GOVERNMENT BY LUNACY

"When Mr. Snedden described his vicious Budget as an anti-inflationary exercise, he was indulging in a sick joke". from the Editorial, Wimmera Mail-Times, August 20th.

The Wimmera Mail-Times is published at Horsham, and services much of the Western District of Victoria. Its comments on the Budget are hard-hitting, and repeat what we have already stated: that the punitive direct and indirect taxes will exacerbate the cost spiral. Businesses will be hit hard by telephone, postal and petrol cost increases. The Wimmera Mail-Times comments
..."It is incredible that a ruling Party, professing liberalism, could destroy incentive so effectively". The editorial finished with the words ... "government by lunacy".

The Wimmera Mail-Times returned to the attack on the Budget on the 23rd. August…"To say that higher taxation, direct or indirect, will halt inflation is criminally deceptive, because industry will have no desire to produce more goods simply for the sake of paying more tax to pay for an array of parasites sitting on unproductive thrones".
These are healthy words of invective, which strike an almost Shakespearean note, absent in our "sophisticated" metropolitan dailies.

Many readers will rejoice to read what follows: we could not have done better ourselves… "All those Sneddenisms, such as demand-pull and cost-push are meaningless terms designed to confuse". The editorial then flew off at a tangent and named productive effort, price and wage control, as counters to inflation.

We in Australia know that price-control does not reduce inflation, nor does wage control. Productive effort has been ever on the increase since the dawn of the industrial revolution in the late 18th century, when the first primitive power-driven machines commenced to replace human and animal powered machines, but the world's inflationary disease is more severe than ever before; and it is growing worse.
The West German economy is praised - but this economy is not without its inflationary problem, added to which it is becoming more and more dependent upon trade with Russia, with the concomitant political risks. The Wimmera Mail-Times accused a "faction-riddled Government (Canberra)" of doing nothing to prevent our nations from marching to the edge of the "precipice of depression".

VETERAN LABOR LEADER SEES HAWKE AS FUTURE P.M.

"The president of the A.C.T.U. Mr. R.J. Hawke, would secure a seat in Federal Parliament in the next three or four years, and possibly be Prime Minister within the next ten years, the former A.L.P. Leader, Mr. Arthur Calwell, said last night". The Australian, August 30th.

We can only hope that these words of Mr. Calwell are not prophetic. Mr. Hawke's prime interest in life is power: whether it is a personal thing with him, or whether he is being used, consciously or unconsciously by others is a matter of debate. What he is doing is arrogating to himself and the trade union movement, the functions of the lawfully elected government of the nation. The South African Rugby tour brought about the high point in the arrogance of Hawke. The people wanted it; the Government backed the people, as it should: Hawke, backed by the subversives, said 'no' - the rest is history. But the tour went on: Hawke was beaten this time.

Some very strong words were uttered by Sir John Cramer (Lib. N.S.W.) and reported in The Age, Melbourne, of 26th August. Sir John named Hawke as "the arch-enemy of Australia" and stated that the trade union movement was using strikes to push wages higher while decreasing production - a plot to destroy private enterprise. Sir John asserted, "The aim is to create a socialist society under a dictatorship, and finally culminating in communism".

There was more in this vein. One observation of Sir John's is worth mentioning. "the Leader of the Opposition (Mr. Whitlam) has been terrorised like a scared schoolboy by the political power of Mr. Hawke and the Unions". There is no doubt that Hawke is using the trade union movement as a lever to shift Australian society to the Left. There is no question that this arrogance and egotism will consume him in due course - it is the amount of havoc that he could wreak in the interval that does not bear contemplation.

D.L.P. CALLS FOR NUCLEAR WEAPONS

"Australia must get itself into a position where it could rapidly assemble nuclear weapons, should danger arise, according to the Democratic Labor Party". The Australian, August 30th.

The above is the theme of an article, which appeared in "Focus", the official D.L.P. monthly publication. The tune of the D. L.P. has changed, as it has grown more and more disillusioned with the U.S.A. We warned about the danger of placing too much reliance in the U.S.A. very many years ago, and we were not always popular for doing so. Now "Focus" is saying that in his desperation for a deal with Peking that President Nixon might "sell out" the South Vietnamese by cutting off aid - this would deliver South Vietnam on the plate to the Communists. It accuses the U.S.A. of letting the Vietnam War get big because of delays in effective support. Readers may be interested to read what the League said about the Vietnam War some three and a half years ago in the brochure - End The War In Vietnam - By Winning It! There are only a few of these brochures left now, and two is the limit, which we are able to allow to each supporter. Apart from this brochure being an open letter to the (then) new Prime Minister (Mr. Gorton) there are some relevant questions for the Liberal Party, Country Party, and Democratic Labor Party. Order from Box 1052J, G.P.O., Melbourne, Vic. 3001. Price one for 16 cents; two for 26 cents, post-free.

NATIONAL T. V. "DEBATE" EDITED

When the current national anti-League of Rights smear campaign was launched, one of the first into the attack was a most interesting gentleman of the name of Dr. Leigh Wallman of Toowoomba, who charged that there was no doubt that the Australian League of Rights was anti-Semitic", "racist", and much else. His allegations were widely featured in Queensland, where the League of Rights has many supporters. National Director Mr. Eric Butler immediately challenged Dr. Wallman to attempt to substantiate his allegations in a public debate. Dr. Wallman responded by suggesting that it should be on national television. Mr. Butler agreed. It is interesting that the ABC readily agreed to Dr. Wallman's proposal. Even more interesting was the suggestion that Mr. Edward St. John should be brought in to assist Dr. Wallman. Mr. Jeremy Lee would support Mr. Butler.

