Sometimes you should be careful what you wish for.
After the eye-opening al-Jazeera documentary How To Sell A Massacre showed One Nation’s Steve Dickson and James Ashby tooling around the US with undercover journalist Rodger Muller merrily talking about how US money could help them water down Australia’s gun laws.
Party leader Pauline Hanson, who was also shown in the documentary expressing conspiracy theories about the Port Arthur Massacre, demanded that al-Jazeera release the complete footage.
Dignity. Quiet dignity.
They declined to do for reasons which became clear on Monday when A Current Affair used unauthorised footage revealing that Dickson also went to a strip club on the US trip where he was filmed groping and abusing strippers, as well as delivering some very salty comments about Asian women.
And thus, predictably, he resigned. And did so while putting the most appropriate typo imaginable in his statement.
Steve Dickson, gone for being gross at a strip club, makes a typo for the ages on his way out. Indeed, he is no longer of “pubic” interest. pic.twitter.com/YRuRWh5MtG
— Rick Morton (@SquigglyRick) April 29, 2019
That being said, since pre-poll voting has already begun and the ballots are printed there’s still the very real possibility that he’ll get elected in Queensland. Not because One Nation are likely to get two senators in the state – they’re not – but because the #1 senator on the ballot, Malcolm Roberts, was removed last time around for being ineligible under section 44 for genuinely hilarious dual citizenship reasons.
And he’s claimed that he’s since renounced his UK-Via-South-African citizenship, sure, but he claimed that last time too and that turned out to be entertainingly wrong.
#BREAKING: Steve Dickson, the One Nation candidate who was filmed using racial slurs in a strip club while attempting to solicit sex from workers, has stepped down and resigned. #9News pic.twitter.com/dLYNZQTzqZ
— Nine News Australia (@9NewsAUS) April 29, 2019
And if Roberts is elected and is forced to bow out for accidentally sending his forms to renouncing@england.citizenship.itsmalcolm.thanks.bye.nz or something, then Dickson takes the slot regardless of whether or not he’s resigned from the party.
So don’t worry, Australia. We may yet reap the parliamentary benefits of the wisdom and gentle good humour of Steve “You Haven’t Touched My C**k” Dickson.
Plot twist – Al Jazeera says the vision of Steve Dickson in the US strip club was broadcast by the Nine Network without its consent.
Statement below @politicsabc @abcnews #ausvotes pic.twitter.com/gR5XtLa5nY
— Matthew Doran (@MattDoran91) April 30, 2019
And sure, there’s something deeply unpleasant about how soliciting funds from American gun lobbyists is AOK but getting a lap dance in a legal strip club is a huge scandal that ends a political career, but hey – Australia’s ability to freak the hell out over anything vaguely sexual shouldn’t surprise anyone that’s seen a comment thread involving Safe Schools.
In any case, respect Mr Dickson’s privacy. As he says, he’s no longer of any pubic interest.