Shaun Nelson

Shaun Nelson (born 22 March 1973) is an Australian politician. He was a member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly from 1998 to 2001, representing the electorate of Tablelands. He was elected as one of 11 MPs of the One Nation Party at the 1998 state election, before resigning from the party to sit as an independent in February 1999. He served out the remainder of his term before being defeated by One Nation candidate Rosa Lee Long at the 2001 election.

Early career

Nelson was raised in South East, Western and Northern Queensland and joined the military at a young age, serving in Papua New Guinea, Somalia and Cambodia as a signals intelligence officer. [Kingston, Margo. "Fans carry heroine over threshold". "Sydney Morning Herald", 12 June 1998.] ["Hanson's revolution". "The Australian", 15 June 1998.] He initially joined the Liberal Party of Australia, but first became involved in organised politics when, at the age of 24, he was one of the founders of the Australian Capital Territory branch of the One Nation Party. [Peake, Ross. "Hanson party plans for Canberra". "Canberra Times", 22 May 1997.] The launch of a branch by the right-wing party in liberal Canberra caused controversy, with Nelson claiming of being denied meeting venues before organising its first meetings amid public protests in July. [Contractor, Aban. "One Nation misses out on venues". "Canberra Times", 24 June 1997.] ["Boos and arrests at Hanson rally". "Daily Telegraph", 9 July 1997.] He was subsequently appointed as the inaugural president of the party's ACT branch. [Peake, Ross. "ACT branch convener 'ecstatic' at roll-up". "Canberra Times", 9 July 1997.] Nelson was behind a move to have the party contest the 1998 territory election that was subsequently vetoed by national party president Pauline Hanson. [Peake, Ross. "Hanson sits on the Canberrans who just want to stand for her". "Canberra Times", 30 August 1997.] He later resigned as party president in December 1997, citing personal reasons, later revealed to be a marriage breakdown. [Contractor, Aban. "One Nation looks for 'practical solution' on native title". "Canberra Times", December 30, 1997.] [Contractor, Aban. "Former ACT One Nation boss shares in the party's spoils". "Canberra Times", 16 June 1998.]

Nelson returned to Queensland after the collapse of his marriage, and was preselected as the One Nation candidate for the seat of Tablelands for the 1998 election, challenging incumbent Mines and Energy Minister Tom Gilmore. Tablelands was considered a safe seat for the rural conservative National Party, held by a margin of more than twenty percent, and Nelson was not generally considered likely to pose a serious threat to Gilmore. [O'Malley, Brendan. "Families Minister faces fight to stay in the fold". "Courier-Mail", 3 June 1998.] Despite having only had three months to campaign, he polled more than 42% of the vote on election day, defeating Gilmore on preferences and becoming Queensland's youngest member of parliament. [Contractor, Aban. "Former ACT One Nation boss shares in the party's spoils". "Canberra Times", 16 June 1998.] ["A king tide no PM could stem". "The Australian", 15 June 1998.] He declared his priorities upon his election as being the abolition of mining lease fees, the reintroduction of the death penalty, opposition to Aboriginal native title and resisting the deregulation of the dairy industry. [Roberts, Greg. "Hanson's heroes: grab-bag politics enter parliament". "Sydney Morning Herald", 16 June 1998.] [Rintoul, Stuart and Kennedy, Fiona. "'Little people' find their mouthpiece". "The Australian", 17 June 1998.]

One Nation MP

Nelson was one of four candidates for the state leadership of One Nation after the election, but lost out to Bill Feldman. [Gordon, Collie. "One Nation elects first state executive". "Courier-Mail", 29 June 1998.] He caused some early controversy by calling for the legalisation of prostitution in Queensland, echoing the pro-sex industry position he had taken while president of the ACT branch, in sharp opposition to the stance of new party leader Feldman. [Koch, Tony. "One Nation MP backs legal brothels". "Courier-Mail", 17 July 1998.] [Hart, Matthew. "Red means stop for boutique brothels". "Courier-Mail", 20 July 1998.] He was again the cause of some controversy later that month, when he declared on television that students protesting against One Nation were "being used by communists and socialists in their agenda to destroy the unity of Australia". ["Qld: Student minds infected by communist poison - One Nation". "The Australian, 24 July 1998.] Nelson was the party's nominee for speaker in the new parliament, but lost to Labor candidate Ray Hollis. ["New MPs take seats to cries of 'ageism'". "The Age, 29 July 1998.] Along with several other One Nation MPs, he used his inaugural speech to parliament on July 30 to declare his intent to pursue further investigation of the Heiner affair, the alleged 1990 shredding of documents relating to a child abuse inquiry during the Goss Labor government. [Madigan, Michael. "Beattie finds it's a new world without order". "Courier-Mail, 1 August 1998.]

