title: Don't Cry for Me Argentina

text: It is covered by Lloyd Webber's younger brother and cellist Julian on the 2001 album, "Lloyd Webber Plays Lloyd Webber". Another version was recorded in 2010 by TV series "Glee"s actors Lea Michele and Chris Colfer, as the characters Rachel Berry and Kurt Hummel respectively. It was sung as a duet with each singer taking a different stanza and performing before a different audience in a split-scene. Their solo versions were also in "Glee: The Music, The Complete Season Two" and reached number 67 in the United Kingdom and number 97 in US. Multinational quartet Il Divo recorded it on their 2011 album, "Wicked Game", and performed it live on tours. The group's voice was considered suitable for musical numbers like "Don't Cry for Me Argentina", by Ben Walsh from "The Independent". Nicole Scherzinger performed the song live at the "Andrew Lloyd Webber: 40 Musical Years" tribute show. Louis Virtel from The Backlot complimented her vocals, saying that the performance "has to be seen to be believed, as Scherzinger’s crystal-clear vocal soars like a glittery javelin".


title: Bo Hopkins

text: William Mauldin "Bo" Hopkins (February 2, 1938 – May 28, 2022) was an American actor. He was known for playing supporting roles in a number of major studio films between 1969 and 1979, and appeared in many television shows and TV movies.


title: Bo Hopkins

text: Hopkins appeared in more than 100 film and television roles in a career of more than 40 years, including the major studio films "The Wild Bunch" (1969), "The Bridge at Remagen" (1969), "The Getaway" (1972), "American Graffiti" (1973), "The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing" (1973), "The Killer Elite" (1975), "Posse" (1975), "A Small Town in Texas" (1976), "Midnight Express" (1978), and "More American Graffiti" (1979). His final film, Hillbilly Elegy, was directed by his long time friend Ron Howard and released in 2020.


title: Bo Hopkins

text: After Hopkins' first roles in major films in the early 1970s he appeared in "White Lightning" (1973). Hopkins played Roy Boone. Jerry Reed and Hopkins played brothers Joe Hawkins and Tom Hawkins in the 1985 film "What Comes Around".


title: Bo Hopkins

text: Hopkins starred or co-starred in a number of made-for-television movies of the mid-1970s, including "Gondola" (1973), "Judgment: The Court Martial of Lieutenant William Calley" (1975), "The Runaway Barge" (1975), "The Kansas City Massacre" (1975), "The Invasion of Johnson County" (1976), "" (1976), "Woman on the Run" (1977), "Thaddeus Rose and Eddie" (1978), "Crisis in Sun Valley" (1978), and "The Busters" (1978).


title: Bo Hopkins

text: When Gretchen Corbett left the television series "The Rockford Files" in 1978, Hopkins replaced her character as Rockford's attorney John Cooper, ultimately appearing in three episodes. In 1981, Hopkins appeared in the first season of the prime time drama "Dynasty" as Matthew Blaisdel. His many other appearances on television included in miniseries "Aspen" (1977) and "Beggarman, Thief" (1979), and in episodes of "Gunsmoke", "Bonanza", "The Virginian", "Nichols", "The Rat Patrol" (replacing Justin Tarr as the jeep driver for three episodes), "The Mod Squad", "Hawaii Five-O", "Paul Sand in Friends and Lovers", "The Rookies", "Charlie's Angels", "Fantasy Island", "The A-Team", "Scarecrow and Mrs. King", "The Fall Guy", "Crazy Like a Fox", "Murder, She Wrote", and "Doc Elliot". Hopkins portrayed a role in the video game "Nuclear Strike". He plays Colonel LeMonde, a mercenary who steals a nuclear weapon. The "Strike" team tracks him through Southeast Asia.


title: Bo Hopkins

text: William Hopkins was born in Greenville, South Carolina. At the age of nine months, he was adopted by a couple who were unable to conceive. Growing up, he was called "Billy." His adoptive father worked in a mill in Taylors, South Carolina. When his father was 39, he died of a heart attack on the porch of the family's home. Billy and his mother witnessed his death. Unable to remain in their house, a month later the two of them moved to a new residence in nearby Ware Shoals, where his grandfather and uncles worked in another mill. His mother eventually remarried a man whose last name was Davis. Hopkins did not get along with his new stepfather; the two got into numerous arguments, some serious. After running away from home a few times, he was sent to live with his grandparents and while there he learned that he had been adopted because his adoptive mother could not bear children. At age 12, he met his birth mother who lived with his half-sisters and a half-brother in Lockhart, another small mill town in South Carolina.


title: Bo Hopkins

text: Billy led a troubled life as a youngster, with numerous instances of truancy, minor crimes, and a stay in a reform school. He dropped out of school just before his 17th birthday and joined the United States Army, where he was assigned to the 101st Airborne Division. He was based at Fort Jackson, Fort Gordon, and Fort Pope, before being shipped off to Korea, where he served for nine months. After his military service, William "Billy" Hopkins began dating Norma Woodle, whom he married at age 21, and they had a daughter in July 1960.


title: Bo Hopkins

text: Hopkins became interested in pursuing an acting career, although his wife disapproved of it and she soon left him, taking their daughter with her. After appearing in some area plays, he received a scholarship to study acting and stage production at the Pioneer Playhouse in Kentucky, where he soon moved. While there, he began dating a girl who had once held the title of Miss Mississippi. From Kentucky, he made his way to New York City to act in more stage plays. After New York, he moved to Hollywood with his cousin's boyfriend, who wanted to be a stuntman. In Hollywood, he earned a living parking cars while studying at the Actors Studio, where one of his classmates was future Oscar-winner Martin Landau.


title: Bo Hopkins

text: Hopkins was married to Sian Eleanor Green from 1989 until his death; they had a son in 1995. After six years of professional inactivity, Hopkins returned to acting, reading scripts, and was writing his autobiography.


title: York Minster

text: The Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of Saint Peter in York, commonly known as York Minster, is the cathedral of York, North Yorkshire, England, and is one of the largest of its kind in Northern Europe. The minster is the seat of the Archbishop of York, the third-highest office of the Church of England (after the monarch as Supreme Governor and the Archbishop of Canterbury), and is the mother church for the Diocese of York and the Province of York. It is run by a dean and chapter, under the Dean of York. The title "minster" is attributed to churches established in the Anglo-Saxon period as missionary teaching churches, and serves now as an honorific title; the word "Metropolitical" in the formal name refers to the Archbishop of York's role as the Metropolitan bishop of the Province of York. Services in the minster are sometimes regarded as on the High Church or Anglo-Catholic end of the Anglican continuum.


title: York Minster

text: The minster was completed in 1472 after several centuries of building. It is devoted to Saint Peter, and has a very wide Decorated Gothic nave and chapter house, a Perpendicular Gothic quire and east end and Early English North and South transepts. The nave contains the West Window, constructed in 1338, and over the Lady Chapel in the east end is the Great East Window (finished in 1408), the largest expanse of medieval stained glass in the world. In the north transept is the Five Sisters window, each lancet being over high. The south transept contains a rose window, while the West Window contains a heart-shaped design colloquially known as The Heart of Yorkshire.


title: York Minster

text: A bishop of York was summoned to the Council of Arles in 314 indicating the presence of a Christian community in York at this time; however, archaeological evidence of Christianity in Roman York is limited. The first recorded church on the site was a wooden structure built hurriedly in 627 to provide a place to baptise Edwin, King of Northumbria. Moves towards a more substantial building began in the decade of the 630s. A stone structure was completed in 637 by Oswald and was dedicated to Saint Peter. The church soon fell into disrepair and was dilapidated by 670 when Saint Wilfrid ascended to the See of York. He repaired and renewed the structure. The attached school and library were established and by the 8th century were some of the most substantial in Northern Europe.


title: York Minster

text: In 741, the church was destroyed in a fire. It was rebuilt as a larger structure containing thirty altars. The church and the entire area then passed through the hands of numerous invaders, and its history is obscure until the 10th century. There were a series of Benedictine archbishops, including Saint Oswald of Worcester, Wulfstan and Ealdred, who travelled to Westminster to crown William in 1066. Ealdred died in 1069 and was buried in the church.


title: York Minster

text: The church was damaged in 1069 during William the Conqueror's harrying of the North, but the first Norman archbishop, Thomas of Bayeux, arriving in 1070, organised repairs. The Danes destroyed the church in 1075, but it was again rebuilt from 1080. Built in the Norman style, it was 364.173 ft (111 m) long and rendered in white and red lines. The new structure was damaged by fire in 1137 but was soon repaired. The choir and crypt were remodelled in 1154, and a new chapel was built, all in the Norman style.


title: York Minster

text: The Gothic style in cathedrals had arrived in the mid 12th century. Walter de Gray was made archbishop in 1215 and ordered the construction of a Gothic structure to rival Canterbury; building began in 1220. The north and south transepts were the first new structures; completed in the 1250s, both were built in the Early English Gothic style but had markedly different wall elevations. A substantial central tower was also completed, with a wooden spire. Building continued into the 15th century.


title: York Minster

text: The Chapter House was begun in the 1260s and was completed before 1296. The wide nave was constructed from the 1280s on the Norman foundations. The outer roof was completed in the 1330s, but the vaulting was not finished until 1360. Construction then moved on to the eastern arm and chapels, with the last Norman structure, the choir, being demolished in the 1390s. Work here finished around 1405. In 1407 the central tower collapsed; the piers were then reinforced, and a new tower was built from 1420. The western towers were added between 1433 and 1472. The cathedral was declared complete and consecrated in 1472.


title: York Minster

text: The English Reformation led to the looting of much of the cathedral's treasures and the loss of much of the church lands. Under Elizabeth I there was a concerted effort to remove all traces of Roman Catholicism from the cathedral; there was much destruction of tombs, windows and altars. In the English Civil War the city was besieged and fell to the forces of Cromwell in 1644, but Thomas Fairfax prevented any further damage to the cathedral.


title: York Minster

text: Following the easing of religious tensions some work was done to restore the cathedral. From 1730 to 1736 the whole floor of the minster was relaid in patterned marble and from 1802 there was a major restoration. However, on 2 February 1829, an arson attack by Jonathan Martin inflicted heavy damage on the east arm. An accidental fire in 1840 left the nave, south west tower and south aisle roofless and blackened shells. The cathedral slumped deeply into debt and in the 1850s services were suspended. From 1858 Augustus Duncombe worked successfully to revive the cathedral. In 1866, there were six residentiary canonries: of which one was the Chancellor's, one the Sub-Dean's, and another annexed to the Archdeaconry of York.


