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A 60-year-old Victorian man lies in Geelong Hospital with bleeding from the brain and multiple fractures to his face. A husband and father of two, allegedly beaten with a baseball bat beyond all recognition. And why was he beaten?

Well, he was allegedly set upon for the crime of having a One Nation corflute sign in his front yard.

Tell me Australia’s changed without telling me Australia’s changed.

Pauline Hanson joined me for an interview, which you can watch in the video below.

But before I spoke with her, I wanted to show the face of the One Nation volunteer, just so you can appreciate how savage this alleged attack was.

Ironically, his face is so badly battered that our producers told me they’d be forced to pixelate so much of it to make it appropriate for television, you wouldn’t actually be able to see any of it.

And a warning: even with the blurring, this is distressing. Here’s how much we’re allowed to show you.

Arrest and Caution Over One Nation Volunteer Bashing

When I saw the uncensored photos showing the full extent of the injuries to this man’s face, I felt physically sick.

The allegation is that this Hanson supporter confronted a man and a 14-year-old for damaging the signs on his property, and that the pair responded by kicking and beating him until he was unconscious.

And then, because the evening was still young, they allegedly turned on his car. That’s apparently when police arrived, arresting a 37-year-old man and issuing the teenager with a caution. Can you believe that?

“Please exercise more caution next time when you’re wielding a baseball bat.” That’s peak Victoria right there.

Now, as I said, I’m going to speak with Pauline Hanson in a moment, but first, here’s Victorian Premier Ben Carroll’s reaction:

“It should never be occurring. I made it very clear: whether you’re wearing a red, a blue, an orange, or a green T-shirt, they are volunteers. They are out there doing what they believe is right. And no one should be coming under attack.”

Well, indeed. But it’s funny, isn’t it? I remember when Helen Haines was attacked. What was that, two weeks ago? And the internet, that famous court of impartial justice, instantly decided the attacker was probably a One Nation supporter. It wasn’t.

Helen Haines’ alleged attacker, as it turns out, has far more in common with the left than with One Nation. So what did the critics do? Retire gracefully? No, they simply pivoted. If you can’t pin the attacker on One Nation, pin the atmosphere on One Nation.

Those “Please Explain” cartoons, broadcast two years before the attack on Helen Haines and depicting someone other than Helen Haines, probably contributed to the attack on Helen Haines. And the critics accuse One Nation of doing satire.

Political Violence Directed at One Nation

It’s funny because the ones being accused of committing or of stoking violence are the ones on the receiving end of violence. And this isn’t an isolated incident, what happened to this man.

In August, a 60-year-old woman volunteering for One Nation was left with broken ribs after she was allegedly punched and spat on at the Brisbane Exhibition.

That same month, we had school kids encouraged to skip class to protest One Nation, yelling death threats against Pauline Hanson. But no one much bothered because, well, it’s just kids, and it’s only Pauline Hanson.

At the weekend, a pub in Ballarat was vandalised with anti-One Nation graffiti too vile to repeat here. A pub. Remember when pubs were places you’d go to argue over politics while having a beer before returning home?

And now we get this: a man in hospital with horrific injuries, allegedly beaten with a baseball bat because of a plastic political sign in his front yard.

With weeks until the Victorian state election, months until the New South Wales state election, and 18 months until the federal election, you worry about just how far things might go.

Political violence doesn’t usually arrive all at once. It becomes normalised, then excused, then rationalised, and sometimes even dressed up as a form of moral resistance until somebody gets seriously hurt. And that’s where we are right now, or worse.

Could we really reach a point in this country where someone is killed for their political beliefs? Perish the thought.

But looking at the temperature of our politics and the apparent enthusiasm some people have for demonising their opponents, I wonder how many of us would confidently rule it out.

That should frighten all of us.

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Republished with thanks to The James Macpherson Report. Image via screenshot of YouTube.