The Digger No.30 May 1974

ISSUE NO. 30, MAY 9 - MAY 23, 1974, 30 CENTS.

Will they still be here next week?

's only them between you and Snedden People dance in the streets . . . page 9

Your laid-back lexicon . . . page 4

The great crane robbery . . . page 3

New . . . page 9

Symbionese links

BLANK PAGE FOR ISSUU VERSION ONLY

Go ahead) think again, but don’t think ahead

Soldier spies move in on ASIO

G ive us

by Grant Evans

you r blacks, you r extrem ists,

♦ ♦

and som e

After much chest beating, the central issue of this election crystallised last week — inflation.

The opposition parties have chosen this as their main target, and fortunately for them, perhaps, most people see it as the main issue.

However polls have also shown that most people have no idea what causes inflation, and — alas — nor does the well known and erudite economist Bill Snedden. Our now elder statesperson Prime Minister dodged the issue in; his policy statement and has been dodging ever since. This is not simply evasiveness, just good sense, when the inflation rate is over ten per cent.

The Liberals, having chosen economic policy as the central issue, have attempted to paint a picture of economic chaos and gloom. Outside of the inflation rate, however, they have found such a scenario hard to sustain, which is not surprising.

Business in Australia over the past few months has moved into one of its strongest booms in years. To quote PA Management Consultants on the Australian economy, “profitability improved in 1972-’73

h elicop ter-gu n sh ip s

by Peter Britton and John Halpin

Australia’s security and intelligence services are in the middle of a demarcation dispute. But the dispute is not up for arbitration.

What is at stake is whether ASIO will keep control of domestic surveillance and intelligence, or lose it to the defence-military complex.

ASIO is supposed to look after domestic security intelligence. But ASIO hasn’t functioned as well as it used to under the Liberals. Sections of the Labor Party have even thought it could be controlled. AttorneyGeneral Murphy’s raid may have been an embarassment for the government, but it also pulled the rug out from under ASIO. JIO (Joint Intelligence Organisa­ tion), within the Defence Depart­ ment, is supposed to stick to intelli­ gence work relevant to Australia’s defence. It is a collation, research and information bureau. It has no charter to run agents in Australia.

Eighteen months ago, a ‘group’ was formed in JIO to study the theory and practice of counter­ insurgency, not merely at a theoret­ ical level, but as it might be in the Australian context. It is the first ‘group’ ever formed in JIO. It began with two members. One is an exper­ ienced army intelligence officer, a Lieutenant Colonel who had the Indonesia desk during Confrontation, a regular visitor to Indonesia and something of an expert on the Indo­ nesian army. The other is a recent ANU graduate, the son of conserva­ tive political journalist Denis Warner.

About three months ago, another civilian joined the ‘group7. He is ex-army intelligence, also something of an Indonesian expert, having been there on the military attache’s staff.

The ‘group’ was formed just after Gordon Jockel became head of JIO giving his job as Ambassador to Indonesia to Furlonger, the previous head of JIO. The ‘group’ has spent most of its time writing summaries of counter­ insurgency oriented academic work.

Most of it is the stuff of the .early sixties . . . the Kennedy era of Green Berets and ‘stop the brush fire war’.

The group also reads War College journals. Their research is written into confidential briefs for JIO, which then peddles the briefs around other departments in Canberra and swaps them with US and British spies.

The counter-insurgency group wants Australia to help governments in southeast Asia and New Guinea smash insurgents. But they know that armies like the Indonesian army have more experience and know­ ledge in this area than Australians could read about at desks in Canberra’s Pentagon.

So they’ve been thinking about urban guerillas. Books which they recommend as essential reading are Robert Moss’ Urban Guerillas and Carlos Marighela’s Minimanual o f the Urban Guerilla. They’ve got into the theory and practice of urban counter-insurgency at a general level.

But before they can make sense of it in the Australian context, which is what they are trying to do, they have to make some conclusions about who the insurgents are. It’s plain enough to any security conscious person that IT COULD HAPPEN HERE TOO; but who are they? The group talks about blacks and other groups o f extrem­ ists. The group has found people who want to hear about it—they are having regular seminars and briefings with ASIO in Canberra. But they are finding more support in the Defence

Department and army circles. MidMarch, the National Times ran an article by Major Brian Cloughley, Headquarters Second Division.

When a regular army officer writes an article in a national paper under his own name, rank and divi­ sion, he either gets into trouble or else he is playing an agreed upon role. The article said the Australian Army should forego its rice padddy training schemes, in favor of building a capacity to deal with urban gueril­ las in Australia. Major Cloughley told The Digger that he “had been rapped over the knuckles” over the piece.

Cloughley is a former British Army officer who served in Malaya and Borneo against insurgents and with Australian troops in Vietnam in 1971.

In the article, he said “We are not, in Australia, geared or equipped to combat armed uprisings. We could not cope, at the moment, with a wave of indiscriminate continuous bomb­ ings or similar terrorist activity. Our police forces have neither the organ­ isation nor the manpower (sic) to satisfactorily quell action by dedicated armed groups.” He dismis­ ses para-military mobile police forces as used in France as counter­ productive for the police’s other functions. Besides, “a citizen force is not equipped in attitude to under­ take such action.”

The two foreign examples he says are most relevant are Munich and Montreal. In Montreal in October 1970 the FLQ kidnapped the Minis­ ter for Labor. The Minister for Labor was killed but, said Cloughley, it was “ . . .ah excellent example of the con­ trol and timely use of military force in an urban guerilla situation.. . Mr Trudeau may have withdrawn troops from NATO but, small ‘1’ liberal as he is, he realised very quickly the efficiency of well trained, loyal, regular soldiers in combating the ex­ cesses of the intelligent, skilful and dedicated terrorist”.

Cloughley recommends that Australian army personnel be sent (in plain clothes) to the UK to see at first hand how the British counter­ guerilla force works, and that the School of Infantry should run cour­ ses in anti-guerilla operations. He warns that “the sophistication of the Patrol equipment, the riot equipment, the vehicles and the search and detec­ tion aids necessary in the urban guerilla situation is such that many hours of training are required to familiarise operators”. The equip­ ment he wants presumably includes all the sensors and electronic detec­ tion equipment, helicopters-gunships . . . . the Vietnam technology.

way you look at it, workers will get it in the neck fair and square under the Liberals.

If you have a soft spot for Bill and his mates you could gloss over the contradictions in their proposals by saying they’ve only had three weeks to play with them. But as for Labor they’ve had 17 months and all Gough can do is throw his cloth cap on the floor and demand a ‘fair go’.

That’s asking a bit much, I’ve heard people say.

The Labor Party wants control of and arrested a declining trend for the both houses of Parliament. They first time in nine years” . Or the came to power with a fairly coherent Financial Review: “The current state socioeconomic plan. Parts of it they of business investment plans have managed to carry out, like the undermines the political argument tariff cuts, but other crucial areas, that business is disadvantaged by such as in industrial relations, have Labor. If the Labor Party wished to, been blocked in the Senate. Reforms it could draw a very nasty graph in the area of industrial relations are showing that the recent trough in making tne arbitration system more actual business investment occurred, flexible so that it can sanction collective bargaining agreements, and for all industries, in 1972” .

So Labor has been okay for also worker participation and job business, in fact terrific for business, enrichment schemes. The rising but the boom has been an industrial militancy of the Australian inflationary one which has working class is one of the biggest redistributed income away from the worries to both business and workers and to the capitalists. government. Through its schemes Snedden claims that he will stop this Labor hopes to harness this militancy inflationary erosion of pay packets. and gain wage restraint. Rather than In a foray into the minefield of drastic repressive action, Labor hopes economics a few weeks back (they to encourage ‘capitalism with a don’t seem to be able to keep him human face*, *love your boss week’, out) Snedden said, or at least this is and so on in order to further enmesh the guts of it, “We must halt the the worker in the system.

As it turns out the Liberals have erosion of wages. We must beat inflation. What’ll we do? Restrict also come around to this way of thinking, though as always, one wage rises” . doubts how deeo it has sunk in. It It has emerged that Australia isn’t just suffering from good old simple must certainly have taken* a few inflation, but from “socialist stiffwhiskies before Malcolm Fraser p ro n o u n c e ‘w o rk er inflation” . Nothing like socialist c o u ld participation’ with a smile. inflation to send a shiver up the spine Essentially L a b o r ’s of a good reactionary. Fighting through the figures and handouts to anti-inflationary strategy, in fact strategy , for Australian municipal councils and other their minutae, what could this mean? Our capitalism, hinges on their ability to political hayseed, Doug Anthony, ensnare workers deeper in the gave it away when he said people machinations of the system. Clyde could no longer expect to lean on the Cameron’s threats to the NSW power workers, that they will lose their state for help and would have to government help in their claims for a stand on their own two feet. Put simply, this means that there is too 35 hour week if they do not work much public spending, too much through the ‘proper’ channels, is a welfare and too much spent on small glimpse of what is likely to come. Moreover there are many ephemeral artistic activity.