title: York Minster

text: During the 20th century there was more concerted preservation work, especially following a 1967 survey that revealed the building, in particular the central tower, was close to collapse. £2,000,000 was raised and spent by 1972 to reinforce and strengthen the building foundations and roof. During the excavations that were carried out, remains of the north corner of the Roman "Principia" (headquarters of the Roman fort, Eboracum) were found under the south transept. This area, as well as remains of the Norman cathedral, re-opened to the public in spring 2013 as part of the new exhibition exploring the history of the building of York Minster.


title: York Minster

text: On 9 July 1984, York Minster suffered a serious fire in its south transept during the early morning hours. Firefighters made a decision to deliberately collapse the roof of the South Transept by pouring tens of thousands of gallons of water onto it, in order to save the rest of the building from destruction. A total of 114 firefighters from across North Yorkshire responded to the fire and contained it, while York Minster's staff and clergy rushed to preserve historical objects in the building. The glass of the South Transept rose window was shattered by the heat but the lead held it together, allowing it to be taken down for restoration. A subsequent investigation found an 80% chance that the fire was caused by a lightning strike to a metal electrical box atop the roof, a 10% chance that the fire was caused by arson, and a 10% chance that the fire was caused by an electrical fault. Some traditionalist Anglicans suggested the fire was a sign of divine displeasure at the recent consecration as Bishop of Durham of David Jenkins, whose views they considered heterodox.


title: York Minster

text: A repair and restoration project was completed in 1988 at a cost of £2.25 million, and included new roof bosses to designs which had won a competition put on by BBC Television's "Blue Peter" programme for children. The roof trusses were rebuilt in oak, but some were coated with fire-retardant plaster.


title: York Minster

text: In 2007 renovation began on the east front, including the Great East Window, at an estimated cost of £23 million. The 311 glass panels from the Great East Window were removed in 2008 for conservation. The project was completed in 2018.


title: York Minster

text: There have been choir schools associated with the Minster since the 7th century. A 'song school' was founded in 627 by Paulinus of York, the first Archbishop of York. Buildings used by the former Minster school have been awarded listed status, among them the school house built 1830–33, two houses dating back to 1837, and a Georgian building of 1755.


title: York Minster

text: York Minster is the second-largest Gothic cathedral of Northern Europe and clearly charts the development of English Gothic architecture from Early English through to the Perpendicular Period. The present building was begun in about 1230 and completed in 1472. York is the largest cathedral completed during the Gothic period of architecture, Cologne Cathedral only being completed in 1880, after being left uncompleted for 350 years. It has a cruciform plan with an octagonal chapter house attached to the north transept, a central tower and two towers at the west front. The stone used for the building is magnesian limestone, a creamy-white coloured rock that was quarried in nearby Tadcaster. The Minster is long and the central tower has a height of . The choir has an interior height of .


title: York Minster

text: The north and south transepts were the first parts of the new church to be built. They have simple lancet windows, including the "Five Sisters" in the north transept. These are five lancets, each tall and five feet wide and glazed with grey (grisaille) glass, rather than narrative scenes or symbolic motifs that are usually seen in medieval stained-glass windows. In the south transept is a rose window whose glass dates from about 1500 and commemorates the union of the royal houses of York and Lancaster. The roofs of the transepts are of wood; that of the south transept was burnt in the fire of 1984 and was replaced in the restoration work which was completed in 1988. New designs were used for the bosses, five of which were designed by winners of a competition organised by the BBC's "Blue Peter" television programme.


title: York Minster

text: Work began on the chapter house and its vestibule that links it to the north transept after the transepts were completed. The style of the chapter house is of the early Decorated Period where geometric patterns were used in the tracery of the windows, which were wider than those of early styles. However, the work was completed before the appearance of the ogee curve, an S-shaped double curve that was extensively used at the end of this period. The windows cover almost all of the upper wall space, filling the chapter house with light. The chapter house is octagonal, as is the case in many cathedrals, but is notable in that it has no central column supporting the roof. The wooden roof, which was of an innovative design, is light enough to be able to be supported by the buttressed walls. The chapter house has many sculptured heads above the canopies, representing some of the finest Gothic sculpture in the country. There are human heads, no two alike, and some pulling faces; angels; animals and grotesques. Unique to the transepts and chapter house is the use of Purbeck marble to adorn the piers, adding to the richness of decoration. The chapter house exhibits the influence of Saint-Urbain, Troyes in the tracery in the vestibule, while the stalls are enlarged versions of the archivolt niches in the portal of Notre-Dame de Paris.


title: York Minster

text: The nave was built between 1291 and and is also in the decorated Gothic style. It is the widest Gothic nave in England and has a wooden roof (painted so as to appear like stone) and the aisles have vaulted stone roofs. At its west end is the Great West Window, known as the 'Heart of Yorkshire', second-largest among the church's 128 windows. This window was designed and built along with the rest of the west front by the master mason Ivo de Raghton in 1338–39. The tracery is in the Flamboyant or Curvilinear Decorated style of English Gothic architecture. Because of deterioration of stone mullions, the tracery was replaced in the late 1980s with an exact copy.


title: York Minster

text: The east end of the Minster was built between 1361 and 1405 in the Perpendicular Gothic style. Despite the change in style, noticeable in details such as the tracery and capitals, the eastern arm preserves the pattern of the nave. The east end contains a four-bay choir; a second set of transepts, projecting only above half-height; and the Lady Chapel. The transepts are in line with the high altar and serve to throw light onto it. Behind the high altar is the Great East Window, the largest expanse of medieval stained glass in the country, which underwent a decade-long restoration and conservation project, completed in 2018.


title: York Minster

text: The sparsely decorated "Central Tower" was built between 1407 and 1472 and is also in the Perpendicular style. Below this, separating the choir from the crossing and nave is the striking 15th-century choir screen. It contains sculptures of the kings of England from William the Conqueror to Henry VI with stone and gilded canopies set against a red background. Above the screen is the organ, which dates from 1832. The West Towers, in contrast with the Central Tower, are heavily decorated and are topped with battlements and eight pinnacles each, again in the Perpendicular style.


title: York Minster

text: In 2003, English Heritage made publicly available a monograph on the architectural history of York Minster. The book charts the construction and development of the minster based on the architectural recording of the building from the 1970s.


title: York Minster

text: Some of the stained glass in York Minster dates back to the 12th century and much of the glass (white or coloured) came from Germany. The glass was painted, fired, then joined with lead strips (came) into the windows. The tall and wide Great East Window was created by John Thornton in the early 15th century; he was paid £66 for the work. This is the largest expanse of medieval stained glass in the country, according to the Minster. The window represents scenes from the Book of Revelation, and the glazier Thornton may have been influenced by earlier illuminated manuscripts on the subject such as the Latin Douce Apocalypse (Oxford, Bodleian Library, Douce MS 180) and the Old French Queen Mary Apocalypse (London, British Library Royal MS BXV). The work was conceived by Archbishop John of Thoresby in the mid fourteenth century, but the window itself was only completed thanks to the funding of Bishop Walter Skirlaw and Archbishop Richard Scrope.


title: York Minster

text: Another important window is the tall Five Sisters window. Because of the extended time periods during which the glass was installed, different types of glazing and painting techniques are visible in the different windows. Approximately two million individual pieces of glass make up the cathedral's stained-glass windows. The windows were removed in 1916 because of the fear of bombing during the First World War and the "Five Sisters" window was restored in 1925 with £3,500 raised by Almyra Gray and Helen Little. The glass was removed again during the Second World War.


title: York Minster

text: In 2008 a conservation project of the Great East Window commenced, involving the removal, repainting and re-leading of each individual panel. While the window was in storage in the minster's stonemasons' yard, a fire broke out in some adjoining offices, due to an electrical fault, on 30 December 2009. The window's 311 panes, stored in a neighbouring room, were undamaged and were successfully moved to safety. In September 2015, the first phase of the renovation project of the East Front of the Minster was completed. The final phase of the £11 million restoration of the 311 panels was completed in September 2017 and they were re-installed between November 2017 and January 2018. In total, the work on the Great East Window had taken 92,400 hours of labour, including the time required to add protective UV coating on the glass. The work was largely undertaken or overseen by Peter Gibson, who worked on all the Minster's windows during his career.


title: York Minster

text: The two west towers of the minster hold bells, clock chimes and a concert carillon. The north-west tower contains Great Peter (216 cwt or 10.8 tons) and the six clock bells (the largest weighing just over 60 cwt or 3 tons). The south-west tower holds 14 bells (tenor 59 cwt or 3 tons) hung and rung for change ringing and 22 carillon bells (tenor 23 cwt or 1.2 tons) which are played from a baton keyboard in the ringing chamber (all together 36 bells.)


title: York Minster

text: The change ringing bells fell silent in October 2016, following the controversial termination of the ringers' volunteer agreements by the dean and chapter. The pause in ringing included the Christmas period of 2016, reported as the first time in over 600 years that the Minster's bells were not heard on Christmas Day. After a year with no change ringing, a new band was appointed and ringing resumed.


title: York Minster

text: York Minster became the first cathedral in England to have a carillon of bells with the arrival of a further twenty-four small bells on 4 April 2008. These are added to the existing "Nelson Chime" which is chimed to announce Evensong around 5:00 pm each day, giving a carillon of 35 bells in total (three chromatic octaves). The new bells were cast at the Loughborough Bell Foundry of John Taylor & Co, where all of the existing minster bells were cast. The new carillon is a gift to the minster. It will be the first new carillon in the British Isles for 40 years and first hand played carillon in an English cathedral. Before Evensong each evening, hymn tunes are played on a baton keyboard connected with the bells, but occasionally anything from Beethoven to the Beatles may be heard.


title: York Minster

text: When Thomas Becket was murdered and subsequently enshrined at Canterbury, York found itself with a rival major draw for pilgrims. More specifically, pilgrims spent money and would leave gifts for the support of the cathedral. Hence Walter de Gray, supported by the King, petitioned the Pope. On 18 March 1226, Pope Honorius issued a letter to the effect that the name of William (Fitzherbert), formerly Archbishop of York, was "inscribed in the catalogue of the Saints of the Church Militant." Thus there was now St William of York (whose name is perhaps more often associated with the adjacent St William's College). York had its saint but it took until 1279, when William de Wickwane (William de Wykewayne) was elected archbishop, for the remains of the canonised William to be transferred to a shrine prepared for them behind the high altar. This was placed on a platform raised upon the arches of the crypt removed to this position for that purpose. On 29 December King Edward I himself, together with the bishops who were present, carried on their shoulder the chest or feretory containing the relics to their new resting-place and Anthony Beck, consecrated the same day as Bishop of Durham, paid all the expenses.


