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By CNN's Grant Holloway
SYDNEY, Australia (CNN) -- As Australia's so-far unremarkable election campaign draws to a conclusion, a question intrigues: whatever happened to Pauline Hanson?
Three years ago, Hanson's far right One Nation Party was Australia's political enfante terrible, generating fear and loathing among the major parties and earning disapproving headlines in Asia for its anti-immigration policies and racist overtones.
These days, Hanson -- who is running for a seat in Australia's Senate -- is struggling to draw more than 100 people to her campaign meetings, even in her former stronghold of regional Queensland.
From winning 11 seats and 22 percent of the vote in Queensland's state election in June 1998, Hanson's party is now barely a shadow of its former self.
Perhaps the seeds of One Nation's spectacular decline can be found in the fledgling party's equally rapid ascent.
The party was put together hurriedly and haphazardly in an attempt to capitalize on the popularity of Hanson amongst disaffected Australians disillusioned with mainstream political parties.
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Hanson's plain speaking style tapped a vein in conservative rural and regional Australians who were feeling the impact of market deregulation and an internationalizing economy.
And One Nation's grab-bag of policies were tailored to appeal to a range of special interests such as the pro-gun lobby and various anti-immigration groupings.
But lacking a solid political party machine, with its attendant disciplines, One Nation soon foundered with all its 11 Queensland members defecting or going independent within months of being elected.
Infighting amongst Hanson and the party leadership also became rife, with the media concentrating less and less on One Nation polices and more on the daily intrigues and sniping.
Then came a body blow.
In July this year, Hanson and other party officials were charged with fraud stemming from the alleged illegal registration of the party and her subsequent acceptance of electoral funding.
Campaign coffers depleted
Hanson is fighting the charges, which carry a maximum sentence of 10 years' jail.
The legal battle has clearly depleted the One Nation campaign coffers, hampering any real attempt to regain broader public interest.
Hanson herself battles on, but far more as a personality cult than as a serious party with a raft of policies designed to govern.
The One Nation website is now more showcase for glamorous studio photographs of Hanson than it is for political discourse.
The only attempt at an economic platform is a proposed "E-tax".
Lack of details
Billed as a proposal rather than a policy document, Hanson's E-tax would abolish all existing taxes, and replace them with a 1 percent tax on all financial institution withdrawals made in Australia.
The proposal argues that such a tax would raise far more revenue than the existing tax regime by making big business and multinationals contribute a far greater share to treasury revenues.
Even in its admittedly conceptual stage, the Hanson tax proposal is remarkably light on detail and costings.
Current polling trends suggest this election Australians are looking for more substance and less rhetoric from their would-be leaders.
If this proves to be the case, Nov. 10 2001 may well be Hanson's swansong.
