It's telling that great prime ministers like Howard, Fraser, Hawke and Keating have nothing in common with Pauline Hanson.

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Can you see any of these men announcing: "I'm going to save Australia" or "people, listen to me"?

The obvious point is that Hanson's policy announcements are actually about her not about policy.

She started out by telling us, at its simplest, that there were bad things out there and if we followed her she would slay the beasts.

She never did of course. Having nasties out there is essential for would-be heroes. Without nasties, who would they slay?

It might sound harsh, but it is true. The needy are an indispensable asset to welfare workers, ditto the sick to doctors. Hanson needs our fears and problems. They are her daily sustenance.

More to the point, focusing on the nasties fits Hanson's pattern. To me its the pattern of someone who is deeply paranoid. She's probably thought from childhood the world was out to get her. But I have no professional training in this area.

You can see it in her response to criticism that she just hadn't shown up enough to Parliament for the normal sittings or for committee work. "These bastards, all they are worried about is trying to kick me in the guts to make out that I'm not doing anything," she said.

It's classic Pauline. She sets the primary focus on her being kicked in the guts and the secondary point that they "make out" that she's not doing anything.

Since when was it a kick in the guts to point out you didn't show up for the work you are meant to do?

How would a kid working in fast food or at a pub or supermarket get on if they didn't show up?

Pointing out your absence from work isn't saying you're not doing anything. It's simply saying you're not doing the job you're paid to do, in her case by the taxpayer. To think otherwise seems paranoid in the extreme.

It also seems an extraordinary response from someone who says Australians are lazy and don't show up for work.

Now, I hear another stream of consciousness spilling into our ears from Hanson. It is pure delusion. She said in the UK "I am going to save Australia" from becoming like the UK.

A leader who really wanted to unite a nation might say something inclusive like "We need to work together,........

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