title: York Minster

text: The tomb of Walter de Gray was erected in the south transept. His remains were interred on "the vigil of Pentecost, 1255" under his effigy "in full canonicals" carved in Purbeck marble under a canopy resting on ten light pillars. It was subsequently somewhat hidden behind a screen of ironwork erected by Archbishop William Markham in the early 19th century.


title: York Minster

text: On 9 November 2022 King Charles III unveiled a statue of his mother Queen Elizabeth II in a niche on the west facade of York Minster.


title: York Minster

text: The Minster's consulting architects (since 1965 called "Surveyors of the Fabric" – see Cant and Aylmer, "York Minster", p. 554) have included the following:


title: York Minster

text: The fire of 1829 destroyed the organ and the basis of the present organ dates from 1832, when "Elliot and Hill" constructed a new instrument. This organ was reconstructed in 1859 by William Hill and Sons. The case remained intact, but the organ was mechanically new, retaining the largest pipes of the former instrument.


title: York Minster

text: In 1903, J. W. Walker and Sons built a new instrument in the same case. They retained several registers from the previous instrument.


title: York Minster

text: Some work was undertaken in 1918 by Harrison & Harrison when the Tuba Mirabilis was added and the Great chorus revised. The same firm rebuilt this Walker-Harrison instrument in 1931 when a new console and electro-pneumatic action were added together with four new stops. The smaller solo tubas were enclosed in the solo box. In 1960, J. W. Walker & Sons restored the actions, lowered wind pressures and introduced mutations and higher chorus work in the spirit of the neo-classical movement. They cleaned the organ in 1982.


title: York Minster

text: The fire of 1984 affected the organ but not irreparably; the damage hastened the time for a major restoration, which was begun in 1991 and finished two years later by Principal Pipe Organs of York, under the direction of their founder, Geoffrey Coffin, who had at one time been assistant organist at the Minster.


title: York Minster

text: In 2018, a £2 million project to refurbish the current organ was announced. The project took two years for its completion in March 2021 and saw nearly all of its 5,403 pipes removed and taken to organ specialists Harrison & Harrison in Durham.


title: York Minster

text: The organists of York Minster have had several official titles, the job description roughly equates to that of Organist and Master of the Choristers. The current Organist and Director of Music of the Minster is Robert Sharpe. There is also an Assistant Director of Music, Ben Morris.


title: York Minster

text: Among the notable organists of York Minster are four members of the Camidge family, who served as the cathedral's organists for over 100 years, and a number of composers including John Naylor, T. Tertius Noble, Edward Bairstow, Francis Jackson, and Philip Moore.


title: York Minster

text: The astronomical clock was installed in the North Transept of York Minster in 1955. The clock is a memorial to the airmen operating from bases in Yorkshire, County Durham and Northumberland who were killed in action during the Second World War. The clock is not currently working.


title: York Minster

text: In November 2002, York Minster was illuminated in colour, devised by York-born Mark Brayshaw, for the first time in its history. The occasion was televised live on the BBC1 "Look North" programme. Similar illuminations have been projected over the Christmas period in subsequent years.


title: York Minster

text: York Minster was also artistically illuminated on 5 November 2005, celebrating the 400th anniversary of the foiling of York-born Guy Fawkes' gunpowder plot. This was done by Patrice Warrener using his unique "chromolithe" technique with which he 'paints' with light, picking out sculpted architectural details.


title: York Minster

text: In October 2010, York Minster's south transept was selected for "Rose", a "son et lumiere" created by international artists Ross Ashton and Karen Monid which lit up the entire exterior of the south transept of the minster and illuminated the Rose Window. There were also satellite illuminate events in Dean's Park.


title: York Minster

text: In 2000, the Dean and Chapter allowed the York Mystery Plays to be performed for the first time inside the Minster, directed by Gregory Doran. The Plays returned to the Minster for a second time in 2016, directed by Phillip Breen with Philip McGinley performing the role of Jesus.


title: Westland Sea King

text: The Westland WS-61 Sea King is a British licence-built version of the American Sikorsky S-61 helicopter of the same name, built by Westland Helicopters. The aircraft differs considerably from the American version, with Rolls-Royce Gnome engines (derived from the US General Electric T58), British-made anti-submarine warfare systems and a fully computerised flight control system. The Sea King was primarily designed for performing anti-submarine warfare (ASW) missions. A Sea King variant known as the Commando was devised by Westland to serve as a troop transport.


title: Westland Sea King

text: In British service, the Westland Sea King provided a wide range of services in both the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. As well as wartime roles in the Falklands War, the Gulf War, the Bosnian War, the Iraq War and the Afghanistan War, the Sea King is perhaps most well known in its capacity as a Royal Navy Search and Rescue (red and grey livery) and RAF Search and Rescue Force (yellow livery) helicopter. The Sea King was also adapted to meet the Royal Navy's requirement for a ship-based airborne early warning platform.


title: Westland Sea King

text: On 26 September 2018, the last remaining Sea King variant in Royal Navy service was retired. Most operators have replaced, or are planning to replace, the Sea King with more modern helicopters, such as the NHIndustries NH90 and the AgustaWestland AW101. HeliOperations continue to operate three Mk 5 Sea Kings, based at RNAS Portland, training German Navy pilots.


title: Westland Sea King

text: Westland Helicopters, which had a long-standing licence agreement with Sikorsky Aircraft to allow it to build Sikorsky's helicopters, extended the agreement to cover the Sikorsky SH-3 Sea King soon after the Sea King's first flight in 1969. Westland proceeded to independently develop the Sea King, integrating a significant proportion of components from British suppliers; key changes include the use of a pair of Rolls-Royce Gnome turboshaft engines and the implementation of an automatic flight control system. On this matter, authors Jim Thorn and Gerald Frawley stated that: "Despite appearances, Westland's Sea King [is a] very different aircraft from Sikorsky's". Many of the differences between the Westland-built Sea King and the original helicopter were as a result of differing operational doctrine. While the U.S. Navy Sea Kings were intended to be under tactical control of the carrier from which they operated, the Royal Navy intended its helicopters to be much more autonomous, capable of operating alone, or co-ordinating with other aircraft or surface vessels. This resulted in a different crew arrangement, with operations being controlled by an observer rather than the pilot, as well as fitting a search radar.


title: Westland Sea King

text: The Royal Navy selected the Sea King to meet a requirement for an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) helicopter to replace the Westland Wessex, placing an order with Westland for 60 SH-3D Sea Kings in June 1966. The prototype and three pre-production aircraft were built by Sikorsky at Stratford, Connecticut and shipped to the United Kingdom to act as trials and pattern aircraft. The first of the SH-3Ds was initially fitted with General Electric T58s and, after being shipped from the United States, was flown in October 1966 from the dockside at Avonmouth to Yeovil airfield. The other three were delivered from the docks, by road to Yeovil, for completion with British systems and Rolls-Royce Gnome engines. The first Westland-built helicopter, designated Sea King HAS1, flew on 7 May 1969 at Yeovil. The first two helicopters were used for trials and evaluation by Westland and the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment; subsequent production Sea Kings were delivered to the Royal Navy's 700 Naval Air Squadron from August 1969 onwards.


title: Westland Sea King

text: By 1979, the Royal Navy had ordered 56 HAS1s and 21 HAS2s to meet the anti-submarine requirements, these were also configured for the secondary anti-ship role. The Westland Sea King was updated and adapted for numerous roles, subsequent variants include the "HAS2", "HAS5" and "HAS6". Changes from initial production aircraft included an expansion of the cabin and upgraded engines.


title: Westland Sea King

text: One of the most extensively modified variants was the Westland Commando, operated by the Royal Navy as the HC4. The Commando had capacity for up to 28 fully equipped troops and had originally been developed to meet an Egyptian Air Force requirement. Due to the deletion of the amphibious capability, not required in the Egyptian desert, the most noticeable change from the Sea King was the deletion of the side floats, the main undercarriage being carried on stub sponsons. An improved variant of the Egyptian Commando, with changes including the fitting of folding blades common to the ASW variants, was designated as the Sea King HC4 by the Royal Navy and all the aircraft were new build. First flying on 26 September 1979, due to its operational range of up to 600 nautical miles without refuelling, the HC4 'Commando' became an important asset for amphibious warfare and troop transport duties, in particular. Several Royal Naval Air Squadrons have operated the Commando variant, such as 845 Naval Air Squadron, 846 Naval Air Squadron and 848 Naval Air Squadron. In British service, the Sea King HC4 was deployed on operations in the Falklands, the Balkans, both Gulf Wars, Sierra Leone, Lebanon and Afghanistan. Towards the end of the Sea King's operational life, several HAS6s were repurposed by the removal of the ASW equipment, as troop transports. In 2010, the last of the UK's converted ASW Sea Kings to troop transports were retired.


title: Westland Sea King

text: In the 1970s, Westland's experience with the Sea King led the company to conduct the British Experimental Rotor Program (BERP), in coordination with the Royal Aircraft Establishment, which applied innovations in composite materials and new design principles to the helicopter rotor. Initial trials carried out with active Sea Kings found several advantages to the BERP rotor, including a longer fatigue life and improved aerodynamic characteristics. Subsequent Westland helicopters, such as the record-breaking Lynx and the AgustaWestland AW101 Merlin, took advantage of BERP rotors for greater performance. Westland equipped later-built Sea Kings with the new composite rotors as well.


title: Westland Sea King

text: Westland has produced a total of 330 Sea Kings; export customers include the Indian Naval Air Arm, the German Navy, the Royal Australian Navy, and the Royal Norwegian Air Force. The last of the Royal Navy's Sea Kings in the ASW role was retired in 2003, being replaced by the AgustaWestland Merlin HM1. The Sea King Airborne Surveillance and Control (ASaC) variant is expected to be replaced around the introduction of the two aircraft carriers. The UK has also planned to retire the HC4 and search and rescue variants in March 2016.


