"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing"
Edmund Burke
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4 December 1987. Thought for the Week:
"Without question I could state at the outset that modern
anthropology as taught in Anglo-American schools and colleges
is the result of a political ideology, not the source of it.
The people who developed it, and their disciples who disseminated
it, were almost all partisan and passionate crusaders for
socialism. They most certainly wanted all humanity to be innately
equal, and they wanted to discover that the sole reason why
inequalities existed was because of variable environments.
Thus the responsibility for poverty and failure could be placed
chiefly on society, not on the individual, and the rebuilding
of the social order on socialist lines could be justified."
Carleton Putnam, in Race and Reality (1967) |
BLACK MAGIC IN BRITAINMr. Eric D. Butler filed the following
report from the United Kingdom before returning to Australia The boy who lost £20,000 was merely applying what he was learning in the classroom, no doubt excited by the prospect of becoming one of the "Yuppies" who, playing with computers as the stock market boom appeared to be never ending, became a new class. Currently, of course, the "Yuppies" are looking rather battered - there are plenty of Mercedes being re-possessed. But hope continues to spring eternal, and if only the Reagan Administration can be persuaded to stop writing so many red figures and tax the Americans more, all will be well! The economic witchdoctors all appear to have different explanations for what is happening. But Mrs. Thatcher's Finance Minister Lawson soothingly tells the British people that there is really nothing too much to worry about. In one sense he is correct when he says there is nothing basically wrong with the British economy. There are no problems about production. In fact, in some areas, including grain growing, there is a surplus of production in relation to domestic demand. The "solution" for this is greater exporting. One of the gurus of the New Right, former Socialist Paul Johnson, is urging that the British become more "ruthless". Johnson even raises the question of whether the British can stand the "luxury" of a Royal Family which he urges has to be "modernised" and play its part in a Brave New World where figures are more important than real things. Presumably the members of the Royal Family, instead of providing the type of very human functions they do, would be much better employed as Directors of some multinational engaged in exporting gadgetry of some kind to the far ends of the world. Or, perhaps, engaged in exporting arms to both sides in the Iran-Iraq conflict? Consider the French situation, with France now joining with the British and Americans in providing mine sweepers for the Persian Gulf. It seems to be reasonably well established that the mines being laid by Iran are sold by France! But amidst the general madness there are signs that some are starting to ask questions about realities. One whizz-kid was thrown into complete confusion recently when asked what happened to a piece of paper called a pound when it was fed into a computer. What form did it then take? And how was it transferred elsewhere? And so on. More people do need to become as little children. But not the type of children being brainwashed to believe that their games with computers reflect reality. Another interesting question had all the "experts" stumped: Where did all the thousands of millions lost in the stock market crash go to? The truth was indicated by one businessman who took his losses rather philosophically, observing that the fortune he had made was the result of inflating the figures on shares. "Bits of paper yesterday, bits of paper today, bits of paper tomorrow", he said. How true. The saddest thing to report on the state of Britain today, is the failure of the General Synod of The Church of England to make an authoritative statement on the question of homosexuality, a subject demanding strong moral leadership at a time when the problem of AIDS is one of the most alarming issues concerning the future of mankind. A weak compromise statement resulted in the rather vulgar, but telling headline: "POOFTERS MAY STAY IN THE PULPITS". This referred to the fact that there are now many self-professed homosexual Priests of the Church. |
BRIEF COMMENTSMedia commentators covering the Joh-Bjelke Petersen drama have made liberal use of the term "bizarre". But one of the most bizarre comments comes from Queensland National party MP Brian Austin, former Cabinet Minister sacked by Sir Joh, who claimed last weekend that Sir Joh was "being advised by extreme right-wing groups, including the League of Rights". "Every time the Premier gets into some sort of difficulty, such as the Joh for PM and the present campaign, the people I call fruity loops are behind it. That is, the League of Rights and so on", he said. The truth is, of course, that the League of Rights advised against the Joh for PM campaign, correctly predicting that it could be a major disaster for the Queensland Premier. Needless to say, the League does not expect an apology from Mr. Austin. One of the most revealing statements during the Queensland political upheaval has come from the new leader of the National Party, Mr. Mike Ahern. Immediately following his election, Mr. Ahern told a press conference, "This is the moment I have been working towards." This extraordinary statement suggests that Mr. Ahern has been a prominent member of a government whose policies he had disagreed with, but that he had supported that government until he felt the time was right to move against Sir Joh. Mr. Ahern has the backing of Sir Robert Sparkes, the man who cynically exploited the popularity of Sir Joh in his drive to make the Nationals the dominant party at Canberra. Sir Joh has made a number of bad decisions, with a dangerous blind eye concerning Japanese investments in Australia, but his biggest mistake has been to allow himself to be "set up" for political destruction. The Cash Transaction Reports Bill 1987 follows the American pattern of attempting to curb the cash economy, with banks and building societies being required to report all cash transactions in excess of $10,000 to a new federal agency. American reports state that it is interesting that there has been a big increase in cash transactions under $10,000 since the American legislation was introduced! Not even the Soviet Union, with that State's draconian powers, has been able to destroy what is often described as the "black economy". Every attempt results in further totalitarian measures. The nature of people is such that if taxation becomes oppressive, as it is now, with governments using the taxpayers' money for all kinds of wasteful and destructive activities, they will use every possible means to minimise their tax contributions. The massacre of 16 Christian commune leaders in Zimbabwe will shock Christians, in particular in the West, that law and order is not established in Comrade Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe. We saw on TV that a Zimbabwean Minister condemned