‘Round Them Up and Get Them Out’: Pauline Hanson Calls for Deportation of African Gang Members

A gang of up to 40 youths of African appearance stormed the family-friendly festival Summersault, in Melbourne’s west on Saturday night, kicking and punching some festival goers and stealing wallets, bags and phones.

A teenager was also hospitalised after being confronted by members of the gang outside the neighbouring Caroline Springs police station.

It is the latest in a string of gang crime allegedly committed by African youths in Melbourne and Ms Hanson said she had a simple solution to curb it.

“I’ve got the best solution to this. Round them up and get them out!” the One Nation leader posted, attracting more than 300 comments largely supporting her view.

The Queensland senator’s radical views are attracting plenty of support across the country, with weekend polling showing her party may win up to 20 seats in the Queensland parliament at this year’s election.

In Western Australia, her party has also struck a preference deal with the Liberal Party, which will preference One Nation above the Nationals in the upper house.

The cessation of African migration has long been a key policy of Ms Hanson’s, however a spokesman confirmed she did was not calling for the deportation of “law abiding immigrants of any ethnicity” but those who commit crimes.

Back in 2009, she described refugees as “incompatible with our way of life and culture”.

“They get around in gangs and there is escalating crime that is happening,” she said.

“If we want to do things for the Sudanese people, then let us send medical supplies, food, whatever they need over there — but let them stay in their own country.”

While her deportation stance unsurprisingly attracted the support of her followers, African leaders say parents in their communities are continually seeking help to control their children.

Pastor Michael Jang, from the outer Melbourne suburb of Dandenong, said after last year’s Moomba riot, that parents were seeking his help up to three times each week to guide their children.

“You come from war, you just want to see your child progress, to give you hope,” he said.

“But parents are experiencing stress and depression because of their children.”

He said he feared the gang violence would escalate into race riots.

Late last year, ABC’s 7.30 program reported that some African parents had resorted to sending their children to boarding school in Uganda and Kenya to prevent them becoming involved in violent crime in Australia.

“There are a lot of African children now in jail. There are a lot of children now in the street, they drink, they do whatever,” South Sudanese woman Akec Mading told the program, after sending her son and daughter to Africa to school.

Salvation Army Victoria commanding officer Brendan Nottle, told news.com.au that African youth, mainly immigrants, had often suffered through a deeply tortuous journey to Australia, spending years in refugee camps in appalling conditions.

“Once they got to Australia, a country far from home, some found it difficult in school, difficult to get jobs and felt “locked out” of the community,” he said.

“While many did progress well, inevitably some ended up rubbing shoulders with equally aggrieved young people.”

Mr Nottle said rather than pointing the finger at African youths, some “very serious conversations,” needed to be had, to work out why they were so angry.