title: Westland Sea King

text: A dedicated search and rescue (SAR) version, the HAR3, was developed for the RAF Search and Rescue Force. The type entered service in 1978 to replace the Westland Whirlwind HAR.10. A 16th helicopter was ordered shortly after, and following the Falklands War of 1982, three more examples were purchased to enable operation of a SAR flight in the islands, initially from Navy Point on the north side of Stanley harbour, and later from RAF Mount Pleasant. In 1992, six further helicopters were ordered to replace the last remaining Westland Wessex helicopters in the SAR role, entering service in 1996. The six Sea King HAR3As featured updated systems, including a digital navigation system and more modern avionics.


title: Westland Sea King

text: Westland also manufactured SAR versions of the Sea King for the Royal Norwegian Air Force, the German Navy and the Belgian Air Force. On SAR variants, the cabin was enlarged by a stretch of the fuselage behind the door; another key feature, used for additional flotation in the unusual event of a water landing, inflatable buoyancy bags were housed inside the aircraft's sponsons. Upgrades and changes made to SAR Sea Kings include the addition of radar warning receivers, a cargo hook for the underslung carriage of goods, and the redesigning of the cockpit for compatibility with night vision goggles.


title: Westland Sea King

text: , up to 12 HAR3/3As were dispersed across the UK, a further two HAR3s were attached to the Falkland Islands, providing 24-hour rescue coverage. Some Royal Navy HAS5 ASW variants were adapted for the SAR role and served with 771 Naval Air Squadron, Culdrose and HMS Gannet SAR Flight at Prestwick Airport in Scotland. , they are expected to remain in service until 2016, being replaced with civilian operated SAR rotorcraft. Both Prince Andrew, Duke of York and Prince William, Duke of Cambridge have flown SAR Sea Kings in front-line roles.


title: Westland Sea King

text: The Royal Navy's airborne early warning (AEW) capability had been lost when the Fairey Gannet aeroplane was withdrawn after the last of the RN's fleet carriers was decommissioned in 1978. During the Falklands War, a number of warships were lost and casualties suffered due to the lack of an AEW platform. The proposed fleet cover by the RAF Shackleton AEW.2 was too unresponsive and at too great a distance to be practical. Consequently, two Sea King HAS2s were modified in 1982 with the addition of the Thorn-EMI ARI 5980/3 Searchwater LAST radar attached to the fuselage on a swivel arm and protected by an inflatable dome. This allowed the radar to be lowered below the fuselage during flight and for it to be raised for landing. These prototypes, designated HAS2(AEW), were both flying within 11 weeks and deployed with 824 "D" Flight on HMS "Illustrious", serving in the Falklands after the cessation of hostilities. A further eight HAS2s were modified to a production standard, known as the AEW2. Two remained "fitted for but not with". These entered operational service in 1985, being deployed by 849 Naval Air Squadron. Three Sea King HAS5/6s were later converted as part of the ASaC Mk7 programme, bringing the Mk7 fleet to 13; still 3 below the requirement.


title: Westland Sea King

text: The upgrade programme resulted in the Sea King AEW fleet being upgraded with a new mission system, Comms, NavAids, JTIDS, Active Noise Reduction and Videographic recording. The Mission System Upgrade (MSU) component (Radar and partial JTIDS integration) was based around the improved Searchwater 2000AEW radar, with an all-new Man-Machine Interface. This MSU component was later termed "Project Cerberus" by Thales, after successful integration was conducted by Westland and GEC-Marconi. This variant was initially referred to as the "Sea King AEW7", but renamed "ASaC7" just before In Service Date. (Airborne Surveillance and Control Mk.7). The main role of the Sea King ASaC7 is detection of low-flying attack aircraft; it also provides interception/attack control and over-the-horizon targeting for surface-launched weapon systems. In comparison to older versions, the new radar enables the ASaC7 to simultaneously track up to 400 targets, instead of an earlier limit of 250 targets. The effectiveness of the AEW7 was greatly increased via the addition of a Link 16 data link, allowing gathered radar information to be analysed and rapidly put to use by multiple allied platforms in range.


title: Westland Sea King

text: The ASaC7s would remain in service until are replaced under the "Crowsnest" programme; intended as a podded capability onboard Merlins. Previous proposed replacement programmes, Future Organic Airborne Early Warning (FOAEW) and MASC (Maritime Airborne Surveillance and Control) were initiated and then cancelled, due largely to the erroneous assumption that the entire ASaC Mk7 system could simply be lifted and plugged into another aircraft type. However, as a result of the time gap between the planned out of service date of the Sea King in 2016, and the introduction of "Crowsnest" seven Sea King ASaC.7 helicopters remained in service with the RN through to the second half of 2018.


title: Westland Sea King

text: A number of Sea Kings were deployed during the Falklands Conflict. They were transported to the combat zone and operated from the decks of various ships of the Royal Navy, such as the landing platform dock . In the theatre, they performed a wide range of missions, from anti-submarine patrols and reconnaissance flights to replenishment operations and the insertion of special forces. Support provided by the Sea Kings in the form of transport for men and supplies has been viewed as vital to the success of the British operation. Sea Kings also protected the fleet by acting as decoys against incoming Exocet missiles, with some missions being flown by Prince Andrew, Duke of York.


title: Westland Sea King

text: Anti-Submarine Sea Kings of 820 Naval Air Squadron were embarked in . With 11 HAS.5s, the squadron operated anti-submarine and search and rescue sorties with one helicopter always airborne on surface search duties. On 14 June, an 820 NAS Sea King HAS.5 was used to transport Major General Jeremy Moore to Port Stanley to accept the surrender of Argentine troops on the island. The squadron flew 1,650 sorties during the war. "A" Flight of 824 Naval Air Squadron embarked two Sea King HAS.2As aboard and were used to move supplies to other ships on the way south and later anti-submarine patrols. "C" Flight had three Sea King HAS.2As on board which were used for replenishment duties, supplying over 2,000 tons of stores.


title: Westland Sea King

text: 825 Naval Air Squadron was formed for the war with 10 Sea King HAS.2s modified as utility variants to support ground forces. The anti-submarine equipment was removed and the helicopters fitted with troop seats. Two aircraft embarked in "Queen Elizabeth 2" and were later used for moving troops from "QE2" to other ships, the remainder embarked in "Atlantic Causeway" and were used for troop movements around the islands. Embarked in was 826 Naval Air Squadron with nine HAS.5s, which carried out continuous anti-submarine sorties. From the departure of "Hermes" from Ascension in April until the Argentine surrender, the squadron operated at least three helicopters airborne continuously for fleet protection.


title: Westland Sea King

text: On 23 April 1982, a Sea King HC4 was ditched while performing a risky transfer of supplies to a ship at night, operating from the flagship HMS "Hermes". On 12 May, a Sea King operating from "Hermes" crashed into the sea due to an altimeter problem; all crew were rescued. On 19 May 1982 a Sea King, in the process of transporting SAS troops to from "Hermes", crashed into the sea while attempting to land on "Intrepid". Twenty-two men were killed and nine survived. Bird feathers were found in the debris, suggesting a bird strike, although investigations of the cause of the accident proved to be inconclusive. The SAS lost 18 men in the crash, their highest number of casualties on one day since the Second World War. The Royal Signals lost one man and the RAF one man.


title: Westland Sea King

text: During the 1991 Gulf War Sea Kings from several nations, including Canada, Britain, and the U.S., were present in the coalition forces against Saddam Hussein's Iraq regime. Due to the threat of potential use of any Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, it was standard practice for Sea King crews to wear fully enclosed NBC (nuclear, biological, chemical) protective suits. Britain's Sea Kings primarily engaged in inter-ship transport duties, including ferrying troops between the fleet and land. Six Sea King Mk4 helicopters from 845 Naval Air Squadron and six of 848 Squadron, which had been reformed to meet this operational demand, worked in support of the ground advance. There was thorough radar coverage by U.S. airborne early warning and control (AWACS) aircraft; British AEW Sea Kings were not deployed.


title: Westland Sea King

text: Following the end of hostilities, the available Sea Kings remained on deployment in the region to conduct transport missions to relocate people displaced by the conflict to refugee camps and repatriate citizens to their home countries.


title: Westland Sea King

text: The Sea King participated in the UN and NATO intervention in Bosnia and Herzegovina. 845 Naval Air Squadron and their Sea Kings had been dispatched to the region in late 1992 in response to escalating tensions in the region. They performed various logistical and transport missions, such as the repositioning of Royal Artillery L118 Light Guns in the region and in the evacuation of casualties. In one incident on 24 March 1993, during an attempt to establish an air evacuation route to a UN-declared safe zone, a flight of French Aérospatiale Pumas and Sea King HC4 helicopters were shelled while taking off from an improvised landing zone. Two further Sea Kings arrived to evacuate several UN casualties, managing to fly the wounded to the Bosnian city of Tuzla, where they came under further enemy fire while unloading.


title: Westland Sea King

text: During NATO's intervention in Kosovo, Sea Kings of 814 Naval Air Squadron, operating from numerous Royal Navy vessels in the Adriatic, including the aircraft carrier HMS "Invincible", maintained a patrol of the Balkans' coast. The Sea Kings were also heavily used in the transport role during the preparations for a ground invasion of Kosovo.


title: Westland Sea King

text: During the 2003 invasion of Iraq, multiple Sea King ASaC7 from 849 NAS were operated from HMS "Ark Royal". On 22 March 2003, two AEW Sea Kings from 849 NAS operating from "Ark Royal" collided over the Persian Gulf, resulting in the death of seven personnel. A report into the collision called for Sea Kings to be outfitted with night vision goggles, as well as better onboard safety equipment, and recommended changes to procedure regarding the use of radar at night. However, it later transpired that the Board of Inquiry had not been told that the three main contributory factors it reported coincided with the three main areas of degradation between the Mk2 and Mk7. (NVG, Anti-Collision lighting and Interoperability with ships). These had been identified and two contracts let to mitigate the risks had been cancelled by an administrative official. Moreover, in 1994 the RN had rejected the recommendation of the programme manager to retain NVG.


title: Westland Sea King

text: In July 2006, Sea King HC.4 helicopters based at RNAS Yeovilton were temporarily deployed to Cyprus to assist in Operation Highbrow, the evacuation of British citizens from Lebanon.


title: Westland Sea King

text: In October 2011, following several years of service in Afghanistan as troop transports for the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) forces stationed there, the Sea King HC.4s returned to the UK; their replacement is the AgustaWestland AW101 Merlin. Between April 2009 and July 2011, the Royal Navy's Sea Kings stationed at Camp Bastion conducted over 1000 operational missions.


