seems embedded with little scope for change. What do you believe to be the role of minor parties such as One Nation?

To open people's eyes, stay clear of the corruption and give people a more honest alternative. The more smaller parties pull together, the bigger the dent that they will make in the two party deadlock. The role is basically to support each other. We at One Nation are willing to do it, but they (the other smaller parties) still live with this fear that if they are seen to be siding with One Nation then they are supporters of racism, which is entirely unfair, especially considering the facts that an Italian man with are very strong accent comes to every One Nation meeting that I have attended myself in the past 12 months, as so does a Filipino girl. Why? Because they love being AUSTRALIAN. Nationalism and Racism are two completely different things and it is frustrating to have a community and a media that continually try and mold the two together.

What will be One Nation's presence in the upcoming Victorian state election?

Unfortunately Sukrit, it will be small. The fact is that we honestly don't have anyone willing to stand at the moment. At the most we might have one or two stand for Senate seats, but I am not in the habit of lying to people to make us seem bigger than what we are. We lost a lot of membership, mainly white supremacist types, which has left us a small group in Victoria, but at least I can sleep well at night knowing that I am the State President of a political movement that is living to every letter of its platform, 'Equality for ALL Australians, NO division, ONE NATION.' As simple as that. All in all we need more youth in the Party in Victoria. Nonetheless, the other states are going quite well.

In your experience, how often do you witness the 'political apathy' some commentators claim exists in Australia?

The truth is that I believe that there is a lot of political apathy in this country, and it is reflected in political party membership. People hate politics by and large. This comes back to what I was saying before; corrupt, lying, deceitful governments do nothing to counter attack this apathy. People are not interested in being apart of something that does not make them feel good in spirit and these sorts of low life attributes to politics are not welcoming spirit fuels.