The Liberals in their farrago of union officials prepared to go along with Labor’s strategy. The response promises are committed to as much of rank and file workers will public spending as Labor. Yet at the jdetermine their success. same time they are committed to a Snedden made a direct attempt, $600 million tax cut promise! in his policy speech, to buy people Something’s got to give and it’s likely off. Concessions in rural policy to be in the area of welfare, though reflect not only his hip pocket of course nobody is saying. mentality but also the continued, However let’s not get lost in the and in some ways increased muscle conservative argument that welfare of the more conservative Country spending is inflationary, or more Party within this coalition.The accurately necessarily inflationary. Liberals are gambling on marginal Such unproductive expenditure is outer suburban electorates to ger only inflationary under a capitalist them in. What they seem to have system where the pursuit of masses overlooked is that these areas are of private profit by large monopolies being increasingly settled by workers, is the driving force..

(It may be and, in an election where Labor and worth pointing out that the socialist Liberal voters have hardened, this is countries, for all their many far from encouraging the Liberals, imperfections, have good welfare The Liberals are not only buying Systems and no inflation.) Under people off but are also selling capitalism the pursuit of profit has themselves heavily, and some priority over the needs of people. commentators think that this could What the Liberals are committed to tip the scales for them. In an off the doing in Australia is restricting public record conversation in Adelaide, spending so that the private sector Clyde Cameron reckoned that some gets the most out of the inflationary multinational companies had given the Liberals almost an open budget boom.

But this isn’t all there is in the for advertising during the campaign.

Liberals’ economic ‘package’. You One could toss a coin for wnich can package anything these days. party is better, but in the long term They are also going to restore the what is most important about the lurks and perks for their ex-f&oty present elections is the shift in mates from grammar school. The political reference points. The Liberals will restore investment political climate now is no loneer allowances as ‘a reward for effort’. reactionary. The communist bogey is I’m sure most workers will be having' the last of its stuffing thrilled. Workers should also be kicked out of it by Sir Robert Askin, pleased with the restoration of the and there is a very real chance of the phosphate bounty and mining complete demise of the DLP, though exploration subsidies. The Liberals the latter is likely to be around for will also restore tariffs. All of these some time yet as an extraareas were weeded out by the Labor parliamentary force. The Liberals Party in an attempt to streamline the have ch u ck ed over their Australian economy by reallocating union-bashing policies, and in an resources. They were also areas implicit admission .that previous which, through inefficiency, led to policies were based on false premises inflationary pressures in the (communist expansion) are prepared economy. The Liberals will open the to accept the existence of China, floodgates to overseas capital. The North Vietnam, North Korea, and only areas they have left for reducing the GDR. Such shifts are. almost inflationary pressure are reduction of irreversible, and, despite the rock welfare spending and direct attacks revival, the ’50s are gone forever. on wage levels. Hence the caginess May 9 - May 23,1974 surrounding references to a voluntary wages and prices freeze. Whichever

Everyone suspected that the Liberals were arselickers and opportunists, but nobody guessed how low they were prepared to go. Men of principle, they have simply dropped their old policies and taken up Labor’s in a slightly modified form, and on their way they are attempting to do in their old reactionary mates, the DLP. Political journalist and professor of politics, Don Aitkin, cites this as one of the beauties of a functioning parliamentary democracy: put crudely, when you’re out you’ll stab anybody in the back to get in again.

The gap between the policies of the major contestants has closed faster than the eye could follow. Only the DLP is still wandering in the wonderland of reactionary policies developed by Menzies in the ’50s.

Graham Jones

operations. It is mandatory that the overall director (commander, or what we will) be a civilian . . . The military must always be, and be seen .to be, in a subordinate position to the civil power. However, once the director of an operation has received his firm guidelines from the Parliament. . . the politician must keep o u t . . . .

The relevant Minister will be complet­ ely and instantaneously informed of developments taking place during any operation, and it will be his pre­ rogative to override decisions made by his director of operations; but purely political considerations, be they posed by Caucus or any other political body, cannot be allowed to interfere in the conduct of an operation.”

JIO are sponsoring a major re­ orientation in the intelligence field.

Because of its central position in the intelligence community and its brief­ peddling privilege, it is in a unique position to push ideas around governments Major Cloughley denies any con­ nection with JIO or any other intel­ ligence organisation. The article, he As in intelligence, so too in says, was “all in the mind of Clough­ ley.” The mind of Cloughley stretch­ operations. ed to cover operational considerations Alter the Financial Review “A major consideration is the setting (13/3/74) reported on the projected up of a joint civil/military head­ build-up of the security section of quarters to direct anti-guerilla

the Defence Department and men­ tioned that JIO appeared to be broadening its interests, Minister for Defence Lance Barnard quickly issued a denial: “JIO has no role whatsoever in this kind of security work. It is not a collecting agency: it is a research and reporting organisation dealing with events in foreign countries. It is not concerned with domestic Australian matters such as the aboriginals.”

Barnard wasn’t necessarily lying; he was probably misinformed, just as he was when JIO moved in on New Guinea intelligence last year, and just as with ASIS (Australian Secret In­ telligence Service), whose offices within the Victoria Barracks com­ pound in Melbourne Barnard has never visited.

provides for the top security position to be a one star general or equivalent.

This new Director General of Secur­ ity will control both civilian and military security in the services, the whole Defence department and pos­ sibly the sizeable network run by the Department of Supply.

The Defence Department is expected to boost the number of its operatives up to three or four hundred, about three fourths the number of fulltime ASIO agents.

If JIO does continue to exceed its charter, if Defence intelligence is reorganised as proposed and if ASIO is unable to resist this kind of bureau­ cratic encroachment there will be a big change in the nature of civilmilitary relations in Australia. The quality and quantity of surveillance will also change drastically. ‘CounterSir Arthur Tange, Head of the insurgency’ means controlling people; Defence Department, is a formidable there is no other way to counter an bureaucrat. His planned reorganisation insurgency. of the Defence group of departments

May 9 — May 23, 1974

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The Digger is a member of the Underground Press Syndicate (UPS).

Back numbers of The Digger are 45 oents each, from "Back Numbers", d o The Digger, 15 Avenue Road, Glebe, NSW 2 037.

No. 1: Wainer's abortion epic; Gary Young exposed; the Stuart case.

No. 2: Drug history of Australia; New Guinea cannibals; Youth seizes city.

No. 3: Cocker interview; Don Juan; Porny pics.

No. 4: Zimmer's Essay; Football's freak; High school revolt; Being a rock star.

No. 5: People's Park; FM radio; shared diseases; McMahon — after Decembers No. 6: Garner /school kids; Reefer Madness; Abortion —a colonial history.

No. 7: Abortion on request; Cosmos adrift; Marxism in Maribvrnong; Poetry supplement.

No. 8: Labor's victory; Bisexuality; Hawke interviewed; M t. Isa. No. 9 : Prostitutes; Conscripts and re­ sisters; Libs — the abyss.

No. 10: Marg Whitlam; the gay beat; Sunshine grass label; Four letter words — teacher fired.

No. 11: Women in pubs; Nimbin; Dope laws; Ringolevio.

No. 12: Comix supplement; Angry Bri­ gade; Sunbury.

No. 13: Rolling Stones; Drug "problem"? ; Porn and politics.

No. 14: Contraceptive guide; Women in a man's world; Sydney's junkie murder.

No. 15: Nurses; Higher Consciousness; Great Moments of Rock..

No. 16: Anti-psychiatry; Fred Robinson; Port Phillip sewer; "Couples".

No. 17: Silver Screen; Nimbin; Zappa; WEL. No-. 18: Watergate; Ford; Doomsday; ALP: godfathers and families.

No. 19: Dalmas; medical students; wo­ men's strike; ASIO on the line.

No. 20: Omega; No. 96; Communes; Victoria Street.

No. 21: The fastest rising guru in the west;.

How Labor bought'Tasmania; Body rhythms; Suburb's siege; G rafitti Gue­ rillas; Philippines.