title: Westland Sea King

text: In 1974, Australia purchased 12 Westland Sea King Mk 50s as the Royal Australian Navy's new ASW helicopter; the Sea Kings replaced the aircraft carrier 's complement of Westland Wessex HAS31 in the following year. Early operations were troubled by a series of accidents. Between October 1975 to May 1979, four aircraft were lost in accidents, the primary causes were the loss of oil from the main gearbox.


title: Westland Sea King

text: The Australian Sea Kings had similar avionics to that of the Sea King HAS.1, with the same ARI 5995 search radar in a dorsal radome, but had American Bendix AN/AQS-13A dipping sonar instead of the Plessey sonar of the Royal Navy Sea Kings. They also had more powerful engines giving improved high temperature hover performance. Australia's Sea Kings were flown by 817 Squadron RAN from HMAS "Melbourne" until the carrier was retired from service, without replacement. As the Sea King was too large to operate from the s, 817 Squadron was then forced to operate from land bases, in both ASW and utility roles, with the Sea King relinquishing the anti-submarine mission in 1990.


title: Westland Sea King

text: During the 2003 Iraq War, Sea Kings were heavily used in logistical roles, such as the first delivery of humanitarian aid to the Iraqi capital, Baghdad. In the aftermath of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, Australian Sea Kings played a major role in disaster relief efforts in Indonesia's Aceh province, delivering medical teams and supplies from Royal Australian Navy ships. Prior to retirement, the last major missions were flown during the 2010–11 Queensland floods, in which Sea Kings provided SAR coverage of the region and delivered aid relief to citizens in the flooded areas.


title: Westland Sea King

text: The replacement of the Fleet Air Arm's Sea King fleet commenced faster than initially planned following the loss of a Sea King during a humanitarian aid mission in Indonesia in April 2005, resulting in nine deaths. Investigators uncovered serious faults in the condition of the Sea King's mechanical flight control system, resulting from maintenance deficiencies. In May 2007, the six remaining Sea Kings were grounded for two months following the discovery of a number of missing parts.


title: Westland Sea King

text: On 1 September 2011, the Australian Minister for Defence Materiel, Jason Clare, announced that the Sea Kings would be withdrawn from service in December 2011; having flown in excess of 60,000 hours in operations in Australia and overseas in that time. The farewell flight was conducted on 15 December 2011, three Sea Kings flew over Sydney Harbour and across to Canberra, passing Lake Burley Griffin and the Australian War Memorial before landing at Nowra. On 16 December 2011, the Chief of Navy presided over the ceremonial decommissioning of 817 Squadron RAN at NAS Nowra. Five of the withdrawn helicopters have been made available for sale. The replacement for the Sea King was the MRH 90.


title: Westland Sea King

text: Following the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, Pakistan invested heavily in modern submarines and long-range torpedoes. In response, India opted to procure six Westland Sea Kings from Britain in 1969, for ASW duties, designated as Mk42. The purchase also included the provision of air-droppable homing torpedoes for use against submarines. The delivery of the aircraft began a few months before the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. Due to training shortfalls on the new helicopters, Sea King operations were considerably restricted during the 1971 war; by November 1971, increased aircrew experience had enabled offensive anti-submarine operations to be conducted. The "Majestic"-class aircraft carrier was also refitted in 1972–1974 to enable extensive Sea King operations, becoming the carrier's primary anti-submarine aircraft.


title: Westland Sea King

text: During the early 1960s, India and Britain agreed upon the domestic production of the . The initial helicopter deployed aboard India's "Leander"s, known as the , was the Aérospatiale Alouette III, however, this offered much less capability in the anti-submarine role compared with the Sea King and the need for design changes was realised to allow the Sea King to be deployed upon the flight deck of the "Nilgiri" class, a practice pioneered by the Royal Canadian Navy using their Sikorsky CH-124 Sea Kings on similar-sized frigates. It proved unfeasible to operate the Sea King from the unmodified "Nilgiri" class, with the last two ships of the class being fitted with an enlarged flight deck and hangar. This required removal of the ship's Limbo anti-submarine mortar. Beyond the original 1971 procurement, India chose to acquire a further six Mk42s in 1974, and three more in 1980; these three had been specifically modified to operate from the flight deck of the last two "Nilgiri"s and designated as Mk42A.


title: Westland Sea King

text: As a follow-on to the "Nilgiri"s, India commenced development of a new frigate, based on the "Leander"/"Nilgiri", but larger. The resultant , also known as Project 16, could operate two Sea Kings simultaneously.


title: Westland Sea King

text: In 1982, India signed a contract to purchase several Mk42B Sea Kings, an upgraded variant to perform dual-purpose: anti-shipping and anti-submarine missions, following a competition for the order against the Aérospatiale Super Puma. These helicopters would operate from the "Godavari"-class frigates as well as replace the existing Sea Kings. A team of Indian engineers was sent to Britain to help develop the Mk42B's avionics, especially the onboard software. Changes from the older Sea Kings included a brand new avionics suite, the use of composite materials throughout the fuselage and in the rotor blades, as well as the integration of the Sea Eagle missile, which had been procured from Britain in 1983. Between 1988 and 1992, a total of 20 Mk42B Sea Kings were delivered to the Indian Navy.


title: Westland Sea King

text: Six Sea Kings in troop-carrying capacity, designated Mk42C, were also procured in 1987. Although the Indian Navy considered the AEW Sea King, expected to be designated as Mk42D, it was judged to be too expensive, consequently, in 2003, the Russian Kamov Ka-31 was procured instead. The indigenous HAL Dhruv was the intended replacement for the Sea King in the ASW role, however, in 2000, it was deemed unsuited, as the Indian Navy were dissatisfied with the design's folding blade mechanism and by the Dhruv's maintenance record.


title: Westland Sea King

text: In May 1998, the United States enacted sanctions upon India as a part of the international response to a series of nuclear weapons tests by India. , these sanctions effectively grounded India's Sea Kings because India could not purchase any US-supplied spare parts for the fleet. Westland also complied with the sanctions by refusing to maintain any US-made components. A limited number of Sea Kings were kept operational by cannibalising other aircraft and the manufacture of some components by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). In December 2000, President Bill Clinton permitted a relaxation of the sanctions. In the late 2000s, HAL and AgustaWestland signed an agreement to jointly maintain and perform upgrades to India's fleet of Sea Kings.


title: Westland Sea King

text: The Norwegian Ministry of Justice owns 12 Mk43B Sea Kings which are operated by the Royal Norwegian Air Forces's 330 Squadron. The aircraft are used for SAR and air ambulance missions and are under the command of the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre of Southern Norway and Northern Norway. Introduced in May 1973, they were originally stationed at Bodø Main Air Station, Ørland Main Air Station, Sola Air Station and Station Group Banak. In 1997, the squadron conducted 237 SAR and 747 air ambulance missions. From 1995 to 1998, one helicopter was stationed at Ålesund Airport, Vigra, and since 1999, one has been stationed at Rygge Air Station. Florø Airport became a station for one helicopter from 2009.


title: Westland Sea King

text: The helicopters are to be replaced by AgustaWestland AW101 under the Norwegian All-Weather Search and Rescue Helicopter (NAWSARH) programme gradually from September 2020. The candidates for the NAWSARH contract of 10–12 helicopters was the AgustaWestland AW101, NHIndustries NH90, Eurocopter EC225 and Sikorsky S-92.


title: Westland Sea King

text: July 2013, AgustaWestland AW101 and Eurocopter (EC225) was short-listed to conduct further discussions for the NAWSARH programme for up to 16 helicopters.


title: Westland Sea King

text: The German Navy placed an order for 22 Sea King Mk.41s on 20 June 1969 as a replacement for the Grumman Albatross flying boat in the Search and Rescue Role. This was the first export sale for the Westland Sea King, and was the first dedicated Search and Rescue Sea King variant, with an enlarged cabin and more fuel. The German Sea Kings had similar radar and navigation equipment to the HAS.1, but was not fitted with sonar. The 22 Sea Kings were delivered between April 1973 and September 1974, equipping "Marinefliegergeschwader" 5 (MFG 5) (Naval Air Wing 5). An additional Sea King was delivered in April 1975 to replace one destroyed in a gale. The surviving Sea Kings were upgraded between 1986 and 1988, adding the capability to carry Sea Skua anti-ship missiles, which required the addition of a Ferranti Seaspray radar in a nose radome.


title: Westland Sea King

text: The 21 remaining Sea Kings are tasked to a variety of roles including SAR, transport, disaster relief, tactical land–sea transport, evacuation, surveillance, reconnaissance and naval support. The main base is Nordholz, although units are always stationed at Heligoland Airfield and Warnemünde, and sometimes at Borkum Airfield. The helicopters are scheduled to be replaced by the NH-90.


title: Westland Sea King

text: Egypt is a prolific operator of the Sea King, using many different variants for a wide variety of purposes. In addition to operating ASW Sea Kings for coastal patrols, Egypt procured a land-based transport adapted from the basic Sea King, marketed by Westland as the Commando, including a VIP subvariant. An electronic warfare version was also deployed by the Egyptian Air Force, featuring sophisticated onboard jamming systems. As of 2011, 23 Sea Kings/Commandos remain in service with Egypt.


title: Westland Sea King

text: The Qatar Emiri Air Force also operates Westland's Commando variant, as a standard utility transport for ground forces, a single one was also equipped specially to perform VIP transport duties. A few Qatari Sea Kings serve in an anti-shipping capacity and have been outfitted to carry, and deploy if required, two Exocet anti-ship missiles.


title: Westland Sea King

text: Pakistan's Navy took delivery of six "Mk.45" Sea Kings, a variant based on the Royal Navy's Sea King HAS.1 from 1975. It served in an combined anti-submarine and anti-ship role, carrying the Exocet missile as an alternative to the normal anti-submarine weapon load of four Mark 44 or Mark 46 torpedoes. One of Pakistan's Sea Kings was lost in an accident in February 1986, and was replaced by an ex-Royal Navy HAS.5, redesignated Mk.45C, in January 1989.


