ZIMBABWE (RHODESIA) RETURNS TO DARKEST AFRICA

On November 19th, 1981, Mr. Alan Cadman, MP, Parliamentary Secretary to Prime Minister Fraser, wrote to a Queensland League of Rights supporter in which he said,
"The Government of Mr. Mugabe in Zimbabwe offers a good example of what can be achieved. It is a Government of reconciliation, making the greatest possible effort to retain its skilled white citizens who will play such an important part in Zimbabwe's future development. Internationally, Zimbabwe is a truly non-aligned nation. Its acknowledged Western sympathies can be directly attributed to the part that Commonwealth nations such as Australia played in bringing it to independence. The Government believes that the West can develop a similar constructive relationship with an independent Namibia."

Prime Minister Fraser has continued to maintain the above view concerning Zimbabwe. But what is the reality? We have just received from South African journalist and specialist in African affairs, Mr. Ivor Benson, a chilling report on Zimbabwe's rapid return to darkest Africa. The full article will appear in the October issue of "The New Times", but we bring our readers some of the highlights:
"The abduction of tourists in Matabeland, along with a growing wave of terrorism, highlights the fact that 'Zimbabwe is now in a state of civil war as the Matabele in the south and southwest try to fling off the tyrannical overlordship of the Mashona imposed on them and maintained by whites'.

"The 'army of national unity' in which former terrorists loyal to Robert Mugabe and Joshua Nkomo were expected to sink their differences, fell apart....Rank and file Matabele deserted in droves, taking their weapons with them, and General Mazuka, the army's Matabele deputy commander, was arrested and now awaits trial on a charge of high treason."

It is estimated that close on 20,000 Matabele have now deserted. Terrorist activities are escalating. There are increasing abusive attacks on the judges, magistrates, and the legal profession. Mugabe did nothing when his Minister of Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, Eddison Zvobgo, declared in Parliament that he had been "provoked" to leap out of his car after a slight traffic mishap, drag an elderly white woman out of the driving seat and beat her up. The black mayor of Gweru (Gwelo) invited a local white attorney to his office and beat him up so severely that he had to be taken to hospital on a stretcher.

Mr. Garfield Todd, the former Rhodesian Prime Minister, who campaigned to bring "majority rule" to Zimbabwe, was later rewarded with a seat in Mr. Mugabe's Senate. But now he has joined the growing number of disillusioned, expressing his disapproval when Mugabe imposed a ban of total silence on proceedings brought by a Member of Parliament, Mr. Wally Stuttaford, detained since last December, against security officers who tortured and assaulted him.
The notorious Bishop Donald Lamont is now back in Ireland after receiving a beating up by one of his Black Bishops."

Perhaps Prime Minister Fraser could include Zimbabwe in his next world tour, note the tragic results of his diplomacy, and then tell Australians if he still thinks highly of Comrade Mugabe and his Government. Australia's role in the betrayal of Rhodesia is one of the blackest chapters in Australian history and those associated with the treachery should never be allowed to forget it.

PRESIDENT REAGAN'S COURAGEOUS MIDDLE EAST POLICY

In spite of the disastrous economic policies of the Reagan Administration, we remain convinced that President Reagan is basically a man whose instincts are sound. And he is not lacking in courage, as his new initiative on the Middle East demonstrates. President Reagan is attempting to face the basic Middle East reality, one which Pope John Paul has stressed, that there is no hope whatever of any stability in the Middle East unless the problem of the dispossessed Palestinian people is resolved constructively.

The essence of President Reagan's proposal is that Palestinians in Israeli occupied territories should be given self-government in association with Jordan. The President calls for a freeze on all Israeli development in these occupied territories. Mr. Reagan also demanded negotiations over the final status of the city of Jerusalem, including the Arab section, which the Israelis occupied in 1967.

Mr. Reagan is right when he points out that the military defeat of the armed forces of the PLO in Lebanon have not resolved the basic Palestinian and Middle East problem. Although some supporters of the Palestinians will feel that the Reagan proposals do not go far enough, and in spite of the fact that the President called for an Arab recognition of the right of Israel to exist, the immediate bitter reaction from Israel's Begin and his supporters, once again showed that the Zionists are not prepared to make any constructive contribution towards the solving of the Middle East crisis.
Just as Israel blatantly announced it was annexing the Gollan Heights, it is well on the way to annexing the West Bank. According to the Zionists, the West Bank, which they seized in 1967, is part of the "Chosen Land".

President Reagan is no doubt correct when he warns that if Israel goes ahead with further development on the West Bank, as a preliminary to annexation, this will create a crisis of enormous dimensions inside the U.S.A. President Reagan has the sanctions to force Israel to make concessions. Israel is almost completely dependent upon American financial and military support. The fact that no American President to date has dared to use this sanction is a striking demonstration of the power of Political Zionism in the higher reaches of American politics. But eventually that power must be broken if Middle East stability is to be achieved.

An encouraging feature of the situation is the emergence of large numbers of anti-Zionist Jews who are at last openly challenging the coercive power of the Political Zionist movement. Not surprisingly, the Soviet has come out openly against the Reagan plan for the Palestinians. The Soviet wants increasing instability in the Middle East in order to advance its own long-term strategy, which started with vital assistance for the Zionists to establish the State of Israel in 1948. President Reagan's move, which is of course backed by most of his closest advisers, is one of the greater significance and is going to bring the whole Zionist issue out into the field of healthy public discussion everywhere.

BRIEF COMMENTS

The Mayor of the Queensland coastal town of Hervey Bay is justified in calling for the resignation of Mr. Al Grassby, Commissioner for Community Relations, who recently issued a report that local youths were conducting Ku Klux Klan type campaigns against local Aboriginal families. Mayor Elson-Green has described the allegations as "balderdash". After the initial widespread publicity based upon the Grassby report, we have seen little media reference to the report that all that happened was a "lark" by children covering themselves with white sheets. The Fraser government should be called upon to investigate this whole affair thoroughly and to tell the Australian people what really took place.