No. 22: Gay Lib.; the Crips.; Memoirs of a Sydney cop; Dylan mystery LP. No. 23: Victorian drug squad search war­ rant racket; Two ex-prisoners and their world; Captain Matchbox; Travels of Bazza McDope; Melbourne football; South American round up.

No. 24: Customs plan to smuggle drugs; oil in Middle East; Mary Whitehouse; The Rocks.

No. 25: Students take Thailand; Metha­ done racket; Bali busts; Warrants in court and out; Soviet dissidents.

No, 26: Leunig's rude drawings; Marshal Green's sinister background; Bicycles; Children outside the nuclear family; US plans for Vietnam 1974; Victoria Street evictions.

No. 27: Inside Bathurst; New Guineans learn to fail; Kids, communes . . . and now me; Indonesia — the making of a riot; Rock Dreams; C IA in Australia.

No. 28: Woman sheltering from men in Glebe; Girls in jail; Three Marias; Workers' participation in action; Chile massacres; Kate Jennings on Joni M it­ chell; Portugal's empire crumbles. /Vo. 2 9 Behind the double dissolution; The iQllective at work; Vietnam - Did you think it was over; ideas about preschDoling; women's health centres.

SUBSCRIPTIONS A Digger subscription covers 26 issues for $7.80. People whose post­ code is beyond a 25 mile radius of a capital city — or people who live in Queensland or Tasmania — pay $5.00.

THE DIGGER

Page 2

EARTH NEWS Perhaps if I tried About 175 young people —mostly long hairs — showed up to apply for a job at the Langley Porter psychiatric clinic in San Francisco last week. The pay is attractive — $750 a month — but to most of the applicants the job itself is even more attractive.- Those who are hired will be asked to stay stoned on marijuana 24 hours a day, every day, for 30 days. , Of course the job offers are for subjects in a research program looking into the effects of a high dosage marijuana use. Dr. Reese Jones — coordinating the program — says that the daily dosages average around 200 milligrams a day, or the equivalent of about ten joints.

Jones says he hopes to get Federal Drug Administration approval to in­ crease the dosage up to 60.0 milli­ grams a day — or 30 times the effectiveness of one joint.

About 45 of the 175 applicants will be selected to undergo the one month program, during which they’ll have to live in the psychiatric ward and undergo daily physical and men­ tal tests.

Several applicants told Jones that they were interested in participating in the program in order to measure creativity under high doses of grass.

Said Jones, “ At the doses we give, artists stop painting, and musicians stop playing” .

familiar with Umpleby’s work with' computers, but not with his politics' So he was offered the job of pro­ gramming the conference.

Umpleby gladly accepted. With terminals around the country hooked up to his own in Illinois — and proud Pentagon officials across the country looking on - he put on a conference urging his fellow stu­ dents to mobilise for the purpose of ousting Nixon from office.

The Pentagon expressed dis­ pleasure with the conference, and Mr. Umpleby’s employment was im­ mediately terminated.

However, spokespersons for the Pentagon con­ ceded that the “ teleconference” test provecl the system wqrks quite well.

Alone

The little voices peel off.

I ’m as fragile as a woman in a brown hat and matching coat.

D on’t ask me what I do Can Xyou see m y eyes fixed wide?

The lids can V come down.

I touched a man He was a burning bush.

New clap

Everyone around him was ash ash ash He called to me, ’XnotHer”

A little known, but incurable form of venereal disease — which medical experts are only beginning to understand — appears to be reaching pandemic proportions in the United States.

Ranking second only to gonor­ rhea, the case load has increased at least threefold in the last decade, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Some 250,000 Americans are ex­ pected to contract the disease this year alone.

This form of venereal disease — known as herpes simplex type two — is considerably different from syphillis or gonorrhea in that it is not caused by bacteria, but by a Picture Puzzle virus which is untreatable with either antibiotics or any known medication. have been lost.

The disease is almost always Sobell was a codefendant in the caused through sexual contact; it treason trial, and was released from is highly contagious; and there is prison in 1969 after spending 18 strong evidence that it may lead yeras of a 30 year sentence. Julius to cancer of the cervix in women and Ethel Rosenberg were executed and cancer of the prostrate in men. in 1953. All three had been con­ Some six per cent of the women victed of conspiring to give atomic who get herpes venereal disease con­ As Chilean students prepare to tract cervical cancer within five years, bomb secrets to the Soviet Union. return to the classroom for a new according to researchers at Emory Sobell says that now he’s out term, the ruling military junta has University in Atlanta. The association he wants to examine the trial ex­ begun to revise the curricula of is as strong as that between cigarette hibits in an effort to clear himself. primary .and secondary schools, ■smoking and cancer, The researchers He maintains that . the government abolishing all social science •courses say. ' used fraud to get his conviction, and restructuring courses in civics, and that a scientific examination On top of all these problems, history, philosophy, political eco­ the disease spreads easily because of the evidence could prove his nomy, and even Spanish. case. But when Sobell’s attorney “it recurs”, says Dr. William E. sued in New York federal court The junta has charged that these Josey of Emory University. And, courses were used for “ consciousness he says, - “ intercourse may be one to force the attorney general to raising” during the now deposed of the things that activates it. There’s release ten of the exhibits, the govern­ Popular Unity government of Sal­ no treatment, you’ve got the disease ment replied that all exhibits “ have vador Allende. The revised courses for life, ..and every time it recurs been lost” .

Says Sobell, “ If they ‘lost’ the will stress “ benefits of free com­ you can 'potentially infect other exhibits it’s because the government petition in an open market economy” people”. while “ denouncing state systems” ’ The disease was not even pin­ Wanted to lose them. This Toss’ according to the clandestine news pointed until 1967. Previously it is in the same category as the ‘loss’ service, Resistance News- Agency. had been thought to be caused by of the Nixon tapes”.

Michael Meeropol — a son of The revised scholastics program' the same herpes virus that caused also includes compulsory “ celebra­ cold sores. Then, an Emory Uni­ the executed Rosenbergs — says that tions” -once a week to engender versity professor, Andre Nahmias, he believes that the records of the “ patriotic feelings” in Chilean youth. discovered that a separate type of trial were destroyed when Sobell The Ministry of Education, headed virus produced the venereal disease. was released in 1969 in order to prevent any reopening of the famous by military personnel, hopes the Hence the name, Herpes II. “ celebrations” — complete with flags While there is no cure for it, case. and projunta speeches — will “ build researchers are attempting to develop the children’s sense of patriotism” , a vaccine to combat herpes venereal the news agency reports. disease. One vaccine being tested The changes in the educational apparently can stop the disease, but system are being viewed by op­ tests on animals have shown that ponents of the junta as a “ regression the cure itself sometimes causes can­ of many years for the Chilean educa­ cer. tion system” , the news agency Researchers for one major drug charges. firm, Merck and Co. Laboratories, The recent union, which has been say they hope to begin clinical discussed for over 20 years, between testing of a drug on humans in the Presbyterian, Methodist and Con­ about two years. gregational Churches in Australia will lead to a series of long drawn out court cases, because a breakaway group in the Presbyterian Church does not recognise the union.

A test of a Department of De­ The differences, which started off fense computer network is pot the as disagreements over the correct most likely place you would expect religious dogma, have become ma­ to find the campaign to impeach terialist — who is going to get which President Nixon. property. The Presbyterian Church But that’s exactly what happened is a large property owner with assets when the Pentagon decided to believed to total well over $100 “ exercise” its new “ teleconference” million. Amongst the disputed pro­ computer system, which links up If you’re planning a dope flgiht perties are Scotch College in Mel­ computers nationwide, enabling them to Mexico, think twice — or at bourne, the Presbyterian Ladies’ all to exchange information simul­ least take along a good navigator. College, and vast tracts of land in taneously.

According to Don Bartles Jr., Ad- the city areas including the free­ According to New Scientist maga­ ministratot of Drug Enforcement for hold of the site on which the zine, the Pentagon decided to test the Justice Department,' “ . . . there’s Establishment’s luxury store stands, its new, sophisticated network by about a crash a week around the George’s. staging a nationwide conference by A spokesperson for one of the San Diego area of private ’planes computer. The developers of the loaded with marijuana” . Bartles groups has said if bitterness is kept system — the Institute of the Future claims that all too many amateur out, ‘Che kingdom of God won’t — asked the state of Illinois to pilots, looking for a get rich quick suffer that much” . However, some host and run the conference. Illinois scheme, rent ’planes, make the Mexi­ observers have noted the simialready has a computer network — can jump and then find themselves .larity to Roman soldiers drawing known as Plato — in an advanced in mid air, asking condors for the lots for Christ’s clothes after the state of development for its educa­ way to Texas. Says Bartles, “ Their crucifixion. tional system. idea of navigation is to go to the But Illinois also has one Stuart ocean and turn left” .