title: Westland Sea King

text: The Belgian Air Force ordered five Sea King Mk.48s to perform Search and Rescue missions in 1974, which entered service in 1976. They were upgraded with new rotor blades in 1987–1988, and with revised avionics, including new radar and provision of a FLIR turret under the nose from 1995. In 2007 Belgium ordered eight NH90 helicopters, of which four were navalised NFH helicopters intended to replace the Sea Kings in the SAR role. Delays in delivery of Belgium's NH90s, together with an increased demand for the NH90s to operate from the Belgian Navy's frigates, resulted in the retirement date for the Sea Kings being pushed back to 2018. Three Sea Kings remained operational in 2017. Belgian Sea Kings had been carried out over 3300 SAR sorties by the end of 2016, with over 1750 lives saved. Belgium retired its last Sea King on 21 March 2019, with a farewell flypas over the Belgian coast. Their SAR role was taken on by four NHIndustries NH90 NATO Frigate Helicopters (NFHs) flying out of Koksijde Air Base near the coast of Flanders. RS05 was donated to "Het Vlaams Luchtvaartopleidingscentrum" (VLOC) and performed it's ferry flight on 26/03/2019. Two of the three Belgian Sea Kings were bought by Historic Helicopters of Chard Equestrian, Somerset, which already owned five Westland helicopters that saw service with the Royal Navy or the RAF. Both Sea Kings left Koksijde Air Base on 20/10/2021 as OO-SEE (RS02) & OO-KNG (RS04) to the UK.


title: Westland Sea King

text: In November 2022, in response to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine the United Kingdom announced they were donating three former Royal Navy and Royal Air Force Sea Kings to Ukraine.


title: Pauline Hanson

text: Pauline Lee Hanson ("née" Seccombe, formerly Zagorski; born 27 May 1954) is an Australian politician who is the founder and leader of One Nation, a right-wing populist political party. Hanson has represented Queensland in the Australian Senate since 2016 Federal Election.


title: Pauline Hanson

text: Hanson ran a fish and chip shop before entering politics in 1994 as a member of Ipswich City Council in her home state. She joined the Liberal Party of Australia in 1995 and was preselected for the Division of Oxley in Brisbane at the 1996 federal election. She was disendorsed shortly before the election after making contentious comments about Aboriginal Australians, but remained listed as a Liberal on the ballot paper. Hanson won the election and took her seat as an independent, before co-founding One Nation in 1997 and becoming its only MP. She attempted to switch to the Division of Blair at the 1998 federal election but was unsuccessful. Nevertheless, her newly-formed party experienced a surge in popularity at the 1998 Queensland state election, garnering the second-highest amount of votes of any party in the state.


title: Pauline Hanson

text: After her defeat in 1998, Hanson unsuccessfully contested the 2001 election as the leader of One Nation but was expelled from the party in 2002. A District Court jury found Hanson guilty of electoral fraud in 2003, but her convictions were later overturned by three judges on the Queensland Court of Appeal. She spent 11 weeks in jail prior to the appeal being heard.


title: Pauline Hanson

text: Following her release, Hanson ran in several state and federal elections, as the leader of Pauline Hanson's United Australia Party and as an independent before rejoining One Nation in 2013 and becoming leader again the following year. She was narrowly defeated at the 2015 Queensland state election, but was elected to the Senate at the 2016 federal election, along with three other members of the party. She was re-elected at the 2022 federal election.


title: Pauline Hanson

text: Hanson was born Pauline Lee Seccombe on 27 May 1954 in Woolloongabba, Queensland. She was the fifth of seven children (and the youngest daughter) to John Alfred "Jack" Seccombe and Hannorah Alousius Mary "Norah" Seccombe (née Webster). She first received schooling at Buranda Girls' School, later attending Coorparoo State School in Coorparoo until she ended her education at age 15, shortly before her first marriage and pregnancy.


title: Pauline Hanson

text: Jack and Norah Seccombe owned a fish and chip shop in Ipswich, Queensland, in which Hanson and her siblings worked from a young age, preparing meals and taking orders. At an older age, she assisted her parents with more administrative work in bookkeeping and sales ledgering.


title: Pauline Hanson

text: Hanson worked at Woolworths before working in the office administration of Taylors Elliotts Ltd, a subsidiary of Drug Houses of Australia (now Bickford's Australia), where she handled clerical bookkeeping and secretarial work. She left Taylors Elliotts during her first pregnancy.


title: Pauline Hanson

text: In 1978, Hanson (then Pauline Zagorski) met Mark Hanson, a tradesman on Queensland's Gold Coast. They married in 1980 and established a construction business specialising in roof plumbing. Hanson handled the administrative components of the company, similar to her work with Taylors Elliotts, while her husband dealt with practical labour. In 1987, the couple divorced and the company was liquidated. She moved back to Ipswich and worked as a barmaid at what was then Booval Bowls Club. Hanson then bought a fish and chip shop with a new business partner Morrie Marsden. They established the holding company Marsden Hanson Pty Ltd and began operations from their recently opened fish and chip shop in Silkstone, a suburb of Ipswich. Hanson and Marsden both shared the administrative responsibilities of the company, but Hanson took on additional practical responsibilities, including buying supplies and produce for the shop and preparing the food, which was among many things that contributed to her notoriety during her first political campaign. Over time, Hanson acquired full control of the holding company, which was sold upon her election to Parliament in 1996.


title: Pauline Hanson

text: Hanson's first election to office was in 1994, earning a seat on the Ipswich City Council, on the premise of an opposition to extra funding. She held the seat for 11 months, before being removed in 1995 due to administrative changes.


title: Pauline Hanson

text: In 1996, she joined the Liberal Party of Australia and was endorsed as the Liberal candidate for the House of Representatives seat of Oxley, based on Ipswich, for the March 1996 Federal election. At the time, the seat was thought of as a Labor stronghold. The Labor incumbent, Les Scott, held it with an almost 15% two-party majority, making it the safest Labor seat in Queensland. Because of this, Hanson was initially dismissed and ignored by the media believing that she had no chance of winning the seat. However, Hanson received widespread media attention when, leading up to the election, she advocated the abolition of special government assistance for Aboriginal Australians, and she was disendorsed by the Liberal Party. Ballot papers had already been printed listing Hanson as the Liberal candidate, and the Australian Electoral Commission had closed nominations for the seat. As a result, Hanson was still listed as the Liberal candidate when votes were cast, even though Liberal leader John Howard had declared she would not be allowed to sit with the Liberals if elected. On election night, Hanson took a large lead on the first count and picked up enough Democrat preferences to defeat Scott on the sixth count. Her victory came amid Labor's near-meltdown in Queensland which saw it cut down to only two seats in the state. Hanson won 54 percent of the two-candidate preferred vote. Had she still been running as a Liberal, the 19.3-point swing would have been the largest two-party swing of the election. Since Hanson had been disendorsed, she entered parliament as an independent.


title: Pauline Hanson

text: On 10 September 1996, Hanson gave her maiden speech to the House of Representatives, which was widely reported in the media. In her opening lines, Hanson said: "I won the seat of Oxley largely on an issue that has resulted in me being called a racist. That issue related to my comment that Aboriginals received more benefits than non-Aboriginals". Hanson then asserted that Australia was in danger of being "swamped by Asians", and that these immigrants "have their own culture and religion, form ghettos and do not assimilate". Hanson argued that "mainstream Australians" were instead subject to "a type of reverse racism ... by those who promote political correctness and those who control the various taxpayer funded 'industries' that flourish in our society servicing Aboriginals, multiculturalists and a host of other minority groups". This theme continued with the assertion that "present governments are encouraging separatism in Australia by providing opportunities, land, moneys and facilities available only to Aboriginals".


title: Pauline Hanson

text: Among a series of criticisms of Aboriginal land rights, access to welfare and reconciliation, Hanson criticised the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC), saying: "Anyone with a criminal record can, and does, hold a position with ATSIC". There then followed a short series of statements on family breakdown, youth unemployment, international debt, the Family Law Act, child support, and the privatisation of Qantas and other national enterprises. The speech also included an attack on immigration and multiculturalism, a call for the return of high-tariff protectionism, and criticism of economic rationalism. Her speech was delivered uninterrupted by her fellow parliamentarians as it was the courtesy given to MPs delivering their maiden speeches.


title: Pauline Hanson

text: In February 1997, Hanson, David Oldfield and David Ettridge founded the Pauline Hanson's One Nation political party. Disenchanted rural voters attended her meetings in regional centres across Australia as she consolidated a support base for the new party. An opinion poll in May of that year indicated that the party was attracting the support of 9 per cent of Australian voters and that its popularity was primarily at the expense of the Liberal Party-National Party Coalition's base.


title: Pauline Hanson

text: Hanson's presence in the suburb of Dandenong, Victoria, to launch her party was met with demonstrations on 7 July 1997, with 3,000–5,000 people rallying outside. A silent vigil and multicultural concert was organised by the Greater Dandenong City Council in response to Hanson's presence, while a demonstration was organised by an anti-racism body. The majority of attendees were of Asian origin, where an open platform attracted leaders of the Vietnamese, Chinese, East Timorese and Sri Lankan communities. Representatives from churches, local community groups, lesbian and gay and socialist organisations also attended and addressed the crowd.


title: Pauline Hanson

text: In its late 1990s incarnation, One Nation called for zero net immigration, an end to multiculturalism and a revival of Australia's Anglo-Celtic cultural tradition which it says has been diminished, the abolition of native title and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC), an end to special Aboriginal funding programs, opposition to Aboriginal reconciliation which the party says will create two nations, and a review of the 1967 constitutional referendum which gave the Commonwealth power to legislate for Aborigines. The party's economic position was to support protectionism and trade retaliation, increased restrictions on foreign capital and the flow of capital overseas, and a general reversal of globalisation's influence on the Australian economy. Domestically, One Nation opposed privatisation, competition policy, and the GST, while proposing a government subsidised people's bank to provide 2 per cent loans to farmers, small business, and manufacturers. On foreign policy, One Nation called for a review of Australia's United Nations membership, a repudiation of Australia's UN treaties, an end to foreign aid and to ban foreigners from owning Australian land.


title: Pauline Hanson

text: In 1999, "The Australian" reported that support for One Nation had fallen from 22% to 5%. One Nation Senate candidate Lenny Spencer blamed the press together with party director David Oldfield for the October 1998 election defeat, while the media reported the redirecting of preferences away from One Nation as the primary reason, with a lack of party unity, poor policy choices and an "inability to work with the media" also responsible.