The clash in Sydney between "Aborigines" with athletes carrying the Queen' s message for the Brisbane Commonwealth Games, is further evidence of the shape of things to come. The protestors, calling for "land rights" in Queensland, attempted to prevent the athletes meeting the Lord Mayor of Sydney, Alderman Doug Sutherland.

The abortive coup against President Mo of Kenya on August 1 has demonstrated that Kenya is going the same way as the rest of "liberated" Africa. Now President Mo's Kenyan Government wants the West to provide special aid to repair the damage created. They want $110 million! In the meantime Uganda sinks deeper into chaos and bloodshed.

The economic "experts" are in a state of confusion concerning the deepening international recession. Some have assured Americans that there are signs of recovery. But the most influential independent financial forecasting group in the U.S.A., the Congressional Budget Office, has warned against the jubilant reaction by Wall Street to the tax increases, predicting a record deficit budget - $40,000 million higher than that projected by the Administration.

The General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs warns that world trade is depressingly like the 1930s. The desperate Mexican move to nationalise its banks has added another warning note to the situation. Unlike the "experts", we can point to a record of being consistently correct, pointing out that deepening crisis is mathematically certain under present debt financial policies. So is destructive inflation. Attempts to curtail inflation by reducing the rate of credit money creation merely produce more bankruptcies and more unemployment. There is no way out of the crisis without a basic change in financial policies. These have been constantly outlined in League literature, such as "A Programme for Reversing Inflation" (Price $1.00 posted) and "The Money Trick" ($2.70 posted).

As we go to press 10,000 bankers and their economic "experts" are coming together in Toronto, Canada for the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. There has been plenty of publicity concerning the alleged threat to the international banking system because of the international debt structure. But behind the scenes the international crisis is being exploited to advance the strategy of the New International Economic Order, a major feature of which is the increasing of the power of the International Monetary Fund. It is proposed that the IMF take over the responsibility for much of the world's debt, starting with the Third World countries. Events are unfolding as we have consistently predicted.

We have been sent a typed screed from Mr. John Bennett, Secretary of the Victorian Council for Civil Liberties, copies of which, we are advised, have been sent to all Cabinet Ministers, and members of the A.C.T.U. Trade Hall Council. This document was sent in his private capacity, and not in his official capacity as Secretary of the Victorian Council of Civil Liberties. The screed ranges over 15 points, which we reproduce for the benefit of actionists who may be able to use the information. re: Immigration Policy
"I have followed with interest the recent debate in the media about Australia becoming a multiracial and multicultural society. It seems to me that the propositions put forward by people opposed to further large scale Asian immigration have not been answered by their critics. "I enclose some press clippings reporting comment by critics of current immigration policies and a series of 15 statements which seem to summarise some of the main points they make. "I would be pleased if you could specifically indicate your attitude or response to each of the 15 statements and if you disagree with the statement, the precise basis for your disagreement.
"The 15 statements are as follows -
1). that continued high rates of net immigration affect the job prospects of about 600,000 presently employed.
2). that net immigration is now mainly Asian, in view of the return of immigrants from Europe back to Europe.
3). that in the long term Australia will experience racial problems similar to the U.S.A. and the U.K. (see recent reports of riots in Brixton and Toxteth) if present Immigration policies are continued.
4). that there are already some 550,000 Asians in Australia (including 'illegals') of whom some 350,000 are foreign born.
5). that it is the aim of the Government to increase the Asian component in the population to 10% in the next 20 years.
6.) that on present trends most people in Australia will be Asian within 80 years.
7). that Australia will become destabilised and more difficult to defend as the Asian component in the population increases.
8). that an increased Asian component in the Australian population is unnecessary to obtain favour with Asian countries. The two most powerful Asian nations, namely China and Japan, have rigid immigration policies without affecting their diplomatic position. Japan accepted only a handful of Vietnamese refugees while Australia accepted more per capita than any other nation. Why?
9). that Vietnam is exporting its racial problems to Australia by encouraging ethnic Chinese to leave Vietnam.
10). that in the event of conflict with China some time in the next century a large number of Chinese in Australia could become a security risk.
11). that it is unwise to encourage immigration at a time of housing shortages in Australia.
12). that Australians should be consulted by means of a referendum on the question of Asian immigration.
13). that Australia has avoided racial strife in the past because its population has been racially homogeneous.
14). that it is unfair to describe Australians, who believe that a multiracial society is unworkable, as 'racists', or 'extremists', when they are simply stating that they agree with every prominent political leader who expressed views on Asian immigration until the late 60s, including Sir Robert Menzies, Dr. H. Evatt, Jack Lang, Sir Isaac Isaacs, and Australia's first Minister for Immigration, namely, Arthur Calwell.
15). that attempts have been made, and are still being made to intimidate people querying current immigration policies by calling them 'senile' (e.g. C.Forrel about Calwell), 'racist' or 'extremist', and by threating them with prosecution under some unspecified law, and that such attempts are incompatible with the basic civil liberty of freedom of speech.
"I would be pleased if you would reply in detail to each of the above 15 points. I think you will agree that the future racial composition of Australia is an important issue and that informed debate is desirable.
"It may assist you in replying to this letter to consult the Quarterly Statistical Summary of the Department of Immigration and Ethnic Affairs (e.g. Vol.3 No.43 page 22) and 'Review 81' of the Department. There are no reliable figures on 'illegals' and births to Asian immigrants.
Yours faithfully, John Bennett Secretary, Victorian Council for Civil Liberties.