PREPARING FOR BREAK-UP

by Eric D. Butler
Financial Review of January 24th-25th reports that "The Federal Government is making contingency plans to evacuate Australian citizens from Indonesia, fearing the breakdown of its economy could lead to serious unrest... the possibility of mass protests and violence was increasing daily as the country's economy deteriorated."

Every realist must agree that the government is taking wise precautions concerning the Indonesian situation. The ingredients for an explosion are all too obvious: Indonesia is a multicultural country where the Chinese constitute 5 percent of the total population. But that 5 percent controls an estimated 80 percent of the economy. During past periods of mass violence in Indonesia, many Chinese have had their properties destroyed. It is not surprising that there are reports that Chinese businessmen are at present putting up steel shutters in an attempt to protect themselves. Not surprisingly the peoples of East Timor are taking advantage of the Indonesian crisis to intensify their resistance to Indonesian rule.

At a time when it has become fashionable for people to apologise for what may or may not have happened in the past, there's no sign as yet of any apology from those who insisted that Australia's future should be linked with that of the Asian nations. It is now generally admitted that under the Soviet Union tens of millions of people perished. But all those academics - many of them still teaching in universities and similar institutions - who insisted that Marxism was the "wave of the future" have never felt it necessary to admit that they were dreadfully wrong and are sorry. Today they are the kind of people who are insisting that basically decent Australians should apologise for what their forebears allegedly did to Aborigines.

It has been said that those who will not learn from the mistakes of history are doomed to repeat those mistakes. History teaches there have been a number of Civilisations which collapsed as a result of excessive centralisation and the erosion of faith in the value system upon which the Civilisation was erected. Downgrading Australian industries in an attempt to fit Australia into an Asia, which was doomed to disintegrate with enormous social and, or worse, ecological problems has been a policy of madness. But so far from admitting they may have made a mistake, Australian politicians insist that the meltdown of the Asian economies is but a temporary "shake-up" as a necessary preliminary to a programme of "reconstructing…."

Today's world has become increasingly more volatile, with a number of potentially dangerous flashpoints. Every one of these flashpoints is directly or indirectly the result of attempted centralisation. Genuine statesmen who have absorbed the lessons of history would know that a basic feature of all life is that it discriminates in favour of itself otherwise it does not survive. This means that a nation, which wishes to survive, must aim for the maximum of self-sufficiency. What is happening in Asia is providing a lesson, which Australians must heed if they wish to survive.
As the famous Chinese sage said, when struck by a thunderbolt it is a little too late to consult the book of dates.

While it is encouraging in the short term that the Australian government has, hopefully, practical contingency plans for what is threatening in Indonesia, there is no evidence that there are any contingency plans for greater disasters. As the world becomes increasingly volatile, as it must if the philosophy of globalism is persisted with, a relatively small nation like Australia should be taking advantage of geographical location to develop an effective military defence programme.

Expert on the type of military defence programme required for Australia, Brigadier E.P. Serong, DSO, OBE, is scathing in his criticism of what is being done.... he outlines why Australian troops were so effective in World War 2. He attacks gun law: "Every one-man incident is beaten up into an exercise to disarm the entire population. Having almost deprived the people of their guns they are now aiming at knives…we disarm the population so they can't defend themselves. Next we will take their boots so they can't run "
Brigadier Serong says, 'The present and mid-term future position is stark and clear. The armed forces cannot defend the nation. The police cannot defend the people."

Realistic defence of a nation requires social stability. But social stability requires economic security. When the police frankly admit that the drug situation is out of control, and that the drug scene is dominated by a section of the Asian community, they are openly admitting that Australian society is increasingly at risk. The present Asian and non-European population is, it may be argued, relatively small. But so is the Chinese population of Indonesia.

Race conflicts in the past have shattered Malaya. Australians must take heed of the realities of their situation and demand that their political representatives start to prepare the nation for implementation of a sound strategy. The first essential is to remove all those politicians who will not pledge themselves for an Australia First strategy.

HOW THE IMF IS CONQUERING THE WORLD

LESSONS FROM THE UNITED STATES

by David Thompson
Since his days as the Governor of Arkansas, the President of the United States, Bill Clinton, has been known as "Slick Willy". He ascended the Presidency despite rumours concerning his affairs with women such as Geniffer Flowers, and the allegation of propositioning Paula Jones during the campaign: a case which he is yet to answer in a court. So much 'sleaze' surrounded the Clinton election that a best-selling book was written about it, published in the form of a novel to prevent the inevitable legal ramifications.

The rumours about the Clinton occupancy of the White House have been no less salacious than those about his election campaign. If anything, they are much worse. For the most part they are ignored either for lack of proof, suspicion about "conspiracies", or an unwillingness to confront the distasteful. After all, surely the issue is whether the man can do his job effectively, not what his private sexual habits happen to be? Under most circumstances, this may be the case, but not when the person at issue is the Head of State of the most powerful nation in the world, and his diversions amount to serial adultery, as Clinton's appear to do.

Especially when other matters are associated with sexual indiscretions, such as abuse of political power, and pressuring others to lie to cover his tracks. This is the man with the power to order nuclear military strikes, and ever-stronger evidence is emerging that he does not have the self-control to keep his hands to himself. The character of those wielding power has a heavy impact on the way a country is governed. As the Paula Jones case continues to unfold, it is almost certain that many further unsavory revelations about Clinton will unfold, none of which should surprise us too much.

