THE DISTURBING MURPHY AFFAIR

There was a time, not so long ago, when it would have been regarded as outrageous if a Judge did not resign if subjected to the serious charges leveled against Mr. Justice Lionel Murphy. The essence of the English Common Law system is that no member of the judiciary should be subject to the slightest suspicion concerning his integrity. Clearly Mr. Justice Murphy, and his highly organised supporters have no respect for this time-honoured tradition.

Political influences have always had some effect on the judicial system, but Mr. Justice Murphy's friends and supporters, many of these Socialist lawyers, are now blatantly injecting politics into their campaign. The jury system itself has come under heavy attack, as witnessed by the amazing allegation by Mr. Bill Hayden, Minister for External Affairs, that Mr. Justice Murphy was innocent. Our understanding is that Mr. Hayden was not present at any time at the Murphy trial. But he was prepared to state that, in effect, the jury was in error, even though they heard all the evidence. Mr. Hayden said that Mr. Justice Murphy must be innocent because he knew him to be a "good bloke".

Prominent among the growing number of those joining the "Murphy-is-innocent" campaign is Professor Blackshield, reader in Law at La Trobe University, Victoria, who has been interviewed extensively on television. It is appropriate to ask what kind of law is taught by Professor Blackshield when he says that there was nothing in the charges against Mr. Justice Murphy; that in effect the jury was in error.

Professor Blackshield is reported as having made the serious allegation the jury was "spun along by The Age tapes and lawyers and judges and politicians and journalists". This view provides comfort to those who actively engaged in arguing that there has been a "conspiracy" against Mr. Justice Murphy. The conspiracy theory has been clearly outlined by well known Marxist, Mr. Pat Clancy, Federal Secretary of The Building Workers Industrial Union, and spokesman for 69 union leaders who said that decision against Murphy was a miscarriage of justice, and that "We see that this is really an attempt to attack the whole of the Labor movement by the forces of the extreme right."

While it is unfortunate that the Opposition should have blatantly attempted to make political capital out of the jury decision against Murphy, calling upon him to resign before he had exercised his right to appeal, there is no evidence of any "extreme right" conspiracy against Mr. Justice Murphy. It should be recalled that one of the Labor Party's representatives on the Senate Committee, which overwhelmingly agreed that Murphy had a case to answer, endorsed that view. The only sign of any conspiracy is a carefully orchestrated campaign to declare Mr. Justice Murphy innocent. The incredible expression of subsequent views by the foreman and one member of the jury which found Mr. Justice Murphy guilty of one of the charges against him, and the manner in which those views were publicised, require much more explanation than has been forthcoming.

Those who followed the trial closely have pointed out that the trial hinged basically on whether the jury accepted the credibility of Chief Magistrate Clarrie Briese, the main witness against Murphy. Clearly the jury did accept the credibility of Briese. Briese is not regarded as a brilliant legal figure, but was seen by most Sydney lawyers, including those of the Labor Party, as humane and progressive. But in spite of the fact that his past political associations were with the Labor Party, an anti Briese campaign now charges that he is a creature of the Liberal Party and is suffering from paranoia.

The essence of the Murphy affair, irrespective of how it ends, is that the very suggestion that Lionel Murphy could be guilty of any wrong doing touched a deep nerve in the whole anti-Christian secular Humanist movement of which Murphy has been regarded as a guiding star. To men like Senator Gareth Evans, who had openly and enthusiastically followed the Murphy star, it was outrageous to have Murphy found guilty of anything. There have been most extravagant remarks about the role of "the great legal reformer", and how the cause of "progressive judicial" decisions would suffer if Mr. Justice Murphy were lost to the High Court.

It is appropriate to recall just now that it was federal Attorney Lionel Murphy who personally invaded ASIO and demanded access to certain personal files. It was the same Attorney Lionel Murphy who was responsible for the Family Law Act, which has increasingly helped to destroy the traditional basis of marriage. This legislation was in keeping with the secular humanistic philosophy of Murphy. As a justice of the High Court, Lionel Murphy played a decisive role in destroying the Federal Constitution by arguing that the External Powers of the Commonwealth could be used to enter into international agreements and conventions which then enabled the Commonwealth to legislate, contrary to the views of the States, as Queensland and Tasmania found, to give effect to those agreements and conventions.

Mr. Justice Murphy is a key figure in the Fabian Socialist Conspiracy against Australia. Those so zealously defending Murphy know that if he goes down, they have lost a key figure in that conspiracy. Much more than the future of Mr. Justice Murphy is at stake.

BRIEF COMMENTS

The Australian Jewish News of July 12th quotes Mr. Geoff Kennett, leader of the Victorian Liberal Party, as stating, "Members of the Liberal Party had no desire or need to share a platform with the League of Rights." Mr. Kennett referred to the famous Warrnambool rally of last year, stating, "With no reflection whatsoever on the Liberal Member involved last year, hopefully such a situation will not occur again." League supporters in Nunawading should let Mr. Kennett know that, in view of his attitude, he will not of course be expecting them and their friends to support his candidate!

Jarred's Local Government Newsfile, issue June 7-11th, reports Mr. Geoff Kennett as having told the Bayswater Rotary Club that Australia was "over-governed". "He said that there was clearly a role for national government so the choice needed to be the elimination of either the State or local governments or the creation of regional areas which take over the functions of both the existing levels". We trust that Mr. Kennett's tacit support for the Fabian Socialist strategy for regional governments, to replace both State and Local Governments, will be given the widest publicity during the Nunawading by-election. Fortunately, electors in this vital by-election will have a choice of non-Labor candidates. If the Liberals do poorly in this election, even if they eventually win, on preferences, they only have themselves to blame.

It was encouraging to see the anti Malcolm Fraser blast of letters which appeared in The Australian following the former Prime 'Minister's revolting defence of the Marxist Prime Minister of Zimbabwe (Rhodesia) Robert Mugabe. This terrorist leader was responsible for the brutal killing of Christian missionaries and thousands of innocent people. Fraser played a major role in the treachery, which destroyed Rhodesia. He displayed his appalling ignorance by claiming that the famous Selous Scouts were an instrument of South Africa and should have been charged with war crimes. The Selous Scouts were Rhodesian controlled and many of its members were Africans. As Mugabe now threatens those whites still left in Zimbabwe, and the whole of Africa sinks back into the barbarism from which the Europeans rescued it, the international campaign against South Africa is being turned up to white heat. The good sense of the Australian people is shown by the latest polls, which show an overwhelming majority in favour of sporting and trade links with South Africa. Cannot someone tell Malcolm Fraser that the Australian people have rejected him and that he should go away and not try to meddle any longer in matters he either does not understand, or which he is deliberately misrepresenting.

TIME THE DEBT WHISTLE BLEW

FARMERS AN ENDANGERED SPECIES