THE MURPHY AFFAIR

"Australia seemed to be drifting toward the American situation where judges became the plaything of political change, the West Australian Premier, Sir Charles Court, said yesterday. - The Australian, February 11th.

Nothing like the full story leading up to the "Murphy Shuffle" has as yet, been disclosed. Many of the members of the political commentary " industry" have been pouring out reams of speculative copy, but still much mystery remains. A key point has been raised by Sir Charles Court, who said (The Australian Feb. 11th)... "I have always opposed the appointment of people who have been ministers in a Federal Government to the High Court of Australia, irrespective of which political party might be in power. It is completely impossible, and I don't care how much the lawyers argue to the contrary, for a man to separate his own thinking, when he was a minister and advising the government - for example as Attorney-General - and when he has to face up to the same matters when he sits as a judge in the High Court."

Sir Charles pointed out that Mr. Justice Murphy would be sitting in judgment in the future on matters on which he had very strong personal views. These matters could, and most probably will include appeals from the States on Constitutional grounds against socialist legislation, which is framed to erode State Rights and impose further centralism on Australia. Lionel Murphy's left-wing ideology is known to all, and we have commented more than once upon his social poisoning, as evidenced by his Human Rights Bill, and his Family Law Bill. He is a most dangerous man; and we deplore his appointment to the High Court of Australia.

Quite apart from Mr. Murphy's limited legal qualifications, he is the man who led the raid on the Melbourne headquarters of the Australian Security and Intelligence Organisation. His involvement in the Miss Junie Morosi affair including his attempt to obtain her a Government flat in Canberra, cannot be overlooked. The basis of the British system of law is that not only must justice be done, but is must appear to be done. The Murphy appointment is a major blow at a most vital tradition.

For some time the High Court has been tending to support the centralist philosophy, with the Court evenly divided on some important issues. Mr. Murphy's most significant comment on his High Court appointment is that he welcomes the opportunity to play a role in decisions, which, over the next few years, will help to shape the future of Australia. We can well imagine, for example, the approach of Mr. Justice Murphy to totalitarian legislation such as the Racial Discrimination Bill.

In a typical outburst of sickening hypocrisy, Prime Minister Whitlam claims that Premier Lewis of N.S.W. is "subverting" the parliamentary system. Does he think that Australians have completely forgotten the Gair affair? The appointment of Mr. Murphy to the High Court is another major blow at the essential Australian heritage. The most effective answer to the Murphy appointment would be the election of a Federal Government, which took effective steps to restore the Federal system and decentralised all power.

FROM BRITISH ON TARGET
THE LESSON TO BE LEARNED FROM PORTUGAL

British On Target (Feb. 1st) quotes from the "H du Reports" Nov. - Dec. 1974: - "When Spinola was putting over the coup, Otelo Sarava de Carvalho's 'Committee for Liaison and Revolutionary Vigilance' bided its time. The minute Caetano fell, de Carvalho took charge of watching over the 'revolutionary orthodoxy' of Spinola. "Moscow estimated that Portugal would be the last country in Europe to fall. The Kremlin figured that Yugoslavia would be theirs when Tito dies, and Spain with the passing of Franco. Italy could be taken at any time, but Portugal not before 1981 at the earliest.
No one was more surprised than Moscow when Spinola the national hero, did their work for them. Breshnev's first move was to transfer Ambassador Kalinine from Cuba to Lisbon. The Central Bank of Portugal reported that Moscow has transferred $55 million to the Portuguese Communist Party between May and September (1975). Russian arms were reaching Red cells in the provinces. Trainloads of Portuguese workers indoctrinated by French Reds began pouring home.
Soviet Labour boss, Alexander Chelepine, drew up a programme for (Portuguese's) Labour Minister, Pacheco Goncalves, a communist, and 800 Red shop organizers were soon regimenting Portugal's 1.2 million workers for political action.

Before April 25th the weekly Moscow-Stockholm-Lisbon flight arrived nearly empty. After the coup three flights a week reached Lisbon loaded with Russians. "By July Spinola realised that he was being used and ordered his Prime Minister, Mr. Palma Carlos, to try to move up the elections planned for late '75. 'Traitors who have nothing to do with Portugal are trying to set the nation on fire and create a country that will no longer be Portuguese', Spinola declared as he maneuvered to gain six years in which to bolster the country against the Reds by holding elections at once.

Seeing which way the tide was running, Palma Carlos not only failed to push the election issue but left Spinola defenceless before his enemies by resigning and taking four non-Communist ministers from the 15-man Cabinet with him. The field was cleared for the Reds, and Vascoe Goncalves, Moscow's man, became Prime Minister, beating Spinola's friend, Lieut. Colonel Mario Miguel. "Spinola still hoped his prestige would enable him to get the monster back in the vase. He tried again in August by having General Costa Gomez, the number two man of the Junta, and head of the armed forces, propose limiting the powers of the Co-coordinating Committee of the Armed Forces, which Vasco Goncalves, and three pro-Red Ministers controlled. Gomez signed the appeal, but assured the Committee on the side that he was with them.
'The air force was with Spinola but Admiral Pinheiro de Azevedo, the Chief of Staff of the Navy, was with the Reds.

On September 10th, Spinola in desperation called on 'the silent majority' to take a stand against totalitarian extremism and set Saturday, September 28th, for a demonstration of support in Lisbon. Though a watch was put over Vasco Goncalves, the game was already lost. Red unions tied up buses and trains to prevent Spinola supporters from reaching the capital. Teenage militants with red armbands went down bumper-to-bumper jams of cars at roadblocks on roads leading into Lisbon. Occupants were searched, questioned, and handed a list of 'fascists' marked for arrest, with a hint that their names would be added if they did not turn around and go home. There was no organized defence of liberty.