What lessons for Australians can possibly be drawn from this?
It is tempting to dismiss the Clinton revelations as something that "could only happen in America", or at least, couldn't happen here. But the main lesson for Australians is that it could happen here if Australians decide that our system of government should be changed from monarchy to republic, perhaps with an elected head of state. In the case of Clinton and the United States, this elected Head of State exercises direct power in matters of policy, appointments and procedure.

Australian republicans are often fond of adopting a self-righteous moral tone when pointing out that the behaviour of the "young royals" in Britain does not set an acceptable standard of behaviour for Australians. The messy divorce of the Wales' and the affairs of the Duchess of York were held up as reasons that Australia should sever formal links with the Crown. It is true that the moral standards of previous monarchs have not always been spotless. But the difference is that in our system of government, the monarch exercises no real power in terms of policy, procedure or even appointments. The monarch, or the crown's representative acts on advice from ministers.

Another point that is often overlooked is that of preparation for filling the role of head of state. The system of monarchy prepares a person from birth to fill this role, which accounts for the excellent service the British world has received from Queen Elizabeth. She is not someone who merely managed to win an election campaign (by hook or by crook, in Clinton's case) to grab the top job, to be occupied for a brief period. She is someone who has had a lifetime's preparation for a lifetime's service. The quality of her service does not bear comparison with the quality of Clinton's service.

HOWARD STILL IN RETREAT

Prime Minister John Howard continues to demonstrate that his leadership instincts are seriously disturbed by appearing to offer further comfort to the republican cause. Howard is quoted as "accepting" that it is no longer appropriate for a nation like Australia to go into the 21st century sharing its legal head of state with another country. Again, Howard has failed to explain himself.

If it has been appropriate for this long, why is it suddenly "inappropriate" when the date becomes 1 January 2000? What is the magical significance of this date? Mr. Howard fails to observe that other nations share Australia's monarch, such as Canada and New Zealand. Can Mr. Howard explain why the Canadians are not hell-bent on abandoning the Crown on January 1st, 2000? As it happens, there is a very good reason why there is virtually no republican movement in Canada. The reason is simple: Canada shares a border with the United States of America! Canadians are compelled to observe at first hand what it is like to live in the American republic, warts and all. As a result, they are in a better position than most Australians to appreciate the strengths and virtues of monarchy, even if the monarch herself actually lives far away, and is shared by other nations like Australia and New Zealand, with a similar cultural, racial and historical background.

With each retreat on essential matters, like the Crown, Mr. Howard emphasises that he has little claim to be a deep thinker, and risks history recording him as another shallow politician who achieved little except the dubious distinction of having introduced a goods and services tax. And he has not yet achieved that, either.

MULTICULTURAL INDONESIA THREATENS TO BLOW UP

Economic and financial pressure in Indonesia threatens political and cultural ramifications. The first political victim could be President Soeharto, as he is forced to implement IMF austerity measures. But the fault-line in the cultural conflict is between the predominantly Moslem Javanese and the (predominantly 'Christian') ethnic Chinese. Historically, Soeharto has used the Chinese, who demonstrate more acute business acumen than the Javanese, to enrich his family and friends by giving them monopolies in industry.

The political commentator Professor Arief Budiman, says: "The Government uses the Chinese like a money machine. The Chinese have a south-east Asian business network, they are easy to bribe, and then [the Indonesians] turn around and blame them - so the Chinese are very useful…" (Sydney Morning Herald, 24/1/98).

As a result of this situation, the tens of millions of disadvantaged Javanese Indonesians have turned on the Chinese in the present crisis of falling currency values. The provincial Chinese, fearful of riots - or worse - have been hoarding staples, such as rice, while prices have spiralled as the rupiah collapsed. The ethnic Chinese make up only about 3% of the population, but control around 70% of the wealth. Fearful about the future, the Chinese have been sending family members out of Indonesia to Singapore. They have also been sending billions of US dollars out of the country, which has only exacerbated the financial crisis.
The rage of the indigenous Javanese prompts Chinese businessmen to close their shops and disappear.

There is no suggestion that 'multiculturalism' is working in Indonesia. The Indonesians have the misfortune to be learning a harsh lesson that Australians have yet to learn about the co-existence of different cultures.

TWIN STANDARDS IN MULTICULTURAL AUSTRALIA

LETTER FROM SOUTH AFRICA

While every effort is made throughout the international media to create the impression that although South Africa is going through a "difficult" period of transition from "white rule" to "democracy", it is still a stable nation respected by the "international community". The truth, as pointed out by more realistic observers, is quite different. With what could be described as a low-level civil war taking place between different tribal groups, and the Afrikaners demanding their own homeland, the "new South Africa" is more like a time bomb.

The following is a portion of a letter from a woman now living in the Netherlands, who still has a sister in South Africa:
"Johannesburg has now become the most criminal city in the world as far as murders and muggings are concerned. Motorists are simply dragged out of their cars at gunpoint and frequently shot so that they cannot identify the perpetrators. The whites are now being blamed for the poverty of the blacks, and even Mandela shocked the whites by saying that they must "share their wealth" with the blacks. He made it sound as if all whites are millionaires, which is far from true.
There is a massive exodus of whites with foreign passports, and young better-educated families all emigrating - lots are going to Australia. It is so sad for my sister, who has to stay, as she has her pension and house there and despite desperately trying to sell her house for the past year, there are no buyers, only sellers! The country is sliding down into anarchy and will become a typically corrupt and mismanaged third world country...."