Was Hanson cheated????

[Socky the Sock.]

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[Pastafarian]

Interesting Socky. I'm assuming you aren't Mellie, who seems to think that Pauline is the greatest politician since Bob Menzies. However one little problem with your article. It didn't show the absolute farce the "evidence" is proving to be. The e-mailer hasn't turned up to court or signed an affidavit, and now it's revealed that the same person likely e-mailed a Greens MP along the same lines.


She's been the victim of a prank, but unlike people with common sense, she believes she's being persecuted.

[Socky the Sock.]

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[Pastafarian]

If it is an elaborate prank, Hanson should sue the person involved to cover legal costs etc...

They don't know who it is yet.

[Socky the Sock.]

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[donniedarko]

Hanson must be proud that Sarah Palin is using 'One Nation' as her sounding board currently http://www.theage.com.au/national/a-pal ... 1fk9w.html.

[Pastafarian]

Hoaxer forces Hanson to raise white flag Alexandra Smith State Politics
June 15, 2011


Not a Toowoomba construction worker ... Sean Castle, who masqueraded as Michael Rattner, leaves the Supreme Court last night. Photo: Wolter Peeters

IN THE end, the key piece of evidence in Pauline Hanson's challenge of the state election count was a hoax, with the Sydney teacher Sean Castle yesterday admitting in court he was behind the lie involving fake emails and alter egos.

Ms Hanson's challenge collapsed last night after Mr Castle, a father of three, conceded he made up the critical piece of evidence in the case while masquerading as Michael Rattner, a construction worker from Toowoomba.

The One Nation founder launched the challenge after she was led to believe from one of Mr Castle's emails that ''dodgy staff'' at the NSW Electoral Commission had mistakenly put 1200 votes for her in a pile of blank ballots.

Mr Castle told the court he wrote the email that he claimed was from one senior electoral commission officer to another. He then forwarded that email to Ms Hanson for her to use as proof she had been robbed of a seat.

Ms Hanson pursued the challenge in the belief that the missing votes may have cost her an upper house seat and that the Nationals MP Sarah Mitchell and the Greens MP Jeremy Buckingham may have been unfairly elected.

The Christian school teacher, who was accompanied to court by a Salvation Army officer, also conceded that he had spoken to Ms Hanson and her lawyer, David Leamy, several times on the phone, claiming to be Mr Rattner.

Mr Castle said he had never known anyone who worked for the electoral commission and denied having a girlfriend who worked for the commission, despite telling Ms Hanson that this was how he came upon the email.

He also admitted contacting Mr Buckingham several times during and after the election campaign but it was not revealed which name he used when he made these calls.

Last week, Mr Buckingham revealed he was phoned several times by a Michael Wilson, who claimed to be a Daily Telegraph reporter working on election stories with a colleague, Sean Castle. The newspaper has confirmed that neither man has ever worked for the organisation.

Outside the court last night, Ms Hanson said she was ''absolutely devastated''.

''I had to give my solicitors the go-ahead to shut the case down because I needed closure and the public needed closure.'' She believed Mr Castle should be charged for his ''vicious'' hoax.

A warrant was issued for the arrest of Mr Rattner last week after he failed to appear to give evidence in the case. But on Friday, Mr Castle appeared in the Supreme Court to apologise for representing himself as Michael Rattner.


Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/hoaxer-forces ... z1PIobpQ3D

[boxy]