HAWKE DRIVES TOWARDS THE MONOPOLY STATE

Backed by most of the media, Prime Minister Hawke has selected the most convenient early date to mobilise sufficient electors behind him to carry the Australian revolution to the next, and most critical stage. This is no time for wishful thinking. The truth must be faced. Federal Opposition Leader Andrew Peacock has demonstrated what we have constantly said he is a shallow rootless politician who has demonstrated that he has nothing of substance to offer. Neither has the Federal Liberal Party whose members elected him as leader.

After the coming election debacle, the probable election of Mr. John Howard as leader will not stem the rot consuming the Federal Liberal Party. Unless there is a major miracle, Mr. Bob Hawke will not only be re-elected, but conceivably could increase his majority in the enlarged House of Representatives. The media generally has enabled Mr. Hawke to "con" the Australian people on a number of major issues. An effective Opposition of principle could have hit the Hawke Government hard on several basic issues. But it has been inhibited by the fact that most of the Hawke policies are but an extension of the policies advanced by the Liberal-National Coalition.

In a perceptive article in "The Herald", Melbourne, of October 8th, Katherine West, Senior Associate in Political Science, University of Melbourne, asks is Victoria "heading for a Labor one-party state?" Katherine West visualises the further disintegration of the Liberal Party in Victoria, traditionally its strongest base, and a regeneration of conservatism, "not from within the depleted Liberal ranks but from a political movement..."
We have consistently maintained that a new conservative political movement is certain to emerge after the coming Federal elections, but have also expressed concern that it may be misdirected by monopolists masquerading, as conservatives. There are several monopolists waiting in the wings awaiting the call to take the political stage.

With Hawke almost certain of victory in the House of Representatives, the two major issues to be decided on election day are whether Hawke can be denied control of the Senate and be defeated in the referenda battle. A genuine Opposition would have raised the Constitutional issue to a high level of importance, thus helping to create a climate of opinion in which it would be easier to defeat the referenda proposals and to help ensure the maximum anti-Hawke Senate vote.

Little Tasmania could prove the major stumbling block to the Hawke drive for complete power. If Senator Brian Harridine's influence is sufficient to have Tasmanians elect his colleague, Mrs. Venn, to join him, he could hold the balance of power in the next Senate. The fate of the referenda could be in the hands of West Australian electors. Queensland and Tasmania should record a strong NO vote. We anticipate that if there is a sweeping Hawke victory, both Victorian and West Australian State Labor Governments will go to the polls at the earliest opportunity, and not wait for the storms, which will burst next year.

Mr. Hawke and his Fabian Socialist colleagues must attempt to push forward with their programme to turn Australia into a Socialist Republic. The position of the Crown and its representative is going to be a major factor in the Australian Revolution. Section 68 of the Federal Constitution states, "The Commander-in-Chief of the naval and military forces of the Commonwealth is vested in the Governor General as the Queen' s representative". As the Crown reflects the sovereignty of the whole nation, it is essential that the Queen or her representatives be the heads of the armed services. But Mr. Hawke has taken an ominous step towards reducing the power of the Governor General concerning the armed forces by suggesting that the Constitution does not create the status of Commander-in-Chief, except in ceremonial sense. Does Mr. Hawke envisage a situation in Australian where it will be vital who controls the Armed Services, The Queen's Representative or the Prime Minister? Even the most complacent Australians are going to suffer some major shocks next year.

TACTICAL RETREAT ON LAND RIGHTS

Before the 1983 Federal Elections, the Federal Labor Party boldly proclaimed that it would introduce Aboriginal land rights legislation during the first Hawke Government. But the campaign spearheaded by The League of Rights forced the Hawke Government to take a major step backwards. Under pressure in the Federal Parliament, Mr. Hawke said that his government would not introduce any Aboriginal land rights legislation until after the next election. Premier Burke of Western Australia has made it clear to Mr. Hawke that the land rights issue is politically dangerous in Western Australia.

In an attempt to placate public opinion, Premier Burke proposes that Aboriginals should not be able to veto mine exploration. This has upset veteran Fabian Socialist Dr. H.C.Coombs, who contributed a feature article in "The Age" of October 4th, in which he rehashed all the old nonsense about "sacred sites". The Cain Government in Victoria has now replaced its first land claims legislation with another proposed Act, which is substantially the same as the first Act. Once again Local Councils are being invited to comment. We get the impression that Premier Cain hopes that land rights will not erupt into a major issue before the next State Elections.

Premier Burke is suggesting to the Liberal and National Party that if it uses its majority in the Legislative Council to block his modified land rights legislation, this would be an invitation to the Federal Government to step in to impose its own legislation. Mr. Holding, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, is on record as saying that the Federal Government would step in to impose its own legislation if it was felt that State legislation was not satisfactory. But Mr. Hawke does not want to discuss this - not just yet. But it will be different after the election.

BRIEF COMMENTS

The Federal President of the National Party. Mrs. Shirley McKerrow, who takes an occasional swipe at the League of Rights, has been selected to head the Victorian National Party's Senate team. Mrs. McKerrow's political understanding may be judged by her claim that the National Party's Federal Parliamentary leader, Mr. Sinclair, had the potential to become the "greatest statesman this country has produced". We endorse Mrs. McKerrow's call for support of traditional family values and Christian beliefs. Mr. Ian Sinclair has said this also but the same man has given an interview with "Playboy" in which he revealed that in his private life he has not exactly lived up to what he preaches.

We note with pleasure that Victorian electors will have the opportunity of voting for a man whose stand for traditional Christian family values cannot be questioned - well known head of Canaan independent Christian school, Mr. Barry Tattersall.