Nelson continued to spark some controversy throughout his first months in parliament. In early August, he challenged Greek-born Labor backbencher Jim Fouras to "step outside" after Fouras had criticised Nelson's opposition to multiculturalism. [Emerson, Scott. "One Nation MP offers to step outside". "Courier-Mail, 6 August 1998.] He also twice made inadvertent breaches of parliamentary privileges, using the parliamentary crest on letters advertising a One Nation function and referring to himself with the "honourable" title, which as a backbencher he had not been granted. [Roberts, Greg. "MPs under scrutiny as poll draws near". "Courier-Mail, 5 September 1998.] He was repeatedly critical of the anti-immigrant party being labelled as racist, but was himself accused of racism after claiming that there were "Aboriginal children lying drunk in the gutter" in the north Queensland town of Mareeba. [Retschlag, Christine. "Nelson rejects 'racist' label". "Courier-Mail, 17 September 1998.] [Day, Selina. "Qld: One Nation indulges in 'racist fantasies' - minister". "Australian Associated Press", 18 September 1998.] Nelson was vocal in his opposition to Aboriginal native title, claiming that the Beattie government's 1998 legislation to establish a state-based regime was "worse than apartheid". ["Qld's Beattie to sell native title bill in Canberra". "Australian Associated Press", 12 November 1998.] He was an ardent supporter of an unsuccessful attempt by independent MP Peter Wellington to initiate citizen initiated referendums in Queensland in November 1998. Nelson was staunchly critical of the media's role in the demise of his One Nation colleague Charles Rappolt, who resigned from parliament in November 1998 before committing suicide. [Day, Selina. "Qld: Media pushed Rappolt to the brink - Nelson". "Australian Associated Press", 4 November 1998.] Nelson remained known for his socially conservative views, and was labelled as engaging in gay scare tactics by "The Australian" after claiming during the 1998 Mulgrave by-election campaign that the Beattie government would legalise same-sex marriage and allow homosexual couples to adopt children if it won the by-election, and thus majority government. [McGregor, Adrian and Meade, Kevin. "One Nation fights poll with gay scare tactics". "The Australian, December 4, 1998.]

Resignation to sit as independent

Media reports of internal tensions within the party had persisted throughout late 1998 and early 1999, as the state caucus grew increasingly frustrated with a party hierarchy that saw most of the power concentrated in the hands of federal MP and party founder Pauline Hanson and her advisors David Oldfield and David Ettridge. [Emerson, Scott and Saunders, Megan. "Sacked staffer spills beans on One Nation `rabble'/One Nation 'on the verge of implosion'". "The Australian", 2 September 1998.] The tensions came to a head in early February 1999, when Hanson, Oldfield and Ettridge attempted to institute a national constitution locking them into absolute control of the state branches and giving them control of the party's finances. In return, the entire Queensland parliamentary party threatened to resign unless a 10-point list of demands for greater internal democracy were met. It was followed only days later by the resignations of three of the party's 10 remaining MPs - Nelson, deputy leader Dorothy Pratt, and Ken Turner. All three announced that they would serve out the remainder of their terms as independents. [Murphy, Damien, Doherty, Linda and Lagan, Bernard. "Hanson rocked as three MPs quit". "Sydney Morning Herald, 6 February 1999.] [Stutt. Sam. "One Nation MPs to "tuck in their shirts" and battle on". "Australian Associated Press", 5 February, 1999.] He was harshly critical of his former party in the days afterwards, declaring it to be "totally undemocratic" and "on the verge of collapse", and claiming that Oldfield and Feldman were conducting a smear campaign against him. [Stutt. Sam. "Qld: Former One Nation MP Nelson lashes One Nation". "Australian Associated Press, 5 February 1999.] ["Pauline Hanson's party on verge of collapse, says one of her MPs ". "Agence France-Presse", 10 February 1999.] [Saunders, Megan and Emerson, Scott. "One Nation braces for knockout". "The Australian", 9 February 1999.] The prospect of Nelson joining the National Party in the wake of the defection was briefly discussed, but subsequently ruled out by the National Party. [Emerson, Scott. "Coalition split over Hanson defectors". "Courier-Mail", 8 February 1999.] ["Nats 'no' to MP rebels". "Sunday Mail", 21 February 1999.]

