CHRISTMAS GREETINGS

DEVIOUS STRATEGY ON REFERENDA

While Prime Minister Hawke has verbally blasted a "recalcitrant Senate" for refusing to vote $l.25m to advertise its "Yes" campaign for the referenda proposed for February 25th, there are good reasons for believing that he and his advisers actually welcomed the Senate decision. Senator Gareth Evans originally proposed that there should be a fixed term parliament. But this proposal was dropped because, should it have been carried, it would have eliminated Mr. Hawke's option of fixing an election date, which he felt would give him the maximum electoral advantage. Mr. Hawke intends to be around until 1988 if possible.

When Prime Minister Fraser decided on an early, and unnecessary election early this year, Mr. Hawke was one of those who loudly criticised Mr. Fraser. Now Mr. Hawke proposes to do exactly what Mr. Fraser did. No sooner had the Senate made its decision to refuse to agree to make $1.25 million of the taxpayers' money available to stage a one-sided propaganda campaign than Mr. Hawke was raising the question of an early election. Mr. Hawke claimed that an early election would have to be considered "to save the people an extra election."

It is interesting to recall that in 1977 Prime Minister Fraser called his early election allegedly to remove "uncertainty". But it must be said that Mr. Fraser gave his excuse after he had at least tried to have his simultaneous elections carried at the 1977 referendum.

Senator Evans, the fanatical ideologue, is no doubt genuine in his determination to push on as soon as possible with his constitutional reform proposals, but Mr. Hawke and the pragmatists, now firmly in control of the Labor Party, primarily because of the Prime Minister's continuing high popularity rating, are more concerned about staying in office as long as possible. One of the leading pragmatists is Treasurer Mr. Paul Keating, who argued last week that the proposed referenda for February 25th should be abandoned if the Senate refused to vote the $1.25 million, thus leaving open the more attractive option of an early general election late in 1984. Mr. Hawke now suggests that the referenda might be held with or after the premature general elections he indicates.
The likely scenario is to keep "talking up" the alleged economic recovery taking place, bring down a "soft" budget in August, and then call for a double dissolution. One of the main objectives will be to gain control of the Senate.

Like Mr. Fraser before him, Mr. Hawke detests the concept of a Senate being able in any way to veto his policies. Once again we can say thank God Australia's Founding Fathers had enough wisdom to provide a constitution that does tend to check governments through the division of parliamentary powers. Every effort must be made to ensure that even if re-elected at an early general election, Mr. Hawke does not gain control of the Senate. And if the proposed referenda are held late in the year, and defeated, that will be a major defeat for the strategy to turn Australia into a Socialist Republic by 1988.

CRACKS IN THE LAND RIGHTS RANKS

Australian politics during 1984 are going to be increasingly dominated by the Aboriginal land rights campaign. A major feature of that campaign has been to exploit alleged sacred sites. Some of the claims about these sites are so absurd that it speaks volumes for the influence of the mass media that many people take them seriously. But some of the Aboriginals are starting to reveal that they (and their white advisers!) are more interested in money than in parks associated with sacred sites.

"The Australian" of November 23rd reports that "Traditional Aboriginal landowners yesterday demanded that the proposed Jabiluka and Koongarra uranium mines go ahead, and instructed the Northern Land Council to tell the Federal Government they want the mines, not a park." A Northern Land Council field representative, said the Aboriginals opposed the Federal Government's planned intention to incorporate the mines into the World Heritage listed Kakadu National Park, 140 miles south of Darwin. He said, "The people said if they could not get the mines they would seek the equivalent amount of money that they would have received from them."

Speaking at the Aboriginal and International Law Conference, held in Canberra on November 21st, Professor Russel Barsh, an American adviser to a group of Canadian Indian people in the United Nations, said that Australia must offer Aborigines the choice of self-determination "If it is to be consistent with its endorsement of international conventions." Professor Barsh pointed out that the UN de-colonisation committee was a forum in which indigenous people could press their claims.