the massacre: also Mr. Joshua Nkomo condemned the massacre. What can all this mean? It at least means that the authorities in Harare (formerly Salisbury) don't have full control of their country; that probably tribalism is still rampant; and certainly that terrorism hasn't been contained. We have to agree with Mr. John Howard that Mr. Hawke's reported statement on the Soviet Union and the Asia-Pacific region is a great blunder. We are not sure what Mr. Hawke means by "constructive" (the Soviet Union should play a "constructive" role in this region of the world), and we doubt if Mr. Gorbachev places the same interpretation on the word "constructive". What might be "constructive" to Mr. Gorbachev would be most likely to be destructive to Australia and her regional allies. Mr. Hawke has called for the Soviet Union to withdraw from Afghanistan, but has virtually invited it to enter our region of the world. The "War Crimes Amendment Bill, 1987" is being stealthily poked through the Parliament. The Senate Committee investigating the Bill has already criticised sections of it, which give the Commonwealth the power to put "war criminals" on trial. The all party Standing Committee for the Scrutiny of Bills is concerned with retrospective legislation, which could breach the civil rights of individuals. Mr. Lionel Bowen, Federal Attorney General has claimed that this Bill does not contain the element of retrospectivity, but it does. No legislation existed, anywhere, at the time for deportation to, and internment in so-called death camps. The ethnic communities will not surprisingly be up in arms at the legislation, as this will reflect on their groups in general. Such powerful commentators as Michael Barnard of The Age, and Bob Santamaria of NewsWeekly and The Australian have both raised misgivings concerning the integrity of the Bill. The League of Rights is opposed to the Bill, considering that all manner of mischief could well be done in the name of punishing so-called "war criminals" over 40 years after the event, by using retrospective legislation, and relying on "evidence" from Communist countries! Need we say more. |
BLAME THE ANTI-RACISTSFrom Professor L.J.M. Cooray, School of Law, Macquarie University, North Ryde, NSW. This letter published in The Australian, November 26th:"I write as a coloured Australian (born in Sri Lanka and now an Australian citizen). I came to Australia 12 years ago, having lived and worked in many countries spanning four continents. My early impression was of Australia as one of the most tolerant racial societies on earth. "Things appear to be changing. There are many reasons for this including the economic downturn and unemployment problems. "A major factor, however, which can be addressed more easily than the economic problems, is the activities of the anti-racists and the backlash they create. "Australia has an immigration policy which is supported by both sides of politics, but which apparently is not supported by the majority of the population ... In a democracy problems are inevitable if an elite few seek to impose their wishes (however well intentioned) on the population. "A survey some time ago (therefore not recent) showed a strong opposition to unrestrained coloured immigration from Asian migrants. They know the reality. Many of them have come from countries torn by racial violence. They know that unrestrained immigration, where coloured people are a significant minority, is an invitation for racial tension. "The main responsibility for the present growth of a backlash against coloured persons in Australia must be laid at the door of those who seek to suppress debate on immigration issues, who yell anti-racist epithets and abuse at those who point to the problems in any society of racial differences, who denigrate the Anglo-Saxon and British contribution to Australia and who spend large sums of public money on multicultural policies (enthusiastically supported by the few elite ethnics who benefit). "The rantings and ravings of those who attack the opponents of unrestricted immigration by comparisons with Hitler lack any sense of proportion. They also have the effect of trivialising the Holocaust and the sufferings of the Jews in the 1930s and 1940s. "Those who are ranting about anti-racism are among the most racist elements in our society. Des Keagan and Geoffrey Blainey (both of whom I know) are not racists." |
OUR TAX DOLLAR AT WORK, OR IS IT?The material under this heading formed the Editorial of the November 25th issue of Regional Progress, the excellent suburban newspaper chain in Melbourne: "With the Federal Government talking about increases to the Medicare levy, cut-backs to services and further belt-tightening in general, except of course for MPs, readers will undoubtedly be interested, though not thrilled, with the following. "In its Odd Spot, the monthly journal of The Sciences Club says: "With the May Mini-Budget over and done with, the Government reportedly considering heavy cuts in public spending, it is interesting to pause and note some of the grants made from taxpayers' money in the past couple of years for research. "Your tax dollar at work! "The list is published without further comment. GRANT RESEARCH Regional Progress asks: "Now what else could we have done with $258,950?" |
FROM HANSARDRepresentatives, November 17th, Peter Reith (Lib), Flinders, SA:"About 12 months ago I was able to inform the House, as a result of extracting some material under the Freedom of Information Act, of some of the generous provisions provided to members of the Constitutional Commission and members of some of the advisory committees. Tonight I am able to reveal to the House, as a result of further application under the Freedom of Information Act, that these generous provisions have, if nothing else, been extended and continue to be provided to members of the Commission. I can reveal that members of the Commission and advisory committees continue to do very well out of the proposed reform exercise… It is unbelievable that, according to the figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, the remuneration for the 5 Commissions totals $324,700 for this year. If that is not enough, $80,000 was spent on travel, to give a total of $404,700. It cost $2,500 for an overnight stay in Sydney for a meeting. It is outrageous that these sorts of funds are being paid for these people to be involved in this process. Those who know the Chairman know that he is a decent bloke, but if he sits on the Commission for 2 days in a week he receives $1500. That is too much for a part time job out of a total payout of $404,000 for 5 people over 12 months… The members of the Constitutional Commission and the advisory communities were appointed on the basis of being able to sell the reform proposals. They are eminent in Australian society. Why did $218,000 need to be spent on consultants when these people were appointed because of their access to the media and their pre-eminent positions in Australian society ... It is outrageous that well over $5 million has been spent on this futile attempt to satisfy a few ideologues in the Australian Labor Party who want to maintain their rage ..." |