Ex-One Nation staffer linked to senator Fraser Anning’s address

The speechwriter criticised for Fraser Anning’s first speech to parliament is said to be “fascinated with Nazi Germany”.

Speechwriter Richard Howard (far right) watches Senator Fraser Anning deliver his first speech to the Senate.

A speechwriter criticised for ­Fraser ­Anning’s incendiary first speech to parliament is a former One ­Nation staffer said to be “fascinated with Nazi Germany”.

Parliamentarians yesterday vented outrage at the speech on Tuesday by the Queensland senator — elected with just 19 primary votes — which called for a “final solution” referendum on reinstating the White Australia policy.

The man believed to have helped write the speech, Richard Howard, worked for since-­disqualified One Nation senator Malcolm Roberts before being forced out last year. Supporters of Mr Howard, who declined to speak to The Australian, have been told his departure was forced because he suggested adviser Sean Black, then charged with rape and since jailed, be removed.

Mr Roberts said yesterday Mr Howard was simply “not a good fit” and sometimes seemed to view the then senator as a mouthpiece for his own views. “(He was) fascinated with Nazi Germany and authoritarian ­approaches and decisive rulers,” Mr Roberts said, and often “hearkened back overly to the days of empire … when the world seemed white and ­European”.

Mr Howard has denied he is an extremist. The Australian is not suggesting Mr Howard endorses ­Nazism and it is not known if the reference to a “final solution” was made at his suggestion.

One Nation leader Pauline Hanson, under pressure over her own record of inflammatory rhetoric, used parliamentary privilege to lash out at Mr Howard for allegedly drawing inspiration “straight from Goebbels’ handbook from Nazi Germany”.

Senator Hanson said she was appalled by the speech and said Mr Howard had “worked for a military propaganda specialist” before joining Mr Roberts’ staff in 2016. “Richard was one of the staffers that I warned Fraser Anning not to take on; he disregarded my warning and took him on. So that was his decision,” she said.

WATCH: @PaulineHansonOz says she agrees with most of the speech made by Senator Fraser Anning. #theboltreport @SkyNewsAust

MORE: https://t.co/fcL5v0uyEz pic.twitter.com/8QuoSKBpk5

— The Bolt Report (@theboltreport) August 15, 2018

In an interview on Sky News’s The Bolt Report last night, Senator Hanson said: “Fraser Anning did not write this speech. He wouldn’t have a clue what ‘the final solution’ is. That is Richard Howard’s words.”

She described Mr Howard as a “propagandist” and “military man”.

Some who worked with Mr Howard outside One Nation described him as relatively easy to work with and held essentially liberal or libertarian views.

Mr Howard declined to respond yesterday, with a spokesman saying he was considering legal options.

Mr Howard, who has also worked for Liberal Democrat David Leyonhjelm, was involved — with other advisers — in drafting and revising Senator Anning’s speech.

Senator Anning, who received just 19 primary votes at the 2016 election, said he did not realise “final solution” was the Nazi codename for the plan to murder Jews in the 1940s.

Mr Roberts said Mr Howard was “erudite”, “intelligent” and a “superb strategist”. “He seems to politically calculate to lay the groundwork for media attention, even if it is negative, just to get headlines,” he said.

“(He) chooses words carefully and cleverly at times for double meanings.”

As a senator, Mr Roberts also was criticised for some words: last year he described One Nation as the “party of the nationalist working class”. Asked about Mr Howard’s influence on his speeches, Mr Roberts said: “I preferred the word populist or nationalistic, not nationalist.”

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten reach a consensus yesterday about Fraser Anning’s inflammatory speech. Photo: Nine News

Tuesday’s speech triggered protests from MPs across all parties.

But Senator Anning and his party leader Bob Katter flatly refused to apologise for the remarks, which offended minority groups including the Jewish community, for whom “final solution” is synonymous with the Holocaust. Malcolm Turnbull and Bill Shorten rejected calls for racial or religious tests for migrants.

Although Senator Anning received only 19 primary votes, he ultimately attracted 207,193 votes after One Nation ticket votes and preferences. He never sat as a One Nation senator, sitting as an independent before enlisting with Katter.