Well the question that must be asked today in relation to Pauline Hanson is a simple one.
Who now is in the dock?
The Court of Criminal Appeal in Queensland took just three minutes to say, through the Chief Justice, Mr. Justice De Jersey - but speaking on behalf of the Appeal Court, President Margaret McMurdoch and Justice Geoff Davies, "In respect of each appeal, we allow the appeal. We quash the conviction or convictions of the appellant, set aside the sentence or sentences imposed in the District Court and in respect of the indictment direct that judgements and verdicts of acquittal be entered."
Three minutes later, Mr. Justice DeJersey was gone.
As we now know, Pauline Hanson and David Ettridge have been in jail for 11 weeks, convicted of fraudulently registering One Nation as a political party in 1997.
As a result, a further accusation that she had fraudulently received $500,000 in electoral funding that shouldn't have been paid to her because her party was fraudulently registered.
Amongst other things, Justice De Jersey was critical of the limited funding and level of expertise within the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions in Queensland which, he said, could have resulted in the prevention of the case even reaching trial.
The only One Nation representative in the Federal Parliament, Queensland Senator Len Harris said last night he didn't expect to get judicial fairness within Queensland.
He said, "It's very obvious that the DPP's days of making motherhood statements and having judges accept them without the substantive evidence to back it up is over."
And what does this all say for the judge who put Pauline Hanson in jail for three years non-parole, hand-cuffed and strip-searched?
Remember, this is the same judge in Queensland, Patsy Wolfe, who previously heard charges of a 40 year old man indecently assaulting his 8 year old step-daughter.
After the man pleaded guilty to indecent assault, Judge Wolfe heard testimony of how the man made the girl take off her underpants and sit on his knee before touching her genitals.
Judge Wolfe convicted the man and sentenced him to 12 months jail wholly suspended for three years.
There are other judgements by Patsy Wolfe and now this one by Pauline Hanson which says something significant about the system of justice in Queensland.
And, quite frankly, if someone in any other walk of life could get something as completely wrong as this woman, Judge Patsy Wolfe, then they would be today looking for a job.
The decision by the Court of Criminal Appeal is a comprehensive indictment of the judge, Patsy Wolfe, the DPP and the whole process in Queensland under which this prosecution was launched.
For Queensland Premier Peter Beattie to say that the judgement underlined the independence of the Court process is to completely ignore the catastrophic failure of everyone in the Hanson case, from the Office of the DPP to the very judge herself.
Mr. Beattie had better now explain how you compensate people who have been improperly jailed for 11 weeks and how you correct the system about which there are no guarantees that this isn't going on elsewhere.
