WILL THE FRASER GOVERNMENT GRASP THE RHODESIAN NETTLE?

by Eric D. Butler
The despicable "British" Wilson Government reached a new low level when Mr. Ted Rowlands, parliamentary under-secretary at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, told the British House of Commons last week that the Wilson Government "welcomed" the Mozambique closing of its border with Rhodesia. The closure was accompanied by a virtual declaration of war on Rhodesia by the Marxist Machel, President of Mozambique.
In Nairobi, President Amin of Uganda, currently chairman of the African Unity Organisation, expressed his delight and called on the 47 members of OAU to provide "Material, moral and military assistance to Mozambique in its confrontation with Rhodesia".

Pro Rhodesian groups in London, many of them Members of the British Conservative Party, have charged the Wilson Government with having encouraged the Mozambique Government to adopt its aggressive attitude towards Rhodesia. Reporting on the Commonwealth Conference, held in Jamaica last year, I pointed out that the most significant decision made was a promise to help subsidise Mozambique for the substantial loss of income resulting from a blockade of Rhodesia. There is no doubt that this promise, endorsed again recently by the Wilson Government's statement that it would honor the pledge to provide Mozambique with 820 million worth of foreign aid, played a major part in moving the Marxist Machel to take the step which the Wilson Government now "welcomes".

This must surely be one of the most revolting statements ever to come from a British Government. It is a slur on the name of people of British stock and background wherever they may live. It means support for a Communist-backed war against a predominantly British community, many of whom fought to defend Great Britain when it had its back to the wall in the perilous days of the Second World War.

Harold Wilson itched to use British armed force against the Rhodesians when they defied him in November 1965. But he knew that the British people and members of the armed services would never have tolerated this. Harold Wilson knows that he could not be any more successful in 1976 with British troops and British public opinion. And so in a typical sick Fabian-Marxist move he says that he will help subsidise the Communist-backed assault on the Rhodesians. But, of course, he washes his hands of any responsibility for the growing bloodshed.

By the use of Marxist dialectics he seeks to persuade the world that it is the "racist" Ian Smith and his "die-hard" supporters who are responsible. They are told with increasing intensity that they must, "while they still have time", hand power to the black majority. The Rhodesian Government is being urged to surrender to the same type of bloodshed and chaos which swept Africa in the wake of a policy of retreat by the Europeans. The great majority of the unfortunate Africans have been the main victims.

History will record that the greatest crime created by the European against the African peoples was not that they colonised them, but that having set their feet on the path towards law and order away from the charnel house conditions described by David Livingstone, they then deserted them, leaving them to fall back into barbarism and to be exploited by a new imperialism, that of barbaric Communism.

What clearly annoys the sleazy liberal journalists visiting Rhodesia at present is what they see as the "complacency" of the Rhodesian people. The shrieking in the world headlines does little but astonish the calm Rhodesians. If the Cubans already in Angola are to be moved to Mozambique, then the Communists are not going to maintain their present control of the Government there. More Cubans will have to be recruited from Cuba, and then sent to Mozambique. This development would produce some pretence of concern in London and Washington, but no effective opposition.

Already the Commonwealth Sanctions Committee has approved in principle handing over $30 million aid to Mozambique. Commonwealth Secretary-General, Mr. S. S. Ramphal, says that he will have a talk with President Machel before any money changes hands. He wants to be assured that the money will not be used to buy arms. And if Marxist Machel assures him that it will only be used for fine humanitarian purposes, no doubt the money from the Commonwealth Nations will be handed over.

Which brings us to the question of what is going to be the policy of the Fraser Government. Australia is a member of the Commonwealth Sanctions Committee on Rhodesia, and is under increasing pressure to make a financial contribution to assist Mozambique. Should this support be given? Australians will know that the Fraser Government has capitulated to the strategy of International Communism, even should it attempt to justify its actions by reference to the United Nations' sanctions.

Now is the time for Australians to show some manhood by insisting that no support whatever be given to the international campaign against Rhodesia. A stand by Australians would put new heart into the embattled Europeans of both Rhodesia and South Africa.

FIDDLING THE INFLATION FIGURES

"Moves by the Government and a major employer group to alter the wage indexation formula yesterday increased the threat of a confrontation with trade unions. The latest move considered by the Government to reduce the cost of indexation and thereby inhibit inflation is to exclude extreme fluctuations in food prices from future wage flow on. Cabinet is considering adopting this argument in the coming Arbitration Commission hearing". - Michelle Grattan in Canberra and Vincent Basile and Mark Baker in Melbourne, in front-page story, "The Age", Melbourne, March 9th.

Attempts to "fiddle" the figures used for adjusting wage increases can be no more effective than a policy of straight out price and wage controls. This is the policy, which Prime Minister Trudeau of Canada, now openly revealing his Marxist philosophy, is attempting to impose upon the unfortunate Canadians. The policy was tried two thousand years ago by the Romans. It has been tried in more recent times in the United Kingdom and the U.S.A. (remember the famous "90-day freeze"?) but after an initial restraint then exploded into a new burst of inflation.