In conversations with Mr. Gerald Stone of "This Day Tonight", Mr. Butler stressed that he would prefer a "live" debate. Mr. Stone said that this was impossible, but he felt certain that the major part of the 30 minutes allocated to the program could be allocated to the debate. Mr. Stone then outlined the form the debate would take, with Dr. Wallman opening with a two-minute statement, Mr. Butler replying with a two-minute statement, this followed by one-minute statements from Mr. St. John and Mr. Jeremy Lee. A free flow of discussion would then take place, with Mr. Stone intervening when he felt it necessary. At approximately 20 minutes Mr. Stone would ask the speakers to briefly sum up. Mr. Butler wishes it to be known that he does not doubt the integrity of Mr. Stone. But the fact is that the debate was severely edited down to 15 minutes, approximately seven minutes being cut out, and a minor re-arrangement of the material made.

In his opening statement Dr. Wallman admitted what he had been forced to confess inside the Liberal Party after the famous Dalby, Queensland, debate last year, that he had once been associated with the Communist Party. In his statement Mr. Butler read a statement from the Commonwealth Attorney-General stating that there was no evidence to suggest that the League was other than a reputable organisation. This opening statement was also edited out, as was Mr. Edward St. John's incredible reply that the Attorney General had made a mistake. Those responsible for the editing did the best they could with the material but the overwhelming consensus of neutral opinion is that Mr. Edward St. John "killed" himself with his offensive manner and that Dr. Wallman made a fool of himself with his fantastic suggestions that League of Rights anti-subversion schools were in fact, military training schools.

The League of Rights has been inundated with requests for information as a result of the two national T. V. sessions on the League. In the meantime other major developments are taking place as the League pushes forward all over Australia. Reports are flowing in from Queensland that Mr. Eric Butler and Mr. Jeremy Lee are addressing packed meetings at which resolutions are being carried urging the Queensland Country Party to dissociate itself from the nation-wide smear campaign against the League. We regret to report that the Federal leader of the Country Party, and Deputy Prime Minister, Mr. Doug Anthony, has curtly declined Mr. Butler's private offer that he take action to correct his recent allegations that the League was pro-Nazi and subversive. This refusal is producing a major convulsion inside the Country Party, which could have far-reaching effects on the future of the Country Party, and of the present Federal Government.

The League of Rights has now moved firmly to the middle of the Australian political stage. As Mr. Eric Butler told a Queensland meeting last week, "We are now in the process of sifting the men from the boys. The outcome of the sifting process will be a major factor in deciding the future of Australia".

FORMER AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER WANTS BRITISH HERITAGE PRESERVED

"Australia must protect its British Heritage in the face of superficial and outright challenges to the links forged with Britain, Sir Robert Menzies said last night". - The Age, Melbourne, August 27th.

Sir Robert rightly claimed that the very fabric of Australian life was acquired from the heritages of British law - its parliamentary system, its preservation of responsible Cabinet government, its independent judiciary, and a high tradition of integrity in public life. We believe that the vast majority of Australians still want the links with Britain preserved, and that this majority still considers itself as loyal subjects of the Queen.

It is most pleasing to see that the Australia-Britain Society has been founded, and that the Duke of Edinburgh is the Society's patron. It is a pity that the need for such a Society exists: this lends weight to the words of Sir Robert above. The Australian Heritage Society, which the League of Rights will launch at its Annual Seminar on Saturday, September 18th will play its part in working towards the same type of objectives as the Australian-Britain Society.

MAKE A NOTE OF THIS LEAGUE EVENT

FLUORIDATION AGAIN REJECTED

"Fluoridation in Victoria received a set-back at the week-end when a public opinion poll conducted in the city of Hamilton revealed that 58% of residents opposed fluoridation of their water supply and only 38% favoured it. - The Australian, August 30th.

Added to this the water trust of Horsham, in Victoria's Wimmera district, carried a motion which opposes any form of mass medication. Recently, residents in Portland (Victoria) and Devonport (Tasmania) decisively rejected fluoridation of their water supplies. The Tasmanian Liberal Government invoked the Crimes Act to force the councillors of Devonport to disregard the expressed wishes of the citizens of Devonport, and to go ahead with the fluoridation of the town's water supply. Unbelievable? : It has happened only recently, just across Bass Strait.

STATE LABOR PARTY WARNS ON UNIVERSITY EXTREMISTS

"A warning against action by extremist student elements in universities was issued yesterday by the State (Victoria) Parliamentary Labor Party". - The Age, Melbourne, September 1st.

This warning, we hope, will put a brake on some of the hotheads at Victorian and other universities. The statement went on to say that the independence of the universities from State control, and their right to discipline their own members had to be preserved. This is right - so long as our universities DO discipline their own members.

We are unable to endorse all the views that were put forward; such as opposition to Vietnam, which is all but over now as an issue anyway. It is a healthy sign to see young people concerned and involved in public affairs, and this is as it should be. What we deplore is the manipulation of the young people by subversives - subversives who deceive the young with lying propaganda; who exploit social injustices which more often than not have their real source in finance-economic systems which is little understood by either by the young, or the subversives, themselves, for that matter.