Umpleby, a doctoral candidate in political science, assigned to the operation of Plato. Umpleby for some time has used Plato to urge student groups around the nation to back the drive for impeachment.

That’s okay with the state, as the An East London woman, Julia Plato system may be used for any Mainwaring, has been fighting for a Martin Sobcll charged last week year against a ruling by the Greater purpose that has a classroom applica­ that the government lied ’ when it London Council that she cannot have tion. said that courtroom exhibits from a joint tenancy with her husband.

The Pentagon and the Institute the famous 1953 Rosenberg trial The GLC said that its”computer was of the Future apparently were

Hands on hearts

Dollar dogma

Terminal anarchy

M exican high jump

Rosenbergs

Machocrats

and I became his wife and worshipped his backside there was no otherway.

When we were alone, dark under the sheet he was a baby at m y breast but he mouthed like a lover when he thundered on the stage.

No. 2 : Who is this (nan and why is he smiling

Ponch Hawkes

Men, and women, too, unable to,include both husbands’ and wives’ names on rent books.

Ms Mainwaring’s campaign has included withholding of “vast amounts” of rent; at one point, she told PNS “I sent them a cheque for the total amount of arrears outstanding • but deliberately neglected to sign it. After all, why should the GLC have my signature on a cheque if I can’t have my name on the rent book?”

After this, Ms Mainwaring and.her husband were permitted to sign a joint tenancy agreement and were promised a new rent book — which they have not yet received.

Throughout the fight, Ms Mainwaring says that GLC officials were “rude and patronising” , while four “equally male chauvinistic lawyers” at Stepney’s neighborhood law centres were “not in the least interested” in helping her.

Ms Mainwaring adds: “From my conversations with other local women, I gather that this difficulty has happened to a large number of them. As long as their names are not on the rent books, and they are not joint tenants, they have no right whatsoever to enter or live in their homes at any time their husbands ask them to leave or refuse them entry. This wicked situation is one of the reasons why many separated wives end up in hostel or hotel- accommodation with their children for months on end. Or why some women put up with intolerable conditions at home with their husbands rather than tramp the streets with their kids.

“The GLC, like the Social S ecu rity and most large bureaucracies in this country, is run and controlled by men who dictate to people the very nature of their relationships. The most important aspect of all this is that men are considered to be ‘head of the household’ and women under their control and theirs to do as they please with. As regards GLC housing policy, married women have less ‘rights’ than lodgers.”

-- People’s News Service.

Second coming Remember the 1930’s nationwide panic following a radio broadcast of Orson Welles’ “ War of the Worlds”?

Many listeners thought the broadcast was an actual news report and be­ lieved the earth had been invaded from outer space.

Well, history repeated itself last week in Calgary, Canada. Only this time, the broadcast featured an in­ vasion not by spacepeople, but by Christ.

Calgary television station CFCN broadcast a special Easter program entitled “ The Rapture”. It was a 45 minute documentary depicting the second coming of Christ, com­ plete with all the attendent disasters prophesied to occur in the wake of Christ’s return.

The program was filmed as if it were originating from the news­ room of a New York television studio, with flash bulletins about earthquakes all over the world, huge tidal waves and other planetary disasters.

Apparently the program caught hundreds of believers offguard. The TV station reported at least 350 ’phone calls from frightened viewers, and the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada, which had sponsored the program, said their switchboard was swamped. ' irag .(■'mv | For the rest of the evening, the TV station broadcast frequent re­ ports that the alleged second coming of the Lord was a fiction.

he lent me to them all.

I didn X want their fingers, I didn X want their ways.

They sent me back in taxis marked “opened by mistake”, so w e’d crawl into bed to have a good laugh,

until l blew up like an egg, A baby slipped out.

Oh how he cried, “I ’m just a boy m yself”.

He swaggered away down a little street.

Persian purge

I read him in the papers I watch him on the news I push around the plate the hunger

Frankfurt — Informations-Dienst, the German alternative news service, has reported that, according to news smuggled from inside Iran to the Iranian Student Federation in'West Germany, the Iranian secret police Savak, is now purging its own members. 60 Savak members have been arrested in the last few weeks of March, and six of them have been executed. This move follows a wave of repression against intellectuals, ■ workers and peasants.

According to the Iranian students in Germany, the Savak purges came about after a directive issued by the current US Ambassador to Iran, the former head of the CIA, Richard Helms. Because of the growing importance of the Middle East to'US world strategy and the central role a “stable^’ Iranian plays there, Helms allegedly called for a tightening up of the Iranian secret police.

The California-based People’s Translation Service, Which translated the German report, adds that according to information received by Iranian students in northern California, several army officials holding key positions “disappeared” during’February . At the same time, two army officers were executed in the eastern region of the country.

PTS also says the Iranian government has executed more than 117 antifascists in the last two years.

—People’s News Service.

-tVhS fa

1fS J W IdforiG T kee.

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R m rj

I can’t eat.

A nd every night I ride m y pillow to sleep.

Celia Gilbert

(American Report).

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4 HOTHLYN HOUSE ARCADE, MANCHESTER LANE, MELBOURNE.

May 9 — May 2 3,1 9 7 4

THE DIGGER

Page 3

T h e se ig e of W y o n g sto ck a d e SCORE:One shopping complex and 100 cops down Building workers and maybe a town hospital up

by Hall Greenland tion secretary.

The police would allow no food to reach the seven up the crane.

“When the seven of us scampered up that crane jib last Thursday when the coppers invaded the site, that was to be our Eureka.” Twenty-two year old builders’ labourer Bob Russell said this after sixty hours up the jib and after the police seige had been lifted.

At Eureka in 1854, hundreds of miners defied massed police op the goldfields and 24 were shot dead.

This time round, seventy building workers defied the police, not on the goldfields but on something like its twentieth century counterpart: a real estate development site.

“While we were up there,” Bob Russell said, “there were at least sixty coppers down below. The de­ tectives had their coats open and were flashing their pistol holsters.

And they had their little stubby truncheons out and were hitting the open palms of their hands with them.

“They kept telling us to come down, but also told us what they’d do to us when we came down: ‘Kick the cunt out of us.’

“We appealed to them as workers to go away, but we told them if they came up after us they’d come up as coppers and we’d finish any­ thing they started. We each had a piece of steel about that long”—and he indicated with his hands a length of about eighteen inches.

“Well, we won. This site is.now under workers’ control—by the workers, for the workers.”

Late Friday, workers and support­ ers at the front of the site started a commotion, meanwhile one group slipped around to the right side of

unanimous support of the tactic.

Typically the tradesmen are older, more the solid citizen type, than the BLs; they were worried about more industrial strife harming Labor’s elec­ toral chances, but the reminder that the miners were on strike during the recent British elections and that Labor had got in there, soothed those fears.

Recently they believed the boss had attempted to provoke a strike.

Building workers usually work Satur­ days for which they get double time, and if it’s raining when they report for work they get six hours attend­ ance pay. Two Fridays before this blow-up, the boss had rung the Bureau of Meteorology, got a fore­ cast of rain on the following day and had therefore cancelled the Saturday work. Feeling they had been The site is a half-completed shop­ ping plaza in Wyong sixty miles north “robbed” of their Saturday money, of Sydney. The Construction company the BLs on the following Monday told their job delegate to ring the is an outfit called Murizzi South Bureau of Meteorology- there were Pacific, “a front for Hong Kong and clouds overhead, you see—well he Singapore millionaires” , according to got a rain forecast, so they went one of the builders’ labourers on the home claiming “wet money” for site. “Murizzi have two other jobs in that day. What was good enough for Wyong, another one in Gosford, and the boss, was good enough for them. another at Mona Vale in Sydney.”

Come pay day, they found they were not paid for that Monday. For The trouble started when one of them that was strike bait, but they the BLs, Ross Hamilton, was sacked decided not to rise to it. on Tuesday. He had dropped into the site on Monday after eight days Tuesday passed without incident. on “compo” for a wrecked shoulder On Wednesday the site was closed and presented the boss with a because of a national building work­ clearance from Murizzi’s own doctor ers’ 24-hour stoppage in support of to start work the next day. He was wage claims. then told he would be sacked “be­ cause of his attendance record.”

