THE GOSPEL OF SACRIFICE

The founder of Christianity said that He had come in order that the individual might enjoy the life more abundant. Premier Jeff Kennett of Victoria says that he has come to make certain that the demands of the Debt Merchants are met even though this means a further lowering of the standard of living and quality of life for many Victorians. Premier Kennett admits that his Government's programme means further hardships for the community, saying that he is sorry about this "but it's the only responsible thing to do".

The real credit of Victoria is its productive capacity, and this is enormous. There is no physical necessity to cut still further community services. As we predicted, the Kennett Government was doomed to go from disaster to disaster while it slavishly followed the dictates of financial orthodoxy. It is not surprising that there has been a major slump in the electoral support for the Kennett Government. Growing industrial chaos is inevitable.

While it is probably true that the Victorians are suffering the most under the gospel of sacrifice, Federal Treasurer Dawkins is going to ensure that no States escape. Dawkins serves the same Debt Merchants that Jeff Kennett seeks to appease. Last week Mr. Dawkins made it clear that he was attempting to convince what are generally described as the "financial markets", stating that he would make every effort to reduce the deficit as the long awaited economic recovery gets under way. As yet we see no sign of any such recovery.

So confident were the Liberals of winning the recent Federal Elections that when the four Liberal Premiers met with Dr. Hewson prior to the elections, they committed themselves to supporting a 10 percent reduction in Federal grants to the States. Dawkins will be reminding the States of this commitment and insisting that they adopt the type of programme being attempted by Jeff Kennett.

The future for Australia is extremely bleak under debt finance. Federal Treasurer Dawkins is now in the "hot seat", without even being able to say, like Kennett, that having inspected the books he has found the situation far worse than he thought. Dawkins was in charge of the books before the elections! Explosive days are ahead with no escape unless the debt financial system is faced.

REPUBLICAN STRATEGY UNFOLDING

by David Thompson
There is no doubt that the next term of Government under the leadership of the insufferable Keating will rival the Whitlam years for their fervor of revolutionary change. Keating is not the man to let the grass grow under his feet. In a private election eve dinner for his personal staff, Keating made the following significant comment: "I think that given the chance to hit our straps with some real authority, the authority of a national election behind us, we can really do some very interesting things in world terms ... I reckon that we'll do more things here than any other Western Government will do in the next three years if we get up..."

Keating and those who inspire him clearly wish to rip apart the traditional Australian identity completely substituting something as yet unidentified, but being oriented more to "Asia". In this respect, Keating carries forward the Fabian traditions of the modern Labor Party, which were spelt out by Prime Minister Hawke in his famous 1984 Centenary Address to the Fabian Society in Melbourne. The first target must be the Crown (of Australia) since this embodies the very essence of genuine Australian identity. But any attack on the Crown that can significantly change the system of government, involves a massive change to the Constitution. This requires a referendum, and even with opinion polls running as they are, this is no certainty for the republicans. The strategy must be to undermine the Crown wherever possible. The oaths of allegiance for citizenship purposes have already been watered down.

NO IMMEDIATE FRONTAL ASSAULT

It is clear that a long-term propaganda campaign will take place before any referendum is held. Every chance will be taken to weaken the Monarchists. But rather than a frontal assault on the Constitution, the republicans propose to begin with the States. The weakest State is Queensland, in constitutional terms. The ALP abolished the Upper House in 1924, leaving Queensland Premiers nominally unchallenged in what they may do. Thus, Wayne Goss proposes to take effective steps to remove the Crown from every possible part of Queensland public and legal life. With Premier John Fahey demonstrating his disloyalty, and NSW Opposition leader Bob Carr proposing to follow Goss' lead, this strategy could be followed in several other States. Queensland could well prove to be a major test. Already Sir James Killen has publicly challenged Goss' proposal.

HAYDEN MAKES A POINT

Interviewed by Laurie Oaks for Channel 9 last Sunday, the Governor General, Hayden, warned that simply changing the office of Governor General for "President" would not prevent the events of 1975 being repeated. Hayden added that the Queen has not 'interfered in any way' in Australian politics, and that without massive changes to the Constitution, including abolishing the Reserve Powers, a "President" would not make for significant structural changes. It is also notable that the ABC report of this interview edited it in such a way that a completely different construction was placed on Hayden's comments. Needless to say, the republicans were enraged by Hayden's comments.

BRIEF COMMENTS

While the soul-searching continues among the ranks of the Liberal Party, still shocked by the electoral disaster of the Federal Elections, with general agreement that the GST should be forgotten, the National Farmers' Federation refuses to accept any responsibility for its contribution to the Keating victory. The NFF spent large sums of money, estimated to have been at least $400,000, for a campaign in favour of the Fightback policy, including the GST, in a number of electorates regarded as marginal. The aim was to have the Coalition Parties elected. Confronted by the reality that the campaign was a failure, the best that executive director Rick Farley could offer was the weak excuse that the swing to Labor was less in the rural areas than in the cities. Mr. Farley sought to engage in a little damage control by mentioning that the National Party had won the Queensland electorate of Kennedy. But Mr. Farley did not mention that National Party Member Bob Katter has been a strong opponent of the Hewson policy, and has been scathing in his references to "level playing fields". The NFF has badly failed rural Australia, persistently refusing, to direct attention to the major problem: unpayable debt.

