TRADITIONAL SOCIETY NOW ON TRIAL

Traditional Australian society was exposed to so many numbing shocks during 1984 that some may feel that it is impossible for Australians to believe that 1985 could be even more amazing than last year. 1985 is going to see developments that will both amaze and shock. Traditional society is disintegrating at an accelerating rate and it is not surprising to learn from those close to Prime Minister Hawke that he is becoming increasingly "edgy". The election results were an experience from which he will never recover.

Mr. Bill Hayden's biting criticism on election night was an early indication of how far Hawke has slipped. Then came the election of a second Socialist Left member of the Cabinet. While it was imperative that Senator Gareth Evans had to be sacrificed, Mr. Clyde Holding remains as Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, and Susan Ryan remains as Minister for Education. She will attempt to carry through the campaign against Independent and Christian schools. The Marxist dominated Australian Teachers' Federation is determined that the anti Independent and Christian school campaign be intensified.

If Mr. Hawke attempts to push ahead with the Aboriginal Land Rights legislation and allows Senator Ryan and her radical backers to continue the attack on the private schools he will be running into increasing electoral opposition. If he attempts to moderate the Marxists' demands, there will be growing factionalism inside the Federal Labor Party. Attempts to reduce the Federal deficit under present financial policies must result in higher taxation. Federal Treasurer Keating is dedicated to a programme of higher indirect taxation, levied at the retail counter, as a means of some easing of income tax.

The coming Tax Summit in June is seen by Keating and those who support him as the first step towards what they are pleased to call "reconstruction" of the taxation system. Taxation is going to emerge as one of the most explosive of the issues threatening Australians during 1985. The far-reaching implications of the Assets Test are only now starting to be grasped by many. Together with the growing army of officials necessary to attempt policing, it is a graphic indication of the shape of things to come.

But while it is the finance economic policies, which are the major basic cause of the Australian malaise, it is the social effects, which are now starting to cause concern amongst even the most complacent. Only a few years ago few Australians would have accepted the proposal advanced by N.S.W. R.S.L. President, Sir Colin Hines, that vigilante groups should be established in an attempt to curb the rising tide of crime, much of it violent.
Today there is widespread support from people who fear that crime is getting out of control. The situation in the U.S.A. has deteriorated to the stage where there is massive public support for the man who took the law into his own hands, and shot those attempting to mug and rob train travellers in New York. Much of the rising crime and corruption is directly and indirectly linked to the drug problem. The crime issue is one, which must be haunting the Hawke Government.

Premier Wran of N.S.W. is painfully aware of the impact the crime question can have on electoral standing. Never before in Australia have crime and politics been so closely linked. Consider the dramatic trials now pending: Mr. Justice Murphy of the High Court must face trial by jury. There is another Justice, a former State Government Minister, a retired senior magistrate and a high-ranking policeman, who will also be on trial shortly. In spite of attempts by both the Federal and N.S.W. governments attempting to defend the accused, the prosecuting authorities eventually said that the five had to be tried. Even if all of those charged are eventually found not guilty, these trials are adding to the growing cynicism amongst many concerning justice in Australia.

The unholy mixture of Big Government, the progressive erosion of basic individual rights, escalating crime and corruption, are encouraging a dangerous revolt against all forms of proper authority. Economic problems, as witnessed by desperate Victorian dairy farmers and their families marching in the streets of Melbourne, are also growing. There is much worse to come. Traditional society is now on trial, and salvation is only possible through a return to those basic values upon which that society was erected, and constructive action to reverse the policies, which are plunging Australians, along with the peoples of other nations, into deeper debt with all its consequences.
Building upon the inspiring achievements of 1984, the League of Rights will be in the vanguard of the campaign to guide Australia through another tumultuous year. League supporters are faced with a challenge they dare not ignore.

KENNEDY FLOPS IN SOUTH AFRICA SAFARI CIRCUS

"There has been something close to obscene about the progress of Senator Edward Kennedy through South Africa during the past week". - Peter Robinson, in The Sun-Herald (Sydney) Jan. 13th. The "progress" is obscene because it is, to anyone who understands the mind of an experienced politician, so blatantly cynical. The real reason for the Kennedy "Safari Circus is not concerned with South Africa at all. It is concerned with "home" politics, the "home" politics being the revival of the Senator's leadership of American Democratic Party's liberal wing. The thinking of Senator Edward Kennedy would probably be that the time has come for a liberal revival, because, as Mr. Robinson suggests, the Reagan Administration is capturing the middle political ground for the Republican Party.

There could be even more to it than this. Senator Kennedy may well anticipate, as do we, a significant decline in the economies of the West, commencing in the U.S.A., towards the latter part of this year (1985), in which case the policies of the Reagan Administration will begin to be sharply criticised as a growing number of disaffected voters look for scapegoats. Senator Kennedy may well hope that such a scapegoat will be the Reagan Administration itself, this in consequence throwing a favourable light onto the Democratic Party, and particularly its liberal wing! Wheels within wheels. Mr. Robinson observes: "As for the South African blacks, the Kennedy visit will do them not one iota of good, and may in fact act against their interests..." We agree.

BRIEF COMMENTS

We have on occasions commented on the problem of written history, stressing that in many cases it reflects the bias of the historians to different points of view. We return to the matter because of the bitter controversy in the U.S.A. concerning a book by a German Jewish historian, Dr. David Abraham, on pre-Hitler Germany. Fellow historians are charging that Abraham is a "liar" and a "faker" who has fabricated documents. Abraham concedes that his book is flawed by errors, but argues that "there are errors in every work", and that no one knows if there are more in his book than in other histories. The Abraham case demonstrates the necessity for freedom to progressively revalue, as far as possible, all history, correcting errors and falsehoods.

The Marxist Government of Ethiopia has attempted to explain the embarrassing report about the one-year trade agreement signed with Egypt, under which Ethiopa is to provide Egypt with livestock, meat and farm products. An unnamed Ethiopian official now says that the agreement is "more political than economic", offering the incredible statement "It was an inter-governmental agreement, in the making for several years. And when you say food, it refers to food not utilised by our people." It becomes increasingly obvious that the Western nations are victims of another hoax by the Marxists.

The three judges of the British Court of Appeals ruled in a decision handed down on December 20th, that a doctor must not proscribe contraceptives for a girl under 16 without the permission of her parents. In winning her case, Mrs. Gillick has demonstrated the traditional and natural right of parents to decide what is best for their children. The extreme feminists, do gooders, family planners and the British Medical Association, have all been upset by the decision. What remains to be seen is how Mrs. Thatcher s "conservative" government reacts. With a stroke of the pen it can make it legal for doctors to proscribe for young girls without the knowledge of the parents.

While there has been considerable discussion about the 5.76 percent of enrolled electors who cast an informal vote on December 1st, there has been little or no comment concerning the staggering 15.59 percent of those enrolled who failed even to attend the polls. That is approximately a 10 percent increase over the 1983 figures. Can it be that the voter revolt is much greater than that indicated by the big informal vote? If so, this is an encouraging development.

ETHIOPIA