On Thursday Ross came to work “I’d been with this job for 53 days and had had five and a half days with the others and refused orders from the boss and a police sergeant off—but I’d had doctor’s notes for to leave the site. The boss then sack­ five of those days,” Ross told me.

“I’ve been a builders’ labourer for ed all 67 workers. While they were* meeting on the site to demand the years, working with small subbies; boss reinstate them all, the policé this is the first big job I’d been on invaded and removed them. Seven and the first time I’d been' in the were arrested in that heavy melee union. but another seven managed to clamber “I suppose the boss thought that up the crane jib, where they were to as I’d been here for five minutes, the blokes would wear me being wiped.” stay till 4 a.m. Sunday—the 60-hour confrontation began.

Tipped off, some of the BLs de-* As one of the BLs later told me, tided on Monday night that Ross the advent of the coppers put some wouldn’t be sacked the following of them in a dicey position. Many day—not as far as they were concern­ were on bonds or had maintenance ed anyhow. orders out against them, so they Tuesday’s job meeting of BLs de­ couldn’t afford to be arrested. cided not to recognise Ross’s sacking and agreed that he could continue to What followed was a classic seige work and be paid (if necessary) by situation. The seven men up the the BLs themselves. crane were surrounded and cut off by the police who occupied the site. Be­ Meeting separately the tradesmen yond the police lines, and outside originally voted 16-2 against support­ the site, were the other workers, ing the move, but after their meeting relatives, supporters, and a handful was joined by the BLs and Ross put of union officials like Joe Owens the his case, they swung around to NSW Builders’ Labourers’ Federa-

Thank my lucky stars The article in last Digger (No. 28} — “She said: 'Did he p u t his private , part in yo u r private part?’ ” has brought this response from a reader who remembers similar experiences in Victoria's institutions.I I was charged with the heinous crime o f running away from home.

Filially the cops caught me, and threatened to charge the people I was staying with, for harboring a minor (I wasn’t at the house when

the police arrived). So I was vir­ tually blackmailed into giving myself up.

I was formally charged with being exposed to moral danger and then whisked off to Winbirra Remand Centre. The moment you’re in Win­ birra, it’s assumed that you’re a criminal and you’re treated as such, even though you haven’t even had your court case . . .

Most of the time there was spent

The seige was lifted quite sudden­ ly on Sunday morning. The two assistant police commissioners told the union officials that they could not find the site’s owners and so in the ^absence of instructions from the owners, they were withdrawing. The site boss had already disappeared, and with the police gone, the work­ ers occupied the site unchallenged.

By the next morning police rein­ On Monday morning the workers forcements from Sydney and New­ held a full meeting on the site. With castle had arrived. Negotiations open­ the exception of the brothers, Bob ed for union officials to take food in. and Don, all the talking was done by The cops refused. Harry Gould, the officials. minor shareholder in the venture and a local, was located and he agreed to Joe Owens opened up by bad ask the police to allow him in to mouthing Murizzi South Seas and take food to the beseiged. He too the police; he pointed up the crazy was refused. As was the president of nature of an industry in which 75 the local Red Cross society. “Even per cent of money went into com­ the nazis let the Red Cross into their mercial projects and 25 per cent into concentration camps,” recalled the housing, which helped to explain Central Coast Trades and Labour why there was four million square Council President. feet of empty office space in Sydney and 50,000 names on the NSW Late Saturday another attempt to Housing Commission’s waiting list. breach the seige was made. This time Owens claimed the day was fast a mass rush. Twenty three were ar­ passing when building workers and rested—including a local pensioner residents would unquestioningly go who was roughed up like the rest. along with what developers wanted But several meat pies and a chook to do in the building game. got through. Bail money amounted “When I came here seventeen to about $5000. As Bob Pringle, years ago and was working up in BLF President said later, “No bour­ Queensland, a boss told me: ‘you’re geois person ate so expensively on just an Irishman in hob-nailed boots Saturday night. Those couple of and if I tell you to dig a ditch, meat pies and the chook cost five you’ll dig it.’ Those days are gone grand.” forever. Now unionists in this indus­ try are concerned about what their But it was not just a passive seige. labour builds.”

With their target spotlighted by searchlights, the coppers had occas­ So he moved a resolution: ionally on Thursday, Friday and —that tiie occupation of the site Saturday nights opened up with a and the crane continue with a barrage of rocks, bolts, and pieces of roster drawn up; scaffolding against the men up the —that all charges against the crane. charging food-throwers be drop­ ped; In recent years NSW police have —that a fund be started to support shot a number of people dead while the occupiers; shooting warning shots over their and that a meeting be organised in heads. Fortunately their throwing Wyong next week of workers and arms were not as accurate as their residents to decide what they want­ trigger fingers. Until Saturday night ed built on the Murizzi site. Here that is, when Ross Hamilton was hit Joe suggested a hospital be built, as in the back by a rock.

Murizzi had demolished Wyong’s only hospital (a small cottage affair) Eventually a doctor was allowed 1 to put up a block of home units. onto the site and Ross was lowered The resolution was duly carried down by ropes and taken to hospital unanimously. On the question of where he remained for eighteen negotiations Joe carried the meeting hours. “ As I was being taken oqt one with the idea that all that was left to copper said: ‘It’s a pity we didn’t negotiate with Murizzi was back pay break your back.’ Until this happen­ and the dropping of charges. Con­ ed, you know, I didn’t realise what sideration of negotiations with the gestapo, pig bastards the coppers people behind Murizzi was put off are.” to a later date. the site and another group around to the left side. One person from each of these flanking groups manag­ ed to get into the site; one was arres­ ted before he reached the crane but another got through with a small bundle of food which he threw to the men, 20’ up the pole.

None of the workers were willing to strike, because they reckoned that was precisely what the boss wanted.

They had suspected for months that the job was “fishy”. The site engineer, for instance, only ever had blue prints covering work two weeks ahead, and he constantly chopped and changed those plans. Not knowing exactly who was financing the project also made them uneasy.

A Victorian sister remembers

found changing Queensland was work for more than two men. So we came back south.” Another of the beseiged, Jim, worked around Gunnedah for years and was a member of the Labor Party for a spell then, but now is in the Communist Party.

Michael Zerman

But the beseiged held on. Two of them were brothers, Bob and Don. “The old man was a communist,” Don explained, “and we’re chips off the old block. Been working since we were fourteen. We spent sometime in Queensland; cane cutting, fencing, mining—that kind of thing. But we

Speaking in concrete terms only: a hospital certainly could be built on the site, as only the below groundlevel car park has been built at this , stage. Whether a campaign can be built to generate enough local and political muscle to get the money to build it, is another ball game.

Above left: the tarpaulin stockade up the jib at Wyong Left: coppers on the job

doing domestic chores . . . washing dishes, clothes, scrubbing floors, cleaning out the dunnies. Every morning, before breakfast, we had to sweep the floor, scrub it, polish the windows, make the beds. I guess they thought that all this work would keep our minds clear from idle thoughts and would be good training for our future role of wife and mother. This sexist thing went to great extremes, cleaning was only a small part. They gave us lectures and demonstrations on how to make beds properly, what kinds of blankets to buy, and little talks on how to act properly on a date.

Free time (sic) was spent on typical female activities . . . knitting, sewing, reading women’s magazines.

There was no serious literature at all.

There was a bookshelf in the lounge (needless to say the titles consisted

of Anne o f Green Gables, Sue Barton . . . Nurse, and so on), but we were never allowed to read them, they were on display to the visitors so they wouldn’t think we were culturally deprived.

The girls were often pushed around, but I never saw any officers hit the girls, though I was told that some had been slapped around.

Instead of beating us, they would punish us by making us scrub the bathroom floor with a toothbrush, or put us in solitary confinements.

We were punished for the most trivial things like answering back, or talking after lights out. In addition to these punishments, we were al­ ways being jeered at and shouted at, which was worse. It never stopped and often, the whole lot of us got shouted at because of the actions of one person; and always for the

most trivial of reasons. Somebody would dirty the crotch of their under­ pants and everybody ' would be warhed (shouted at) not to dirty the crotch of their underpants.

I got rubbished in front of every­ one for calling a sanitary napkin by the wrong brand name. With all this ridicule one really begins to feel insignificant, you lose all self respect. I was quite shattered.

I had never been in a position (even at home) where I couldn’t fight back.

My court case came up, and it was a bit of a farce.

I was so shit scared of the ancient fat judge that all I could say in my defence was that I didn’t want to go home. OK. You don’t want to go home . . . Ward of State.