The Australian Institute of Jewish Affairs reports, after a survey of 400 students at 10 Universities, that "racism" was rife; Australia should cut immigration and migrants primarily from Europe and North America were preferred above Asian migrants. 15 percent thought that Jews were too interested "in making money" while 14 percent said that the Italian community "was too heavily involved in organised crime in Australia". 40 percent were opposed to any further land rights for Aborigines. Commenting on the findings, Zionist-Jewish leader Isi Leibler said that the findings were "disturbing" and was most concerned about the attitude concerning Asians. There was an urgent need for education and legislation to tackle "racism" in Australia. The reality is, of course, that the multicultural society inevitably produces frictions, which the Leiblers then seek to exploit to further totalitarian legislation.

As we go to press, the Federal Government is attempting to head off the David Irving appeal in the Federal Court concerning his ban from Australia. Legal delaying tactics are being attempted to prevent a hearing in the Federal Court, scheduled for April 29th. Obviously the Government fears publicity.

VICTIMISATION NO PART OF DEMOCRACY

from The Australian, March 24th
"I waited patiently for a week in the vain hope the Prime Minister, Mr. Keating, would apologise to the people of Australia for his threat of victimisation of those who had the temerity to exercise their democratic Australian right to support the Coalition policies in the March 13 election. "I cannot recall in my long life an Australian political leader of any party making the threat the Prime Minister made after the election. "I could perhaps forgive his ungracious and arrogant speech of acceptance on election night and put it down to the excitement of the moment and the fact that the man has demonstrated over the past 10 years that he does not understand the standards expected of leaders. However, I cannot forgive the threats by the Prime Minister and his Treasurer.

"Men and women have given their lives so Australians can be free. There is neither freedom nor democracy when people are not able to pursue their religious and political beliefs with freedom from vilification and threat by others, especially those in high places. "The very basis of our cherished democracy was inherited from Britain. One can only assume that this outburst by the Prime Minister is yet another manifestation of his personal antagonism towards all things British.

"One does not condone donations to political parties with strings attached - as became so apparent during Labor's 10 W.A. Inc. years in Western Australia. Nevertheless, we can now see the agenda of the Labor Party under Mr. Keating is to use the disclosure of political donations to further intimidate those who might have different views from him and the Labor Party.

"Mr. Keating has already created more divisions in Australia than any other Prime Minister, and at a time when the country is literally bleeding to death economically. National teamwork should be the order of the day, but he is seeking to divide the nation further through issues like the flag, and a republic. He should have something better to do - such as relieving the plight of those who are suffering from his recession. "However, those things pale into insignificance when measured against the dangers to our democracy from his threats. "I am amazed that the media has not descended upon him. They demand freedom of the press, but there will be no freedom for them or anyone else if the implications of the Prime Minister's threat are carried to their logical conclusions." (Sir Charles Court, Perth, W.A.)

P.M. COULD TRY OUT A PRESIDENTIAL CHOICE

from The Age (Melbourne), 31/3
My preference for our present system of government as a constitutional monarchy is well known. I am also on the public record as saying that, in a democracy such as ours, if a majority wishes for a republic, then change must occur. My only wish is that the debate we have to have will proceed on the basis of accuracy and truth, not distortion and untruths. And we have surely given a new meaning to the word 'debate' when one side has already announced what the result will be and the date on which it will be implemented, leaving it to the other side merely to participate in a discussion about minor details. But that is an argument for another day.

"During the period of the Fraser and Hawke Governments the Australian Constitution was subjected to endless scrutiny by a series of constitutional conventions, all consisting of politicians; a Government appointed commission; and one cosy and closed gathering of like minded academics, lawyers and journalists. They all need reminding that Australia's Constitution belongs to all of us, and that we deserve a greater level of participation in its reshaping, if indeed it is to be reshaped, than a 'take it or leave it' vote on what the politicians choose to put to us at a referendum.

"Many of the proponents of a republic, including the Australian Republican Movement, have said that all they wish to change in our Constitution is to remove references to the Queen and the Governor General and replace them with a president who would be elected by a two-thirds majority of each House of the Commonwealth Parliament. "The appointment of our next Governor General provides an interesting challenge for the Prime Minister. In the ordinary course of events, in about four months he will need to recommend to the Queen the name of the person whom he has chosen to be the next Governor General, to take office about February 1994. "It would give all Australians an opportunity to see how the republican proposal might work, if the Prime Minister were to seek the approval of a two thirds majority of each House of the Commonwealth Parliament to that next vice regal appointment, and undertake to recommend to the Queen the person so chosen by the Parliament." (Sir David Smith, former Official Secretary to Australian Governors General)

FORCES OF EVIL

from The Australian, 5/4
The forces of evil have triumphed again. ASIO will not release the dossier on Mr. Phillip Adams's activities as a juvenile, naive and stupid practitioner of communism as a religion. Yes, indeed, who were the despicable, capitalist swine who masqueraded as saviours of mankind, as communist friends of Mr. Adams, who eventually dobbed him in to the ASIO exterminators?
"Not unlike Mr. Adams, I ask the same question, from a different angle. Who were the Australian communist bastards who dobbed in me and thousands of Polish ex-servicemen to the UB (Polish KGB), effectively neutralising our ability to fight against communist oppression, mass murder and bastardry in Central Europe?

"In 1968, The Year That Changed the World, I was visited in Rabaul, PNG, by two Polish journalists. They knew all there was to know about me, and some. They simply told me to behave, or they would finish off the few remaining members of my family they had missed on previous occasions. Australian communism was not the great ha-ha, 'great fun had by all' affair as described by Mr. Adams.

"On my recent visit to Poland, I was told by a former UB officer that all information was readily available through numerous communist run Soviet-Australian friendship societies. "I was told that ASIO was extremely effective against KGB infiltration of government departments in Australia." (R. Brentt, Carrata, Qld.)