title: Pauline Hanson

text: Ahead of the 1998 federal election, an electoral redistribution essentially split Oxley in half. Oxley was reconfigured as a marginal Labor seat, losing most of its more rural and exurban area while picking up the heavily pro-Labor suburb of Inala. A new seat of Blair was created in the rural area surrounding Ipswich. Hanson knew her chances of holding the reconfigured Oxley were slim, especially after former Labor state premier Wayne Goss won preselection for the seat. After considering whether to contest a Senate seat—which, by most accounts, she would have been heavily tipped to win—she opted to contest Blair. Despite its very large notional Liberal majority (18.7 percent), most of her base was now located there.


title: Pauline Hanson

text: Hanson launched her 1998 election campaign with a focus on jobs, rather than a focus on race/ethnicity or on "the people" against "the elites". Instead Hanson focused on unemployment and the need to create more jobs not through government schemes but by "cheap loans to business, by more apprenticeships, and by doing something about tariffs".


title: Pauline Hanson

text: Hanson won 36 percent of the primary vote, slightly over 10% more than the second-place Labor candidate, Virginia Clarke. However, with all three major parties preferencing each other ahead of Hanson, Liberal candidate Cameron Thompson was able to win the seat despite finishing in third place on the first count. Thompson overtook Clarke on National preferences and defeated Hanson on Labor preferences. It has been suggested by Thompson that Hanson's litigation against parodist Pauline Pantsdown was a distraction from the election which contributed to her loss.


title: Pauline Hanson

text: Nationally, One Nation gained 8.99 percent of the Senate vote and 8.4% of the Representatives vote, but only one MP was elected – Len Harris as a Senator for Queensland. Heather Hill had been elected to this position, but the High Court of Australia ruled that, although she was an Australian citizen, she was ineligible for election to sit as a Senator because she had not renounced her British citizenship. The High Court found that, at least since 1986, Britain had counted as a 'foreign power' within the meaning of section 44(i) of the Constitution. Hanson alleged in her 2007 autobiography "Pauline Hanson: Untamed & Unashamed" that a number of other politicians had dual citizenship yet this did not prevent them from holding positions in Parliament.


title: Pauline Hanson

text: In 1998, Tony Abbott had established a trust fund called "Australians for Honest Politics Trust" to help bankroll civil court cases against the One Nation Party and Hanson herself. John Howard denied any knowledge of the existence of such a fund. Abbott was also accused of offering funds to One Nation dissident Terry Sharples to support his court battle against the party. However, Howard defended the honesty of Abbott in this matter. Abbott conceded that the political threat One Nation posed to the Howard Government was "a very big factor" in his decision to pursue the legal attack, but he also said he was acting "in Australia's national interest". Howard also defended Abbott's actions saying "It's the job of the Liberal Party to politically attack other parties – there's nothing wrong with that."


title: Pauline Hanson

text: Hanson gained extensive media coverage during her campaign and once she took her seat in the House. Her first speech attracted considerable attention for the views it expressed on Aboriginal benefits, welfare, immigration and multiculturalism. During her term in Parliament, Hanson spoke on social and economic issues such as the need for a fairer child support scheme and concern for the emergence of the working class poor. She also called for more accountable and effective administration of Indigenous affairs. Hanson's supporters viewed her as an ordinary person who challenged 'political correctness' as a threat to Australia's identity.


title: Pauline Hanson

text: The reaction of the mainstream political parties was negative, with parliament passing a resolution (supported by all members except Graeme Campbell) condemning her views on immigration and multiculturalism. However, the Prime Minister at the time, John Howard, refused to censure Hanson or speak critically about her, acknowledging that her views were shared by many Australians, commenting that he saw the expression of such views as evidence that the "pall of political correctness" had been lifted in Australia, and that Australians could now "speak a little more freely and a little more openly about what they feel".


title: Pauline Hanson

text: Hanson immediately labelled Howard a "strong leader" and said Australians were now free to discuss issues without "fear of being branded as a bigot or racist". Over the next few months, Hanson attracted populist anti-immigration sentiment and the attention of the Citizens' Electoral Council, the Australian League of Rights and other right-wing groups. Then-Immigration Minister Phillip Ruddock announced a tougher government line on refugee applications, and cut the family reunion intake by 10,000, despite an election promise to maintain immigration levels. Various academic experts, business leaders and several state premiers attacked the justification offered by Ruddock, who had claimed that the reduction had been forced by continuing high unemployment. Various ethnic communities complained that this attack on multiculturalism was a cynical response to polls showing Hanson's rising popularity. Hanson herself claimed credit for forcing the government's hand.


title: Pauline Hanson

text: At the next federal election on 10 November 2001, Hanson ran for a Queensland senate seat but narrowly failed. She accounted for her declining popularity by claiming that the Liberals under John Howard had stolen her policies.


title: Pauline Hanson

text: "It has been widely recognised by all, including the media, that John Howard sailed home on One Nation policies. In short, if we were not around, John Howard would not have made the decisions he did."


title: Pauline Hanson

text: Other interrelated factors that contributed to her political decline from 1998 to 2002 include her connection with a series of advisors with whom she ultimately fell out (John Pasquarelli, David Ettridge and David Oldfield); disputes amongst her supporters; and a lawsuit over the organisational structure of One Nation.


title: Pauline Hanson

text: In 2003, following her release from prison, Hanson unsuccessfully contested the New South Wales state election, running for a seat in the upper house. In January 2004, Hanson announced that she did not intend to return to politics. but then stood as an independent candidate for one of Queensland's seats in the Senate in the 2004 federal election. At the time, Hanson declared, "I don't want all the hangers on. I don't want the advisers and everyone else. I want it to be this time Pauline Hanson." She was unsuccessful, receiving only 31.77% of the required quota of primary votes, and did not pick up enough additional support through preferences. However, she attracted more votes than the One Nation party (4.54% compared to 3.14%) and, unlike her former party, recovered her deposit from the Australian Electoral Commission and secured $150,000 of public electoral funding. Hanson claimed to have been vilified over campaign funding.


title: Pauline Hanson

text: Hanson contested the electoral district of Beaudesert as an independent at the 2009 Queensland state election. After an election campaign dominated by discussion over hoax photographs, she was placed third behind the Liberal National Party's Aidan McLindon and Labor's Brett McCreadie. There were conflicting media reports as to whether she had said she would not consider running again.


title: Pauline Hanson

text: On 23 July 2010, while at an event promoting her new career as a motivational speaker, Hanson expressed interest in returning to the political stage as a Liberal candidate if an invitation were to be offered by the leader Tony Abbott in the 2010 federal election. No such offer was made.


title: Pauline Hanson

text: In March 2011, Hanson ran as an independent candidate for the New South Wales Legislative Council in the 2011 state election, but was not elected, receiving 2.41 percent of the primary statewide vote but losing on preferences. Following the election, Hanson alleged that "dodgy staff" employed by the NSW Electoral Commission put 1,200 votes for her in a pile of blank ballots, and she claimed that she had a forwarded NSW Electoral Commission internal email as evidence of this. Hanson then commenced legal proceedings to challenge the outcome of the election in the NSW Supreme Court, which sat as the Court of Disputed Returns.


title: Pauline Hanson

text: From the start of proceedings, the NSW Electoral Commissioner maintained the view that Hanson's claims lacked substance. The man who alerted Hanson to the alleged emails, who identified himself as "Michael Rattner", failed to appear in court on 8 June 2011 "Rattner" was revealed to be Shaun Castle, a history teacher who posed as a journalist to obtain embargoed progressive poll results.


title: Pauline Hanson

text: "Michael Rattner" was a pun on Mickey Mouse and reports linked the pseudonym to an "anti-voter-fraud" organisation led by Amy McGrath and Alasdair Webster.


title: Pauline Hanson

text: After having refused to answer questions on the grounds of self-incrimination, Castle apologised to the court and was granted protection from prosecution by Justice McClellan, before being compelled to answer questions relating to the fraudulent email. The judge ordered that Hanson's legal costs of more than $150,000 be paid by the State of New South Wales – a move which outraged Greens MP Jeremy Buckingham, who would have been replaced by Hanson had her challenge been successful. Questioning whether Hanson's legal action should have gone ahead at all given the nature of the evidence, Buckingham said that "This lack of judgement shows that she's unfit for public office." Earlier, the judge, Justice McClellan, said Hanson had no other remedy but to take legal action after receiving the fraudulent email.


title: Pauline Hanson

text: At the 1999 election, One Nation politician David Oldfield was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Council, the state parliament's upper house. However, in 2000, Oldfield was expelled from One Nation for an alleged verbal dispute with Hanson. Within weeks, Oldfield had established the splinter group, One Nation NSW.


title: Pauline Hanson

text: One Nation won three seats in the Western Australian Legislative Council at the 2001 state election, but the electoral success of One Nation began to deteriorate after this point because the split-away of One Nation NSW began to spark further lack of party unity, and a series of gaffes by One Nation members and candidates, particularly in Queensland.


title: Pauline Hanson

text: Hanson resigned from One Nation in January 2002 and John Fischer, the State Leader from Western Australia, was elected the Federal President of One Nation.


title: Pauline Hanson

text: On 24 May 2007, Hanson launched Pauline's United Australia Party. Under that banner, Hanson again contested one of Queensland's seats in the Senate in the 2007 federal election, when she received over 4 percent of total votes. The party name invokes that of the historic United Australia Party. Speaking on her return to politics, she stated: "I have had all the major political parties attack me, been kicked out of my own party and ended up in prison, but I don't give up." In October 2007, Hanson launched her campaign song, entitled "Australian Way of Life", which included the line: "Welcome everyone, no matter where you come from."


title: Pauline Hanson

text: After an unsuccessful campaign in the 2009 Queensland state election, Hanson announced in 2010 that she planned to deregister Pauline's United Australia Party, sell her Queensland house and move to the United Kingdom. The announcement was warmly welcomed by Nick Griffin, leader of the far-right British National Party (BNP). When considering moving, Hanson said that she would not sell her house to Muslims. However, following an extended holiday in Europe, Hanson said in November 2010 that she had decided not to move to Britain because it was "overrun with immigrants and refugees." Hanson lives in Beaudesert, Queensland.


title: Pauline Hanson

text: In 2013, Hanson announced that she would stand in the 2013 federal election. She rejoined the One Nation party and was a Senate candidate in New South Wales. She did not win a seat, attracting 1.22% of the first preference vote.