Case finished in five minutes flat. Back to dreary Winbirra, then to Winlaton,

the Youth Training Centre. I wasn’t but I was out of Winlaton within very keen about Winlaton either, two weeks. Somehow I had managed even though we had a bit more to convince the social workers that freedom (instead of going every­ the type of education the institution where in two straight lines we were was providing wasn’t adequate for allowed to walk around by ourselves). my needs and that I wanted to The girls were rather hardened types go back home and try to see if on the whole. Not because they things could be worked out with were in contact with other ‘crims’ my parents.

Things didn’t work out and but because they were really bitter and resentful. Most of them shouldn’t eventually I moved in with a schoolhave been in there . . . 90% were friend and her family (state ap­ charged with Exposed to Moral proved) and recently have moved Danger and a few with breaking out to live with a friend and her and entering; there were one or children. I get $30 a week from two dope freaks. Most of them,come Social Welfare to live on . . . n a from working class bacKgrounds, strings attached. But I wish I’d had little education, and the institutions the living allowance firs t. . . without have never encouraged them to edu­ having to go through all that insti­ cate themselves more and get out tutional hell. of the shopgirl/typist/housewife syn­ Rita, drome.

I think it was my lucky stars, Melbourne, Victoria

Page 4

THE DIGGER

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executive had advised the five not to attend the meeting — the VSTA is known for liking to keep action in these matters firmly in its own hands —and they stayed away, thus protecting themselves from a verbal lynching but leaving their side of the case completely unrep­ resented to the confused parents.

Werribee is a small town halfway between Melbourne and Geelong, by­ passed by the highway that crosses the immense volcanic plain. Many The PCA meeting, though hardly of Werribee’s workers commute to central to the whole affair, was an as­ the city; the town is ringed with tonishing spectacle. Speakers on stage well-established market gardens, own­ in the packed hall were Swan, PCA ed by first and second generation chairperson Edwards, and an enigmatic Italian migrants; there’s a CSIRO stranger called Dr Morris. agricultural research station, a sew­ Swan claimed, in his opening ad­ erage treatment works , a veterinary dress, that in issuing his question­ science school and, over on the bay, naire (copies of which received nods Point Cook RAAF base. It’s a con­ of approval from the assembled multi­ servative community. tudes) he had intended merely to About 1000 kids attend Werribee gauge staff opinion on matters that High School. Early in this school were causing serious dissension among year, the Werribee staffing was already the teachers, but that he had received two under target. Last week another a “ clear mandate” , expressed in the teacher resigned, two are leaving at number of ticks he had counted on the the end of this term, and two more in sheets, to declare his expectations as June. The school is operating on a school policy. He said he was staking cut week — forms one and two have a his job on his belief in his own autho­ four-day week, forms three and four rity. four and a half days.

The mysterious 'Dr Morris was then Now five young teachers at Werri­ invited to speak. He declared himself bee High School are facing forced a member of an equally enigmatic transfer because they did not give sat­ organisation called Australian Frontier isfactory answers to a questionnaire headed up by ex-ABC head Sir Robert composed by the principal, Mr. Madgwick and others, which “looks Swan. for answers to problems of social Swan drew up the vaguely-worded conflict” , and desires “ the prevention questionnaire, entitled ‘Principal’s of outright confrontation.” Certain Expectations of Staff, in order to es­ actions in this type of hot situation tablish, he said, “ common ground” could, he suggested, only be counter­ upon which radical and conservative productive. teachers might be able to co-operate. “ I am not interested in the ques­ The list of ‘expectations’ covered tion of the rights and wrongs of the matters ranging from neatness of situation,” Morris said. “/ have no dress through classroom noise levels, views whatsoever. In fact, as soon as I penalties for students’ latecoming, take a view, I move away from what and the burning issue of whether Australian Frontier stands for.” teachers should permit or encourage Morris proposed to a silent crowd students to address them by their that Australian Frontier set up one of first names. its consultations, over an evening and Swan considered that to ask for the following morning; this consul­ a clearer definition of words like tation, in which up to 36 people ‘reasonable’, ‘excessive’ and involved in the situation would sit ‘adequately’ was splitting hairs. He “ in a circle” , would have an agenda gave an undertaking that the question­ under the control of “ an expert and naire would not be used to formulate completely impartial chairman.” school policy, but later reneged on Every possible viewpoint was to be this promise. When 16 teachers com- f represented, in a break-down such plained of this ruse in a letter to as this: Swan which, he said, “ hurt and • 8 teachers “ carefully selected to insulted” him, he requested the represent the full spectrum” Education Department to transfer the • 6 pupils (there are nearly 1000 in 16 to other schools. This ambitious the school) to be chosen “ on the same request, and another — that the De­ basis by an outside body” partment establish an annexe at • 3 parents not involved in the PCA Werribee High where radical teachers • 3 parents who are involved might carry out their anarchic • 3 members of the advisory coun­ theories out of his sight — were cil refused by the Department, so Swan • 6 “resource people with expert narrowed his sights to the five “ ring­ knowledge on aspects of the sit­ leaders” of the 16 — teachers White, uation” Rosser, Hosford, Algie and Wazna — • 2 senior members of the admin­ and demanded that they be transfer­ istration of the Education Department red.

• several experts in educational The president and secretary of the fields e.g. a univers ity professor of school branch of the Victorian education, or people with “ exper­ Secondary Teachers’ Association ience of teaching outside the frame­ [VSTA] were both senior teachers; work of the local situation” they not only offered to cover the • a member of the Legislative five’s classes while replacements were Assembly — “ for example, local sought, thus pushing their teaching liberal member Athol Guy.” loads way above their own union’s The mention of the suave ex-Seeker1 recommended maximum, but also brought the first open response from agreed to accompany the principal on the baffled audience —a gust of goodhis sojourn to the Department in humored but contemptuous laughter.

Melbourne, as representatives o f the Morris concluded, “ My sole inten­ senior staff. A no-confidence vote tion is to try to prevent this from turnbrought about their resignation from into an unproductive discussion of office, and stopwork action in the viewpoints. It’s difficult to arrive at a school followed. definite conclusion if people vote — * * * this polarises the community into two In all the fuss, the Parents’ and camps who can never look each other Citizens’ Association called a meeting in the eye again.” last Thursday night in a local church This proposition seemed to con­ hall. A good six or seven hundred fuse the parents. “ Too many experts. people turned up. The VSTA central There’s enough experts here in this

room tonight,” said one man. Dis­ cussion began uncertainly but swelled to an almost hysterical pitch when one angry parent screeched, “ Let’s give Mr Swan all the support he needs, let’s get in the Frontier, let’s HAVE A DECENT SCHOOL!” A woman’s voice was heard in the turmoil: “ Don’t tell me to shut up or I’ll punch your face in!”

Another woman asked why no stu­ dents were represented at the meeting.

This point, unfortunately, was not considered worth discussing. “ What if Australian Frontier doesn’t resolve the deadlock?” asked one realist. “ The matter is already in the hands of the Department,” replied Swan.

Uneasy pause, then a man stood on a chair and looked in bewilderment round the audience. “ Then . . . what are we doing here?” ; This, obviously the crucial ques­ tion, was howled down. He got off the chair, looking confused.

Two main strands were apparent in the parents’ attitudes. Firstly, as one man opined, “ You gotta have dis­ cipline.” Swan was backed up solidly in his stand against “ unruly classroom behavior.” 0,ne parent complained that “ these days kids are always backanswering,” and laid this squarely at the door of those teachers Swan des­ cribed as “ non-conformists.” An­ other man dented any school the right to apply a “lesser degree of discipline” to his children than he did at home; this was thunderously applauded.

The second strand expressed itself in parents’ serious doubts as to whether Werribee could expect to get any replacements at all for the offen­ ding five, let alone replacements guar­ anteed to be more “ conformist” than those purged by Swan and the senior staff. Time and again people stood up and said, “ All I want is for my kid to be taught” As the evening wore to a close, the dreary fact became painfully clear: no matter how many hours the Australian Frontier spent in ironing out dif­ ferences of opinion, no matter how many letters were drafted insisting that the Minister for Education put Werribee’s staffing shortage on the top of his list, Werribee was irre­ trievably stuck in the “under­ privileged west.” “ Teachers won’t leave the eastern suburbs,” as one parent maintained. * * * The Werribee five intend to stand firm. It’s not clear how much support they’ll get from the VSTA. 18 months ago Helen Garner was sacked on a roughly similar issue —a matter of personal conviction, of teaching methods, of teachers’ rights to con­ duct relationships with students as they see fit, of the relationship of the school to the wider world — areas in which the VSTA have not formulated policy, but which are rapidly taking over in urgency from the “ profess­ ionalism” issues that made the VSTA militant in the ’60s.