But Mr. Clyde Holding Federal Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, also speaking at the Canberra Conference, expressed fears that the claim for Aboriginal sovereignty in Australia could result in an "ugly and poisonous backlash". Mr. Holding clearly favours a more Fabian type approach, one designed to minimise electoral opposition to the lands rights programme.

In Brisbane Aboriginal protestors have been staging a sit-in in the Aboriginal Development Commission's office. Amongst the demands of the protestors is that Mr. Charles Perkins should be sacked for ignoring the demands of Aboriginals in Queensland. A spokesman for the protestors charged that while refusing to give funds to Queensland, Mr. Perkins and the Aboriginal Commission were pouring millions into "dead duck" projects in the Northern Territory.
Clearly there are some cracks in the ranks of the revolutionaries and hangers on concerning how the "goodies" provided by the Australian taxpayers, should be divided up. The sooner the dangerous hoax of the land rights movement is exposed, the better it will be for the future of Australia.

BRIEF COMMENTS

Comparatively little publicity has been given to former Prime Minister Fraser's membership of the UN linked Interaction Council. The declared purpose of the Interaction Council, which has former secretary general of the U.N. Kurt Waldheim, serving as chairman, is "to promote practical action on problems of world peace and development." The organisation was launched with money from the Global Committee of Parliamentarians on Population and Development and the United Nations Development Programme. Amongst the former political leaders on the Council is Marxist Michael Manley of Jamaica. It is reported that the Council will concern itself with unemployment, Third World debt and the world monetary system. As the former political leaders making up the Interaction Council did nothing to solve the basic problems of their own countries while in office; it is pertinent to ask how they expect to do any better in their new positions.

Eyebrows have been raised in Whitehall by the news that the former pop concert promoter, novelist and discharged bankrupt, Mr. David Hart, is advising Prime Minister Thatcher on social and economic matters. Son of the Jewish chairman and founder of the merchant bank Fraser-Amabacher - Louis "Boy" Hart - son David claimed he was subject to anti-Semitism while at Eton. His flamboyant life style resulted in bankruptcy. Perhaps this qualifies him to advise Mrs. Thatcher!

Remember those budget deficit "blowouts" Liberal National Party John Howard used to experience? Mr. Paul Keating is heading for the same type of "blow out" with his first budget. The deficit is running at $6.3 billion after only five months. As the government has claimed repeatedly that last year's "blow out" will not be repeated, we will be interested in what type of 1984 double talk we will hear from Mr. Hawke, Mr. Keating and their colleagues. If it were not so deadly serious, the whole business of debt finance would be laughable.

As we have predicted, uncritical American for Zionist expansionism in the Middle East is exactly what the Soviet strategists want. Pro-Western Arab nations have joined with other Arab nations in strongly criticising the new Washington-Israeli understanding, followed by open military conflict between the U.S.A. and Syria. Even King Hussein of Jordan has been moved to suggest that there should be an enlarged role for the Soviet in the Middle East. The Red chickens continue to come home to roost.

GEORGE SANTAYANA ON DEMOCRACY

A South Yarra actionist (Vic.) has drawn our attention to the words of the American philosopher, George Santayana
"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of Government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidate promising the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policies, always followed by a dictatorship.
"The average of the world's greatest civilisations has been 200 (two hundred) years. These nations have progressed through the following sequence - can you pick where we are in the scale? "They have gone from bondage to spiritual faith; from spiritual faith to great courage; from courage to liberty; from liberty to abundance to selfishness; from selfishness to complacency and apathy; from apathy to dependence; and from dependence back again to bondage.
Can we escape this cycle? It seems that the only hope would be for the understanding of what is happening to us because there can be no question that those who do not understand history are bound to repeat it."

Our answer to George Santayana's question, viz. "Can we break the cycle?" is - definitely, YES. We can break the cycle at "loose fiscal policies", over which, says Santayana, democracy always collapses.
It was C. H. Douglas who demonstrated, with crystal clarity, how this was to be done. It goes without saying that our Enemy knows this as well as we do, but is using, and will use all the material power at his command, and his control over the avenues of communication (mass media, books, tertiary education, etc.) to spread misinformation and confusion. Even so, Truth will out, eventually. How soon, depends largely upon ourselves.