title: Pauline Hanson

text: In November 2014, Hanson announced that she had returned as One Nation leader, prior to the party's announcement, following support from One Nation party members. She announced that she would contest the seat of Lockyer in the 2015 Queensland state election. One Nation held the Queensland seat of Lockyer from 1998 to 2004. In February 2015, Hanson lost the seat by a narrow margin.


title: Pauline Hanson

text: In mid-2015, Hanson announced that she would contest the Senate for Queensland at the 2016 federal election, and also announced the endorsement of several other candidates throughout Australia. She campaigned on a tour she called "Fed Up" in 2015, and spoke at a Reclaim Australia rally. Hanson won a seat in the Senate at the election, and One Nation won 9% of the vote in Queensland. According to the rules governing the allocation of Senate seats following a double dissolution, Hanson served a full six-year term. Hanson secured a spot on the National Broadband Network parliamentary committee.


title: Pauline Hanson

text: After being elected to the parliament, she and other One Nation senators voted with the governing Coalition on a number of welfare cuts, and usually supports the government.


title: Pauline Hanson

text: On 17 August 2017, Hanson received criticism after wearing a burqa, which she claims "oppresses women", into the Senate. Attorney-General George Brandis got a standing ovation from Labor and Greens senators after he gave an "emotional" speech saying to Hanson: "To ridicule that community, to drive it into a corner, to mock its religious garments is an appalling thing to do." Following the incident, polling found that 57% of Australians supported Hanson's call to ban the burka in public places, with 44% "strongly" supporting a ban. In August 2017, the party's constitution was changed, for Hanson to become party President for as long as she may wish and to choose her successor, who may also continue until resignation.


title: Pauline Hanson

text: On 22 March 2018, Hanson announced that One Nation would back the Turnbull government's corporate tax cuts. She subsequently reversed her position, citing the failure of the government to cut immigration levels and support coal-fired power.


title: Pauline Hanson

text: On 15 October 2018, Hanson proposed an "It's OK to be white" motion in the Australian Senate intended to acknowledge the "deplorable rise of anti-white racism and attacks on Western civilization". It was supported by most senators from the governing Liberal-National Coalition, but was defeated 31–28 by opponents who called it a racist slogan from the white supremacist movement. The following day, the motion was "recommitted", and this time rejected unanimously by senators in attendance, with its initial supporters in the Liberal-National Coalition saying they had voted for it due to an administrative error (One Nation did not attend the recommital vote).


title: Pauline Hanson

text: On 18 September 2019, the Liberal government announced that Hanson would co-chair the newly-announced parliamentary inquiry into family law along with Kevin Andrews. She proposed a parliament motion advocating opposition to the proposed Great Reset of the World Economic Forum, on the belief that it is cover for creating a New World Order. Her proposal was defeated by 37 votes to 2.


title: Pauline Hanson

text: In 2019, Hanson campaigned against a ban on climbing Uluru, a sacred site for local Aboriginal people. Shortly before the ban came into effect, in August Channel Nine paid for Hanson's trip to Uluru and on their "A Current Affair" program she was shown in a controversial episode climbing the rock.


title: Pauline Hanson

text: Beginning in May 2019, Hanson was a regular contributor on Channel Nine's "Today" show. She was removed from the role in July 2020 after describing people who lived in Melbourne public housing as drug addicts who couldn't speak English.


title: Pauline Hanson

text: Following the 2019 federal election, One Nation obtained $2.8 million in electoral expenses from the Australian Electoral Commission. Later, the Commission required One Nation to repay $165,442 as money that had not been spent or not spent for electoral purposes. In addition, it is reported: "Hanson has personally agreed to an enforceable undertaking. And the party must in future make sure all invoices are in Hanson’s name, the party’s name or the name of a party officer. And make sure that all invoices match payment receipts, credit card or bank statements."


title: Pauline Hanson

text: In June 2021, following media reports that the proposed national curriculum was "preoccupied with the oppression, discrimination and struggles of Indigenous Australians", the Australian Senate approved a motion tabled by Hanson calling on the federal government to reject Critical race theory CRT, despite it not being included in the curriculum.


title: Pauline Hanson

text: In July 2022, the Senate opened with the Lord's Prayer and a Acknowledgement of Country, as normal. The ceremony includes the words: "[the Parliament] recognises the Ngunnawal and Ngambri peoples as the traditional custodians of the Canberra meetings, and pays respects to elders past, present and emerging." Despite having sat through the ceremony many times before, this time Hanson stormed out of the chamber, yelling "No I don't, and I never will!"


title: Pauline Hanson

text: Hanson later stated that her opposition was to a motion that the Aboriginal Flag and Torres Strait Islander Flag, which are both official flags of Australia, should be raised inside the Senate chamber alongside the Australian Flag.


title: Pauline Hanson

text: In September 2022, Hanson tweeted that Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi should piss off back to Pakistan. This came after Faruqi was slammed over 'appalling' tweet about the Queen.


title: Pauline Hanson

text: Despite Hanson's repeated denials of charges of racism, her views on race, immigration and Islam have been discussed widely in Australia. In her maiden speech to Parliament in 1996, Hanson appealed to economically disadvantaged white Australians by expressing dissatisfaction with government policy on indigenous affairs. Following Hanson's maiden speech her views received negative coverage across Asian news media in 1996, and Deputy Prime Minister and Trade Minister Tim Fischer criticised the race "debate" initiated by Hanson, saying it was putting Australian exports and jobs at risk. Other ministers and state and territory leaders followed Fischer's lead in criticising Hanson.


title: Pauline Hanson

text: In 1998, the resurgence of popularity of Hanson was met with disappointment in Asian media. Her resignation from politics in 2002 was met with support from academics, politicians and the press across Asia. In 2004, Hanson appeared on the nationally televised ABC interview show "Enough Rope" where her views were challenged.


title: Pauline Hanson

text: In her maiden speech, Hanson proposed a drastic reduction in immigration with particular reference to immigrants from Asia. Hanson criticised the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC). Condemning multiculturalism, One Nation has railed against government immigration and multicultural policies. After Hanson was elected to Parliament in 1996, journalist Tracey Curro asked her on "60 Minutes" whether she was xenophobic. Hanson replied, "Please explain?" This response became a much-parodied catchphrase within Australian culture and was included in the title of the 2016 SBS documentary film "".


title: Pauline Hanson

text: In 2006, Hanson stated that African immigrants were bringing diseases into Australia and were of "no benefit to this country whatsoever". She also stated her opposition to Muslim immigration. Ten years after her maiden speech, its effects were still being discussed within a racism framework, and were included in resources funded by the Queensland Government on "Combating racism in Queensland". In 2007, Hanson publicly backed Kevin Andrews, then Minister for Immigration under John Howard, in his views about African migrants and crime.


title: Pauline Hanson

text: In 2015, Hanson claimed that Halal certification in Australia was funding terrorism. After the 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting, Hanson called for a ban on Muslim immigration to Australia. The same year, Hanson announced policies including a ban on building new mosques until a royal commission into whether Islam is a religion or a political ideology has been held, and installing CCTV cameras in all existing mosques. She has called for a moratorium on accepting Muslim immigrants into Australia. In her 2016 maiden speech in the Senate, she said that "We are in danger of being swamped by Muslims who bear a culture and ideology that is incompatible with our own" and should "go back to where you came from", and called for banning Muslim migration. The speech prompted a walkout by Senate members of the Australian Greens.


title: Pauline Hanson

text: After the January 2017 Melbourne car attack, Hanson repeated her stance on banning Muslims from entering Australia. In a live interview after the attack she stated "all terrorist attacks in this country have been by Muslims", on which she was corrected by a journalist. In response, the Islamic Council of Victoria asked for a public apology for Hanson's statement.


title: Pauline Hanson

text: On 24 March 2017, after the 2017 Westminster attack, Hanson made an announcement in a video posted to social media, holding up a piece of paper with her own proposed hash tag “#Pray4MuslimBan”. “That is how you solve the problem, put a ban on it and then let’s deal with the issues here”, she said.


title: Pauline Hanson

text: On 22 June 2017 Hanson, moved a motion in the Australian Senate calling on the government to respond to the Halal inquiry. The motion was passed.


title: Pauline Hanson

text: On 17 August 2017, Hanson wore a burqa onto the floor of the Australian Senate in a move to rally support for a national ban of the religious attire, citing "national security" concerns. The move quickly became widely condemned by Labor, the Greens and the Liberal Party. In response, the Attorney-General George Brandis, who is tasked with giving advice on national security legislation, gave an "emotional" speech calling Hanson's stunt "an appalling thing to do" and advised Hanson "to be very very careful of the offense you may do to the religious sensibilities of other Australians", to which both Labor and Greens' Senators gave a standing ovation.


title: Pauline Hanson

text: After her election in 1996, an estimated 10,000 people marched in protest against racism in Melbourne, and other protests followed, while Anglican and Catholic church leaders warned that the controversy threatened the stability of Australia's multicultural society. Also repudiating Hanson's views on immigration and multiculturalism were Victorian Premier Jeff Kennett, the Queensland National Senator Ron Boswell, Sir Ronald Wilson and former Prime Minister Paul Keating. At the 1997 annual conference of the Australian and New Zealand Communications Association (ANZCA) at La Trobe University, a paper was presented with the title "Phenomena and Epiphenomena: is Pauline Hanson racist?". In 1998, social commentator Keith Suter argued that Hanson's views were better understood as an angry response to globalisation. A poll in "The Bulletin" magazine at this time suggested that if Hanson formed a political party, it would win 18 percent of the vote. After months of silence, then-Prime Minister John Howard and Opposition Leader Kim Beazley proposed a bipartisan motion against racial discrimination and reaffirming support for a nondiscriminatory immigration policy. The motion was carried on the voices.


title: Pauline Hanson

text: Hanson did not relent in articulating her views and continued to address public meetings around Australia. The League of Rights offered financial and organisational support for her campaign against Asian immigration, and in December she announced she was considering forming a political party to contest the next election. Alexander Downer, Minister for Foreign Affairs under John Howard, issued a media release calling on Hanson, David Oldfield and David Ettridge to distance themselves from racist slurs. In 2000, the University of NSW Press published the book "Race, Colour and Identity in Australia and New Zealand", which identified Hanson as a central figure in the "racism debate" in Australia of the 1990s, noting that senior Australian academics such as Jon Stratton, Ghassan Hage and Andrew Jakubowicz had explored Hanson's significance in an international as well as national context.