Victimisation is a messy business, and the VSTA executive has a name for keeping its nose clean when things get personal. The strong rank and file support in 1973 for an indefinite strike over Garner’s summary dismiss4-al was never carried through into action by the central executive. May­ be the Werribee five will find them­ selves out on a similar limb.

The school radicals are thorns in the side of parents, unions and ad­ ministration alike. But soon enough it may become clear that the thorns in their side are the only hope they’ve got.

THE DIGGER

May 9 — May 23 ,1 9 7 4

Page 5

T h e p e o p le w ork to g eth er to share th e rip -o ffs and survive

A report from the liberated zone of south Vietnam By our correspondent At present the strategy of the PRG, as of the Liberation forces throughout Indochina, is to consolidate the gains in the Liberated Zones, to reconstruct and to press ahead with the social transformation.

They are confident that to build a new society which is far more attractive than any of Saigon’s achievements is the correct political priority.

Saigon is the key to Indochina.

The government has no social base, it’s economy is crippled and stumbles along only because of massive US aid. The third force, the neutralist political groups inside Vietnam, have already made it clear that they side with the PRG. And the US wants to internationlise the responsibility for keeping Thieu afloat (see Digger, No. 29).

South Vietnam is now virtually a society of three sectors. There is the Liberated Zone where the power of the PRG is supreme, there are the parts of the Liberated Zones which border the Saigon controlled areas,

and there are areas where the Saigon preventive medicine.

Society in the Liberated Zones government has more influence. .

In the, Liberated Zones the people has been being transformed for some are now busy reconstructing the area. years, but now it is much easier, Continuous bombing for a number of particularly in Quang Tri which has years has destroyed everything. It is the protection of the missiles only since the Paris Agreement that around the PRG’s air bases, and the they have been able to slowly and two or three ports which are now painfully rebuild the agricultural open to trade. Liberated ,Zones without this protection are still being sector.

Take the ,province of Quang Tri. bombed. Previously, schools had to This is the province where be built underground, and so had McNamara’s electronic detection fewer facilities, but now schools can devices were most heavily be built overground. Next year, the concentrated; this is the province PRG will build two universities in the which was bombed more than any Liberated Zones, one of which will A decade ago, other., They have reclaimed about be in Quang Tri. 10,000 hectares of the land and only three out of 100 people went to about 60% of it. has been planted school . . . this meant upper class with rice. The rest of the reclaimed people only. Now at least 45%, are area is being used for vegetable crops. going to school of one kind or Water buffaloes have, of course, another. Most of the young people almost disappeared from these areas. (seven — 15) are already attending In their place, tractors are being used sch o o l.

This generates a fairly widely. A 100 bed hospital has revolutionary elan within the young been built in Quang Tri; medical people as they identify with the aims services are extended through a and objectives of the PRG.' They system of ‘barefoot doctors’ . . . become aware of their position in people trained in first aid and society and their responsibilitv to

serve it much more than those in Saigon areas. In the Saigon area, if you are considered intelligent theyv send you abroad to study in the US or France. This is made possible mainly through American aid. When they go abroad, students don’t learn about what happened in Vietnam, or know about what is happening there.

They know nothing about Vietnamese classical literature, in fact pothing about Vietnamese literature at all. They learn and memorise Abraham Lincoln’s speeches. Compare this to the students at Hanoi University whose practical work, as long as the north was bombed, was to devise ways of overcoming each successive piece of electronic gadgetry which the Yanks used against them.

If you want to read Kim Bang Kieu’s (Vietnamese national poet) poems, you have to go to Hanoi or at least read books published in Hanoi.

These books are not available in Saigon . . . but Playboy magazine is.

There are many Saigon intellectuals who go to Paris, buy the books

published in Hanoi, and smuggle them back. The only other way is for them to make their way into the Liberated Zones for a few weeks and then move back to Saigon.

In the second sector, there is a half-war half-peace situation. In the days before the ceasefire, Saigon troops tried to grab more land. By now PRG forces have taken the land back, but there is continuing military activity. But these military aspects aren’t crucially important. In some of these areas, the PRG and Saigon flags fly side by side. But even in areas which fly only the Saigon flag, PRG cultural troupes can enter and perform and leave. The PRG has been able to come to a series of arrangements with certain Saigon troops, so that they don’t shoot at each other, and PRG people are allowed to enter Saigon areas and get out again.

Over many years, the NLF developed this relationship, whereby they were able to make use of the presence of the enemy. The main supply bases of the £RG are usually

centres where Saigon troops are concentrated. It is cheaper to buy on the Saigon black market than to import goods from halfway across the world. The NLF always used the enemy’s stronghold as the main supply base. At ports, for example, when loaded trucks are leaving the docks, PRG people are waiting at the gates to buy the trucks, without even examining the contents. The black market people are also there buying truck loads on spec.

Sometimes thè truck has a load of toilet paper — sometimes extremely valuable electronic equipment. ■The PRG has people working on the docks who let them know which trucks to buy. They usually concentrate on buying medicines.

PRG agents also operate inside the Saigon army, at , times -even among the staff officers. The system has worked like this: if the NLF-PRG needed certain equipment they would get in touch with one of these officers who would tell them when he is having a search and destroy

operation in a certain area which has been prearranged with the PRG. Once there, the officer’s troops fire on an uninhabited hillside. The officer requests certain supplies that he needs jn the operation. These are flown in by helicopter and after a few hours they return to their bases, leaving the supplies behind them, and report “mission accomplished, and so many VC killed”. The PRG forces pick up the supplies and go home.

For the PRG, a military offensive remains an alternative.

The Liberation forces in Cambodia could take Phnom Penh if they chose — a position they have been in for some time. They have not chosen to because of the huge loss of life there would be among the citizens of Phnom Penh. It is a political decision also in Vietnam . . . there is no political advantage in attacking Saigon and there is a lot to be gained from reconstruction and the open publicising of their successes. Rather than to take Saigon militarily it is better for Saigon to fall and be seen to fall politically.

Ponch Hawkes

Misleading Murphy and bugging ASIO As part of its long-standing antiLabor crusade The Bulletin last week published a secret draft report by the Senate select committee on the civil rights of Croatian migrants. The Bul­ letin has repeatedly denied the Ustasha exists in Australia and has defended Liberals with Ustasha links, like New South Wales MLA Doublas Darby.

The report accuses Senator Lionel Murphy of endangering, by misuse as Attorney General of parliamentary privilege, the liberty of Croatian migrants.

This Senate committee report was conceived and leaked by ASIO. The author was one Arthur Higgins, a sec­ retary to Senate committees and a

close friend of Colin Brown, the re­ gional director of ASIO in the ACT. Higgins and Brown holiday together and share a holiday house on the NSW south coast.

ASIO has repeatedly obstructed the Labor government, keeping in-, formation from Murphy’s department and actively working with other reac­ tionaries to harm Labor. Murphy—if Labor is re-elected, and if he keeps his job as A-G—will have a heavy pay­ out for ASIO director Peter “ the mushroom” Barbour. And former ASIO cpurier Don Marshal, hired by Murphy to liase with ASIO, would have to go because he has failed in his assignment to keep Lionel up on ASIO plots.

The Anti-feminist (For Thelma Forshaw) When attacks can’t be made, can be at risked rundown on attacker’s gender as total reply —Ha, male, here’s a change for feminist cause.

Bitch writes weekly against her kind reveals them in herself, dominant, consuming, consumed by males in her own defence against vampire, harridane, shrew.

She snideswipes voluntary childless brood, tubes tied, certain children mean masculine control over her need to eat them, love them from no learned response, devour them by violent possession out of horror gothics, violet sky.

Causes don’t count, stand absolved.

Agents lower a red light from a front window to warn personnel away, while CAPPphotographer lurks.

CAPP— Committee for Abolition o f Political Police.

ASIO personnel leaving the carpark behind Wellesley House 126 Wellington Parade, East Melbourne where ASIO works on floors 5 and 6.

A t the new ASIO offices on the 5th floor, 320 S t Hilda Rd, a Visitor showed a white card with three red stripes as a pass.