If the Government is successful in having increased Government charges and indirect taxes ignored in the adjustment of wages, it must produce convulsions as hard-pressed wage earners protest as their purchasing power falls. It is simple arithmetic that all Government charges and indirect taxes inflate prices. Governments make a major contribution to increasing prices. It is true that further wage increases to attempt to meet the increased prices only intensify the problem.

Extra money has to be created by the banking system to finance the increased wages. It enters the system as an interest-bearing debt, and increases industry's financial costs, these resulting in higher prices. This vicious and destructive cycle can readily be broken by the Government using consumer discounts on basic items to lower prices, thus making increased wages unnecessary.

It is an incredible, and frightening situation when money can be created to finance inflation, but is not made available to reverse inflation. The Marxist know what it is all about, which is why Mr. Laurie Carmichael and his comrades are preparing confidently for the confrontation which the Fraser Government's policies must produce.

FABIAN STRATEGY IN NEW ZEALAND

The following is Mr. Jeremy Lee's final report on the New Zealand scene
Even those who have grasped the full scope of internationalism, and the role of the Fabians in undermining elected governments are often struck by the similarity of the problems facing Western nations. This is particularly so in the case of New Zealand and Australia. As the squeeze on Local Government is intensified, so, out of the bag, comes the suggestion of the amalgamation of councils, and regionalism.

"The Press" (Christchurch) of February 23rd, quoted the Minister for Inland Affairs, Mr. Highet, as follows: "Mr. Highet said he had spoken to local body leaders in Dunedin on Friday, outlining some of the amendments to the Local Government Act, 1974 that he had in mind. He mentioned - digressing from his notes - a top-tiered body, which would have "statutory authority" for regional planning, civil defence, transport, drainage and water supply. Already Auckland had such a regional authority... The Local Government Commission had been touring the country for months, discussing the issue, as well as local body amalgamation. There was no compulsion, Mr. Highet said. The technique was one of persuasion and discussion".

If Mr., Highet is naive enough to believe that there can be voluntary participation in statutory authorities, which comprise Regional Governments, his innocence is not shared by a visiting British 'expert' Professor Arthur Ling, who has been looking at Local Government in New Zealand. The same issue of "The Press" quoted Professor Ling in these words: "Expecting entrenched metropolitan local authorities surrounding Christchurch to agree voluntarily to change obsolete urban boundaries was simply not realistic, an eminent British town-planner and architect said on Saturday. Professor Arthur Ling said he had never heard of such voluntary action being successful in an urban area, except when local authorities faced a strong threat that the central government would do something if they did not..."

THE BOOK OF THE MOMENT

BRIEF COMMENTS

Mr. Bob Hawke, National President of the Australian Labor Party, said after the A.L.P. National Executive had censured Mr. Gough Whitlam for his part in the Iraqi funds affair, that he felt that Mr. Whitlam should continue as Leader of the Labor Party. Needless to say, he did not say for how long he felt Mr. Whitlam should lead....But Mr. Hawke's attire at the post-executive Press conference last Sunday, March 7th, contained a message. Mr. Hawke normally is a most informal dresser. But in facing the media at the end of a long and traumatic event for the A.L.P., Mr. Hawke presented himself in a conservative grey suit, white shirt and blue tie. He clearly wanted TV viewers to see him as a future Labor leader.

A little-publicised aspect of the Victorian State Elections is the entry of three anti-fluoridation Independents into the contest. There could be some shocks. The opponents of compulsory mass-medication believe that they can make a significant contribution to defeating Health Minister Scanlan. Premier Dick Hamer is also meeting strong opposition, not only from the anti-fluoridarionists, but also from a Right to Life Association candidate. Mrs. Tighe, married with four young children, is a qualified pharmaceutical chemist who is "happily dedicated to developing her family life". Mrs. Tighe is opposing the policy of abortion on demand.

The Prices Justification Tribunal has granted BHP a 9.57 per cent increase in steel prices. Average steel prices are now about 90 percent higher than 3 years ago. BHP's recent half-yearly report showed a loss of more than $26 million in the steel sector. The increased price of steel, a basic item in an industrialised economy, must now be multiplied through the whole production system, making a significant contribution to continuing inflation. A discount system applied to all steel sold would enable BHP to produce at a reasonable profit without generating inflation. The finance required for this discount system would be far less than that required to finance progressive inflation.

Mr. Phillip Lynch, increasingly described as the Treasury's yes-man, says that the purpose of the recent $30 million dollar loan from West Germany was to keep Australia's name before the international money market! Mr. Lynch believes in "hocking" more of Australia's estate in order to import foreign capital, most of which is not required to import any capital or other equipment. Figures are merely transferred from the other side of the world to Australia.