One Nation staffer accused of posing as leftwing content creator in âundercoverâ videos
The owners of a progressive social media page have accused One Nation of impersonating them at anti-Pauline Hanson rallies while shooting a series of âundercoverâ
The owners of a progressive social media page have accused One Nation of impersonating them at anti-Pauline Hanson rallies while shooting a series of âundercoverâ videos. Hansonâs party has recently published a string of videos with a young male host attending leftwing protests. In the clips â published on pages owned by One Nation and Hanson on Instagram, TikTok and He asks people questions that appear designed to catch them out, such as: âWeâre going to fight [racism] by uniting under One Nation, right?â In one video, he says: âIâm going undercover to protest against my boss, Pauline Hanson.â In another, Hanson herself appears, joking with the host as she asks: âWho have you been hanging around with?â The founders of Toilet Paper Australia, a political meme and commentary page with 128,000 Instagram followers, told Guardian Australia they have received reports from followers that a One Nation representative has been attending rallies in Brisbane and other cities, alleging to be âfrom Toilet Paper Australiaâ when seeking interviews. Toilet Paper Australia regularly criticises One Nation and promotes critical news stories about the rightwing populist party.
âWe want to make abundantly clear: this person is not from Toilet Paper Australia. They are not affiliated with us, and they do not represent us in any capacity,â a spokesperson for the page said in a statement. View image in fullscreen A post on X by One Nation features protester Che Janz at a rally in Brisbane. Photograph: One Nation/X Guardian Australia has spoken to three attendees of a Brisbane rally against Hanson in June â organised by the organisation Campaign Against Racism and Fascism â who alleged they were approached by the host in the One Nation videos and that he claimed to be from Toilet Paper Australia. In the videos, the host films protesters chanting slogans or making speeches that strongly criticise Hanson, as well as interviewing people wearing Greens merchandise, with communist or socialist T-shirts and flags, or holding colourful signs. One participant is asked: âDid you come here stoned?â To which they say yes. The host asks a man wearing a pirate outfit: âWhen was the last time you showered?â âI hope Iâm not going to become trans tomorrow,â the host says in another while speaking to a participant.
He yells along with the chant: âHanson is not welcome here.â The Brisbane rally attendees said they had no suspicions that the host was from One Nation. Che Janz, who was featured in one video, claimed the host approached him and friends at the event. skip past newsletter promotion Free newsletter | When needed Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks Enter your email Sign up after newsletter promotion âI think he saw us from afar and then wandered over. He said âhow are you going, Iâm from Toilet Paper Australia and Iâm doing some interviews hereâ,â Janz said. He said he âdidnât suspect anythingâ, noting there were often people filming at such rallies for social media, but said he was aware of political opponents filming âundercoverâ content at social rallies in Australia and overseas. âIt wasnât out of the ordinary ⌠but I always know thereâs a risk involved going to something like that, know that could happen,â Janz said. Two other attendees, who requested to not be named and were ultimately not featured in videos published by One Nation, claimed the host asked them âleading questionsâ at the rally, giving them an opportunity to criticise Hansonâs party.