Although we have some reservations about Melbourne "Herald" columnist, Mr. Anthony McAdam, we welcome his constructive suggestion in "The Herald" of December 5th, that steps should be taken for "the creation from scratch of several city states as free ports in South East Asia on suitable islands" for the settlement of those Chinese of Hong Kong who do not relish the idea of living under Communist China. This is the type of policy, which should have been adopted to solve the problem of refugees from Vietnam, most of them of Chinese background. Singapore is an example of what is possible.

'PEACE' STUDIES

From an advertisement in "The Spectator" (U.K.) of the book, "Peace Studies" (a Critical Survey) by Caroline Cox & Roger Scruton:
"The teaching of Peace Studies discourages critical reflection, encourages prejudice, and permits the political manipulation of children. However it is taught, Peace Studies remains a non-subject. It is intellectually vapid, cannot be regained as a genuine intellectual discipline, and should not be taught as one ... The inclusion in the school and university curricula of such courses may be seen as part of a trend towards the politicisation of education involving both the lowering of standards and the assumption of forgone conclusions. It is a mark of this movement that the subjects which it countenances have a tendency to incorporate the word 'studies' in their names: 'Women's Studies', 'Black Studies', 'Gay Studies', 'Sports Studies' - roughly, 'for any relevant x,x studies'… It should not be confused with its apparent innocuous purpose - that of encouraging tolerance and teaching children to settle their disputes through peaceful words and gestures. "This purpose is better understood in terms of the traditional concept of good manners. It will then be realised that it has always been a part of education and that it is never less likely to be taught well than when confused with the problems of political and military analysis".

We included the above because already there has been talk of the incorporation of "Peace Studies" (read, self-disarmament propaganda) into Australian schools. Roger Scruton, the co-author, has been only recently in Australia to address conservative groups. The following letter was sent to The Bulletin (Sydney) by Mr. John Bennett: Re: Mr. Adams' Religion.
"Philip Adams recently offered a large reward to anyone who could prove they had psychic powers. He would not have paid the reward to anyone submitting evidence that did not disclose his name and wanted his claims to be judged by his own supporters… Why then should Mr. Adams (Bulletin 25/9) accept the claims of an 'electrician' allegedly made at the post W.W.2 trials in Germany to judges appointed by the victors, that people were gassed in gas chambers. If the 'electrician' exists and gave evidence at the post War trials I suggest he claims the $50,000 reward offered by the Institute of Historical Review to anyone who can prove the existence of gas chambers.
"I cannot locate any reference in the published texts of the trials to the type of evidence given by the 'electrician' who claims he was cross examined for weeks and I invite Mr. Adams to specify where and when the evidence was given, and to indicate where plans and specifications for gas chambers can be inspected.
"Napoleon said that history is the lies agreed on by the victors. The post War trials in Germany were kangaroo courts that have been widely condemned by jurists. Much of the evidence given at the trials was false. For instance, evidence was given that there were gas chambers at Ravensbruck, Mauthausen, and Struthof, leading to the execution of camp commandants. It is now conceded by Jewish writers, such as Gitta Sereny, that there were no gas chambers at those camps. Sereny has also conceded that some Jews and non-Jews are still inventing stories about the camps (New Statesman, 2/11/79).
"I have never stated, as alleged by Mr. Adams, that the exaggerations about the extent of the Holocaust are due to a 'Jewish Conspiracy', nor have I stated that the bodies of victims of typhus at Belsen are 'mythical'. "The reason that Mr. Adams and others devote so much space to the Holocaust is that it is Israel's number one propaganda weapon. Why does he ignore the devastation of German cities leading to the deaths of over 600,000 civilians? "His statement that he finds the views of revisionist historians about the Holocaust blasphemous is understandable; for Mr. Adams, despite his claims to being a skeptic, is a deeply religious man. His religion is the Holocaust".

A.L.P. 'Fails' Civil Liberties
The following letter, from Mr. John Bennett, was published in The Australian (26/9). Mr. Bennett is President of the Australian Civil Liberties Union:
"With Federal elections likely to be held within a few months, it is time to appraise the Hawke Government' s civil liberties record. "The Government has failed to live up to its promises to protect civil liberties, including the most basic civil liberty, namely freedom of speech. "It failed to intervene to shorten the sentence imposed upon Norman Gallagher for contempt of court.
Inquiry
"It refused to permit representatives of the P.L.O. to enter Australia to put the case for the P.L.O. "It refused to allow spokesmen for the East Timorese to enter Australia until quite recently. "It is paying a journalist $1,500 a week to conduct a McCarthyist witch hunt against critics of its Aboriginal land rights policies. "It restructed the A. B.C. after the Four Corners program leading to the Street Royal Commission in a way calculated to stifle the independence of the A.B.C. "Its funding arrangements for referendums were designed to censor the case against the referendums. "The Hawke Government also failed to protect the civil liberties of Mr. Combe and people who spoke to him on the telephone. "It was the Hawke Government which sought to have the tapes of conversations released, which failed to ensure that the privacy of people who happened to telephone Mr. Combe was protected, and which sought to silence critics of the Hope Royal Commission by threatening contempt of court proceedings.
"If the Hawke Government wishes to be more effective in promoting civil liberties, it should abandon attempts to silence and harass critics of the Government, grant visas to P.L.O. spokesmen, place A.S.I.O. under greater control, and ensure public awareness of citizens' rights. "If the A.L.P. is really fair dinkum about civil liberties it would also abolish compulsory voting and compulsory unionism, curb the expansion of the Federal Police Force, ensure that A.L.P. members facing expulsion from the party are given a fair hearing, and abandon attempts to stifle freedom of speech on immigration issues.