The Communist Minister of State, Alvaro Cunhal, phoned General Vascoe Goncalves and asked:- 'What should I do about the barricades?' The Prime Minister answered:- 'Hold them. I'll send the army to help you.' "The Reds justified their take -over by cooking up a story that the Right was planning to seize power. A few guns were confiscated from a pigeon-shooting club, to back their charges; and whisky bottles from a political club were offered as proof that Molotov-cocktails were being prepared.

Once more 'Grandola, Vila Morena' went over the air as a signal that the Reds had won, followed this time by 'Vinceremos' (we shall conquer.) the revolutionary song Allende's followers adopted in Chile. "Communist units occupied the Ministries of Information and Defence and the office of telecommunications, and the country was theirs. To avoid civil war, Spinola resigned on September 30th. The three right wingers of the Junta who supported him were summarily sacked and General Costa Gomez made himself President, with the aid of the two members of the Junta who remained. General Vascoe Goncalves continued as Prime Minister and announced:- 'In the coming elections fascist reactionaries will not be permitted to vote'. When leaders of the Christian Democratic Party begged for protection, he refused to receive them.
In his resignation speech General Spinola declared:- 'My sense of loyalty prevents me from betraying my people, for whom new forms of slavery are being prepared under the false flag of freedom.'

'On November 19th, two days after the new Government had started purging anti-Red officers, and retiring generals over the age of 62, which included Spinola to make them ineligible for any active role, the Washington Post reported that U.S. Ambassador Stuart Nash Scott felt there was no danger of Portugal going Communist. By then the campaign denouncing Spinola as a hidden reactionary and friend of Capitalism was in full swing, and General Otelo Sarava de Carvalho was arresting anyone who got in his way. "Spinola himself was reported to be far from Lisbon, working on a new book.

That same November 19th. Teddy Kennedy was in Lisbon, singing 'Grandola' with the Victors, accompanied on the guitar by Minister of the Interior Colonel Manuel da Costa Braz, the head of Vascoe Goncalves's police machine, which, when the truth is known, will make Caetano's (police) look permissive."

As we write comes the news that the President of Portugal, General Costa Gomez, has announced that general elections will be held throughout the country in April ('75). We fear that this may mean the end of democracy in Portugal. To us, this means that the Communists have so organised during the past few months, that the general elections are now capable of being manipulated in their favour.

BRIEF COMMENTS

The outspoken Melbourne Sunday newspaper, "Observer", pulls no punches concerning the Socialists' planned attack on the Australian T.V. industry. At the recent bi-ennial Federal Labor Conference, held at Terrigal, N.S.W. a motion was adopted directing the Government to force all T.V. channels to videocast 75% first-run Australian-produced material. If this is done, this will mean that the commercial channels will be financially unable to meet the new Governmental regulations, and will be forced out of business, or, as is no doubt intended, will receive "Australian" Government assistance if they videocast what the "Australian" Government "suggests" they videocast.

The Sunday "Observer" puts it plainly:- "Couched as a move to get more work for Australians, this decision is nothing more than yet another stranglehold to enable the Government to decide what we see on the T.V. screen..."Once again, Whitlam's Black Panthers have claimed they are acting 'in the national interest' - a term used as an excuse for far too many anti-individual moves by the Government". The Observer adds:- "We believe it will not be long before the Whitlam Government holds an inquiry into the Press - and out of this could come the first moves to censor and murder the Press."

It would be a strange irony indeed to have the pundits of the Press, who have been sniping at the League of Rights for years come to us in desperation for assistance in saving their skins! But stranger things have happened.

The Leader of the Country Party Mr. Anthony and the President of the Australian Institute of Directors, Sir Robert Crichton-Brown, have called for the abolition of the Prices Justification Tribunal. Both men think that the Tribunal is not serving any good purpose at all, and is, in fact, doing harm to the Australian economy. Our view has been that the Tribunal is not serving any good purpose, and is certainly not controlling inflation. The statistics which are supplied to the Tribunal by applicants for price increases are naturally "loaded", with the overall effect that the new price, granted by the Tribunal would be the price which would have obtained in any event as a result of inflation.
We are in agreement with Sir Robert Crichton-Brown when he says:- "The operations of the Tribunal have resulted in profits being squeezed to the point where business has lost confidence in its ability to obtain an adequate reward."

We were interested to read an article in The Age (Melbourne) of Feb. 6th. by Dr. J. P. Juttner, of the Economics Department of Macquarie University (Sydney). Headed - "The Money Supply To Economy Growth Rate", Dr. Juttner appeared to tell us that petrol is not really necessary to fuel a car and that the petrol supply (not consumption) must be regulated by the speed at which the car travels! Dr, Juttner wants the Reserve Bank to be more independent of political pressures in order to achieve a non -inflationary growth rate of the money supply. Under orthodox financial conventions this would be equivalent to cold fire, or dry water.

The Costs In Production: Wages, salaries, payments for raw materials, are not the only major costs, which must be taken into account when a producer is setting the price of his product. Those who advance this theory are ignoring one very significant cost - the interest that is charged on overdraft lending. The amount, which a producer, working on overdraft, must pay back to the bank, is not simply the amount which he has borrowed. He must also pay interest, and this too must be added into the price of his goods. This means that he must try to draw back from the community's money supply more than he has spent into it in the course of producing the goods, which he is now trying to sell. And it is not only one producer who needs to do this in order to survive. Every producer has to do it, and they are all trying to do it at the same time. If some succeed, others must fail, because there is not enough money created at one time to enable them all to achieve their object.