One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has been dumped as keynote speaker at a women property influencers’ convention after her leading gig was mocked online and industry members quit in protest.
The Real Estate Institute of NSW has now issued a grovelling backdown letter to its members over the Women in Real Estate conference due to feature Hanson at Sydney’s Shangri-La Hotel in April.
The $545 a head ‘WIRE’ event had promised a gathering of ‘the forces influencing the future of real estate’ with Hanson’s lecture on housing and national policy ‘a moment you’ll want to be in the room for, so you won’t want to miss it’.
The invitation to female real estate industry figures has the words ‘Introducing Senator Pauline Hanson’ above a photo of the beaming politician and the words ‘Connected. Empowered. Inspired’.
The REINSW made the announcement Hanson would headline the annual event on February 23, exactly a week after her controversial statement that there are ‘no good Muslims’.
Four days after that, on February 27, the Institute cancelled her. Its email to members admitted it had been snowed with complaints, saying ‘a significant number … have told us they cannot separate Senator Hanson’s story of resilience from her policies’.
This was in reference to the original WIRE promotional poster touting Hanson as ‘an enduring presence in national politics’ with ‘sustained electoral relevance’ and ‘a central force… who has shaped conversation across the country’.
One member, REINSW Regional Advisory Committee official, Marc Minor, posted his resignation on Facebook ‘effective immediately’, and said his industry should be ‘inclusive, respectful and forward-looking’.
Pauline Hanson has been dumped from the real estate convention promoted (above) as a chance for influential property figures to hear her thoughts on housing and national policy
Female property influencers were invited to the $545-a-head event touting Hanson as ‘an enduring presence in national politics’ with ‘sustained electoral relevance’ and ‘a central force … who has shaped conversation across the country’
The invitation for the women’s real estate convention was sent out on February 23, a week after Pauline Hanson’s controversial comments on Sky News that there were ‘no good Muslims’. She was dumped on February 27
On Reddit, people mocked the industry for considering Hanson, saying ‘when you think real estate agents can’t get a worse reputation?’.
One poster quipped, ‘It’s the “let’s pretend housing unaffordability is all the fault of migrants not property speculators” show. Pauline says: Hands off our tax rorts!’
Hanson was to lead the line-up at the WIRE event which included ‘mentalist and mindset speaker’ Andy Nunn, PropTech CEO Rebecca Moroney, Nitschke Real Estate CEO Michael Nitschke, and Domain Vice President Belinda Sinclair.
The conference blurb praised Pauline Hanson’s ‘ability to mobilise voter support’ and her ‘agenda-setting voice in public debate’.
In his backdown letter, REINSW CEO Tim McKibbin – who calls himself on his LinkedIn page a ‘Real Estate Thought Leader’ – wrote that ‘over the years, WIRE has featured presentations from a wide variety of speakers.’
‘Including people from different sectors and different backgrounds with different perspectives, who have talked about their lives, the challenges and adversity they have faced, their successes, their motivation, and more.
‘Consistent with this theme we asked Senator Hanson to tell her story, given her four decades in politics and being in the public eye.
‘Irrespective of her politics, she has faced many challenges and her resilience is clear. Nonetheless, Senator Hanson is a politician, and her policies cover a variety of issues.
Reddit users mock the real estate industry’s proposed use of Senator Hanson as their keynote speaker at a female property influencers’ convention, joking she would argue that migrants were to blame for housing unaffordability
In his backdown letter, REINSW CEO Tim McKibbin (above) – who calls himself on his LinkedIn page a ‘Real Estate Thought Leader’ – admitted ‘a significant number… have told us they cannot separate Senator Hanson’s story of resilience from her policies’
In his grovelling backdown letter, the Institute CEO admitted he’d been snowed by complaints from members and that Hanson’s ‘policies cover a variety of issues’
The governing NSW real estate body received a torrent of protests from members before being forced to cancel Hanson. Above, REINSW official Marc Minor quits ‘effective immediately’
‘A significant number of members have told us they cannot separate Senator Hanson’s story of resilience from her policies.
‘We understand and respect those views and consequently, Senator Hanson will no longer be speaking at WIRE.’
Hanson has copped flak even from conservative figures since she claimed on Sky News on February 16 that there were no good Muslims and that those who practise the religion ‘hate Westerners’.
‘You say, oh, well, there’s good Muslims out there. Well, I’m sorry, how can you tell me there are good Muslims?’ she told Sky.
The comments have received widespread condemnation.
One of Australia’s most prominent conservatives, Nationals Senator Matt Canavan, described Hanson’s remark as ‘divisive, inflammatory’ and ‘un-Australian’.