Any normal person would know that at my advanced age and imminent senility, the last thing I should be doing is flaunting myself around, looking for true romance. And I agree with them. But I have to confess that for some time I have been loitering in the demi-monde, hoping that my lecherous eye might catch a glimpse of some attractive seductress of the night and that, with the right degree of flattery and blandishment I might find true love and a partner with whom I can eke out my few remaining years in domestic bliss. Moreover, I can now reveal that I have found, if not exactly true love,  a promising prospect in that regard, but with, as my school reports used to say, ‘scope for improvement’. The qualification I must add is that, like all romantic encounters, it is wise to explore the true character of your potential soul mate before committing to a permanent attachment. Thus, although I can truly say that I was dazzled by my prospective lover at our first encounter, subsequent events have raised some second questions about the character of the object of my affections. The result is that I have been obliged to take a cautious step backwards and await the outcome of a further period of assessment of my putative lover.

Thus, when I first found One Nation, I was instantly impressed by her strength of character and resolute nature. Here was a political party that was not interested in popular fashions, a party that would stand up against the ever-expanding encroachment of government control over every aspect of our lives. The party was opposed to swamping the country with unlimited numbers of riff-raff who were turning Australia into a human dumping ground. It also looked as if it were committed to stemming the tide of ever-increasing taxation, red tape, armies of bureaucrats and extravagant spending strangling Australia. And the party was obviously not interested in aping the fads and fashions of the new elites who think they have a God-given right to control every thought in our heads. Above all, it seemed to be a party that would be aggressive and provocative, and one that would say what had to be said and not apologise for it.

I even thought that One Nation could well be the political party for which I could cheerfully vote at the next federal election, confident that the country would be in safer hands than those of the major parties that are dragging the country into penury. After all, you could not vote for a Labor party that was led by a proven liar and a party hell-bent on turning Australia into a failed socialist ghetto. And the only attraction of the Liberal party was that it was such a broad church it did not believe in anything.

But despite this early attraction, and as with all relationships, closer contact has revealed some significant flaws. The first cloud that drifted across the hitherto sunlit uplands of our passion was the issue of Aboriginals and some remarks made about them by the party leader, Senator Hanson, in particular that they are ‘primitive’. Her remarks were harmless enough, but they unleashed a torrent of criticism from the media and their left-wing bedfellows. Columnists strove to outdo each other in horror at the very notion that not every Aboriginal should be in line for the Nobel Prize for Physics. Academics vied to be the first to identify that our indigenous people had elaborately structured societies for thousands of years before the Europeans came along. Guilt-ridden students rose like one man to claim that the same race were perfect in every way and that the only obstacle to their fulfilment was that they were held back in a hangover from colonialism. Indeed, the criticism was so severe and unrelenting that Senator Hanson was driven to issue a humble apology for her alleged transgressions.

At the same time, a second cloud blotted the horizon. Ms Hanson noted the debilitating availability of social housing that enabled the beneficiaries to avail themselves of this largesse for decades on end without any effort to lift themselves out of dependence. Again, she relented and issued another apology.

And here we come to the crux of what has made me wonder if I have really found my true love or whether I have to look further for a political soul mate. It is not Senator Hanson’s remarks that concern me, but the fact that she apologised for them. In both cases, her initial remarks seemed to me to be stating the obvious. Aboriginals are an ancient and noble race, but they are in fact primitive, and successive governments seem to have been pre-occupied with keeping them in that state. They have immense potential to improve their lot, but this will not be achieved until we end the handout mentality and encourage them to rely on themselves and adapt to modern life, no matter how noble their past may have been. Likewise, allowing the beneficiaries of social housing to stay there in perpetuity simply guarantees that they will live in penury for their whole lives.

These two issues have thus combined to make me wonder if One Nation really has the fibre and resolute commitment that is needed to articulate the real problems facing Australia. Its main attractions were that it was aggressive and provocative, but this will not be shown by apologising. In fact, the party’s strength and appeal depends on its being brave enough to state the unpopular and not apologise for it.

I still hope we can have a rapprochement, but the first step towards that happy state will be for Senator Hanson to withdraw her apologies on Aboriginals and social housing. I will be watching her closely from now on, in the hope that, as she announces further policies, they will not involve apologising for anything. She can still achieve that state and regain her place in my affections. But, please, no more apologies!