Nelson's resignation from One Nation had immediate consequences for his role as an MP, as his taxpayer-funded resources, along with those of Pratt and Turner, were slashed by $30,000 a year. [Balogh, Stefanie. "One Nation rebels pay for defection". "The Australian", March 12, 1999.] Several weeks later, he had his office shifted away from his former colleagues, complaining of heightened tensions and threats being made against him. ["MP moves to avoid brawl". "The Australian", 14 April 1999.] He was a vocal opponent of the Beattie government's decision to apologise to the victims of the Stolen Generation in May 1999, and repeatedly interjected during the reading of the apology motion into the parliamentary record, defying the speaker's orders to resume his seat. [Strutt, Sam. "QLD - "Sorry" move a cunning stunt, says Borbidge". "Australian Associated Press", 25 May 1999.] Despite his generally socially conservative views, he was behind an unsuccessful attempt to pass a Private Member's Bill legalising voluntary euthanasia in Queensland. [Meade, Kevin and Nason, David. "MPs to debate euthanasia". "The Australian", 15 June 1999.] Nelson became the first MP in four years to be suspended from parliament in July 1999 after repeatedly defying the speaker's calls for order during a vocal parliamentary attack on then-health minister Wendy Edmond. [Emerson, Scott. "Bad boy MP told to step outside". "The Australian", July 21, 1999.]

Nelson continued to maintain a reputation as a conservative maverick as an independent MP, and in September 1999, called for the introduction of conscription for the long-term unemployed to supplement Australia's then-peacekeeping operation in East Timor. ["Unemployed should be conscripted for Timor force: Australian MP ". "Agence France-Presse", 24 September 1999.] Although he had earlier supported proposals to legalise prostitution in the state, he voted against such moves by the Beattie government in December 1999, arguing that the laws would be impossible to enforce. [Balogh, Stefanie. "No store set by boutique brothels". "Courier-Mail, 3 December 1999.] He caused some controversy in May 2000 when, along with Dorothy Pratt, he was suspended from parliament for 28 days and threatened with expulsion for pouring a milk churn down the stairs of parliament during a protest against the deregulation of the dairy industry. This meant that Nelson had spent more days suspended from the house than any other MP in more than 25 years. [Balogh, Stefanie. "MP in danger of losing her seat". "Courier-Mail, 1 June 2000.] [Morley, Peter. "Out! Milkman Nelson heads Wild Bunch". "Sunday Mail, 4 June 2000.]

Nelson recontested his seat as an independent at the 2001 state election, and faced a three way battle with National Party candidate and local councillor Joe Moro and endorsed One Nation candidate Rosa Lee Long, the president of the party's Tablelands branch and a former Nelson campaign worker. [Low, Marie, Blakesley, Lea and Paterson, Duncan. "Poll line-Up". "Cairns Post, 31 January 2001.] The contest was widely viewed as being too close to call during the campaign, and a poll by the "Cairns Post" in the last week of the campaign showed the vote almost even between the three conservative candidates and Labor candidate Arthur Yates. [Blakesley, Lea. "Tussle for the Tablelands". "Cairns Post, 8 February 2001.] [Low, Marie. "The battle for Tablelands". "Cairns Post, 14 February 2001.] He subsequently won only 15 percent of the vote, finishing fourth overall behind the One Nation, Labor and National candidates, with One Nation candidate Long the victor. In his concession speech, he controversially declared that he was "horrified to be a Tablelander at this moment." [Webster, Danielle. "One Nation takes grip in Tablelands". "Sunday Mail, 18 February 2001.] [Blakesley, Lea. "Tablelands". "Sunday Mail, 19 February 2001.] He has largely remained out of public life since his election defeat, and has not run for any other public office.

Current Life

Nelson served with the Queensland Police Service in Cairns with his father until late 2006. On the 31st January 2007, Nelson joined the "Royal Australian Navy" as a Seaman Officer, completing the New Entry Officer Course with the rank of Sub Lieutenant. He is currently undertaking his Junior Warfare Application Course and is on his third marriage to Renee Warnock, their first child (Nelsons first as well) was born May 2008.

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