All doors are locked

Some mean and probably righteous pre-election gossip

It was perhaps poetic justice Sir Frank Packer, one of the most powerful establishment figures lin Australian history, should die on May 1 (May Day). Packer, through his vast and complex media empire (which included TCN-9, GTV-9, radio 3AK, 6PM and three others, The Bulletin, The Australian Women’s Weekly, Cleo, and nine provincial papers-he sold the Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph in She feeds on what she hates, 1972 for $15 million), was renowned reads million words, chapter and verse for making and breaking political that turn mother’s milk to bile. leaders. Through one of his hatchet She aches with appetite, people, Alan Reid, he helped remove Gorton as Prime Minister and loathes liberators, defends unequal love, replaced him with his old friend, Bill reduces to contempt for their own blood McMahon. father hatred; brother, son; Packer once said Labor’s Tom proves, reproves, disproves, her curse Uren Was a member of the Commun­ of woman born, born woman. ist Party and it was only after seven Men in the dock stand guilty as she. years of endless litigation that Uren won a case for libel. The day after Graham Rowlands Uren was cleared, Dudley Erwin (Lib.) in the House of Representatives made tjie same allegation Under par­ causes comment publicly and adver­ liamentary privilege. This of course This poem happened my way, and deserves publication because it raises sely against a woman? If this has to meant the Packer press could run the some interesting issues. It also needs be done, surely a woman should do story again as reporting what happen­ it. But as Rowlands pointed out, “I ed in the House. However Gorton as | some explanation.

Thelma Forshaw is a reviewer for got sick of waiting for women to do PM was so enraged at Erwin’s, dirty it”. Should a feminist publicly denig­ tactics that he physically grabbed a Sydney newspaper. Her reviews are consistently anti-female and anti- rate another woman? Sisterhood and him in the House and forced him to feminist. She seems intent on rivalling understanding is useless when it retract this lie. This is one of the comes to masculinists of Forshaw’s many events that made Gorton that paragon of anti-feminist attitudilk. That sort of woman is as much unpopular with Padker.

I es, Midge Decter, author of The New an enemy as any man. I myself am Chastity and Other Arguments In 1973 Packer almost forced the suspicious of Rowlands’ poem. As removal of Lionel Murphy as Against Womens’ Liberation.

Or perhaps she just wants to be a Erica Jong put it, “ Beware of the Attorney General with a scathing poor man’s Norman Mailer. Her re­ man who praises liberated women; he attack through the Bulletin on the view of Marion Meade’s Bitching has is planning to quit his job.”

ASIO raid. The cover of that issue of In the same week as Forshaw’s re­ the Bulletin bore the photo of to be seen to be believed for its vitri­ olic stupidity. Feminism, she believes, view came out, Bernard Boles in murphy with the huge red and blue has only one possible beneficial ef­ Nation Review reviewed the work of vfeined nose. It took the graphics’ fect—that of keeping down popula­ three women artists. The. combination artists six hours to get the colors of Boles and Forshaw gave the im­ right for Murphy’s nose. tion growth. Her recent review on pression that we had taken a gigantic Joyce Carol Oates (one of the finest The Packer empire grew from a step back into patriarchial dark ages. and most intelligent writers around) was of the worst kind. It was un­ Boles’ review was obtuse, prejudiced, company formed with E. G. flippant, and displayed a total ignor­ Theodore (Sydney Newspapers Pty. thinking, ignored the purpose of the ance of emergent women’s art, and Ltd.) in the early ’30s. E. G. writer, and demonstrated an inherent was a Premier of dislike of women, especially women an unwillingness to even begin think­ Theodore who are tackling ‘unladylike’ ing about it. Forshaw invites criti­ Queensland who was found guilty by cism. Boles should be hung, drawn a Royal Commission of “fraud and subjects. dishonesty” in relation to a series of and quartered.

Publishing a poem of this sort mining deals known as the “Mungana raises an important question. Should Case”. a man who sympathizes with feminist —Kate Jennings *

*

*

The faithful who went to the opening of the DLP campaign at Kew Town Hall left the meeting perturbed. When Senator Frank McManus accused the Labor government of being “the running dogs of Chairman Mao” , a priest interjected that McManus was a “traitor to the labor movement”.

The holy faithful didn’t know how to handle this interjector. How can you bash a priest and throw him out?

Iricidentally, the priest was seen at Bpringvale Town Hall for the Labor campaign opening, without clerical garb. *

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*

John Gorton has been sacked as LCP spokesperson for the environ­ ment. Snedden has been waiting to repay him for supporting the trendies in the Victorian State Liberal Execu­ tive. Officially Gorton didn’t deliver the environment policies because he was “sick” .

The person who delivered the Liberal-Country Party “environment policy” was the Country Party member, Ralph Hunt. Hunt is a former Minister for the Interior, and in that, post gave himself a luxurious house rent free in Canberra. He was one of the conservatives who pushed strongly for the police to tear down the Aboriginal tent embassy, and it is the only environmental action he has advocated.

It was earlier believed Hunt had his eyes on the portfolio of Urban and Regional Development. The Country Party is desperate for this ministerial post (which one don’t they want?) so they can build cities full of Country Party voters. *

*

Oakley. As well, a Labor supporter was punched to the ground. The Liberals, incensed by the sizable Labor rally, had only placards and balloons to show their presence. One' Labor supporter held up a placard to Saturday morning shoppers which read, “We have no balloons, only policies” .

The Liberal advertisements appearing on television, in which an Estonian woman accuses Labor of being “disguised communists” , continue to cause controversy. Don Syme, a poultry farmer. Syme, who is a member of the Communist Party 6f Australia, has revealed that he helped her organise a successful court case in 1961. Syme is adamant she knew he was a communist.

As well Peter Sawyer, the other advertising actor who ¡plays the disgruntled pom who can’t bear Australia being destroyed by socialism, has gone to England for a five week holiday and business trip.

Sawyer has just bought a terrace in Paddington for $50,000. He is a director of the high powered pushy promotional firm, The Sales Machine.

The company which has produced the ads. for free is the US advertising firm of Doyle, Dane and Bernbach.

Asked why they were doing the ads. for free, the manager replied, “ All socialists are bums” . One of the directors, John Singleton, had his $25,000 Rolls Royce fire bombed last weekend.

In Melbourne the ads. are being authorised by Sam Holt. His address is given as 421 Collins Street, which is the address of the Bank of New South Wales. *

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A highlight of Snedden’s campaign so far has been the use of violence by his machinemen against interjectors.

At the North Rocks opening in Sydney an interjector, who claimed to be a doctor, was punched to the ground and-given a thorough kicking.

In Melbourne, at the Glen Waverley shopping centre in Snedden’s own electorate, an agitated Liberal Party member attempted to run his car over the Labor candidate, Russell

Liberal Party sources are full of admiration for Andrew Peacock’s dedicated efforts to woo the electorate of Herbert.

This Queensland seat, which includes Townsville and the army facilities in the surrounding areas, is believed to have a swing to Labor.

Peacock has thrown his full weight behind the campaign and set up his headquarters on the luxurious Dunk Island for a week. Waiting in the bar, daiquiri in hand and Ansett

helicopter on standby, Peacock is rumored by some sources to be waiting to do Gorton in if he appears on another spear fishing jaunt in the sunny Queensland waters. *. *

*

Snedden has made a great hue and cry of how a LiberaL government would lower the price of land.

However this prbmise is hollow when

it is realised he was driven to his Sydney campaign opening in a Mercedes Benz limousine with a Sydney landshark at the wheel. As well, in Melbourne the real estate firm of N. R. Reid and Co. paid the bill for a $50 per head luncheon at the Matthew Flinders Hotel.

If he wins, Snedden will have to repay his friends who paid for him to win, and leaving the land prices is their price.

THE DIGGER

Page 6

M

Digger interview s three S en a te outsiders

Attracting the thinking workers

by Tim Pigott and Rosie Elliot Gordon Barton: “7 don't believe in this old Marxist idea o f class struggle. ” Jack Mundey: “ Well, Gordon, if I was a millionaire I wouldn't either. ” It’s a long way from being one of five kids on a poor share farm at Malanda (population 1,000; dairying district on Queensland’s Atherton Tablelands) to the Senate in Can­ berra, right in the wheeler dealer ad­ ministrative heart of the beast of Australian capitalism. That’s the journey Jack Mundey, builders’ la­ borer and Communist Party candi­ date for the Senate, may complete next week. Over the past few years, Jack has become well known — al­ most a star media personality — through his actions as secretary of the New South Wales Builders’ La­ borers’ Federation which has been applying Green Bans in many areas in Sydney. The builders’ laborers’ actions have won the support of workers, students, ecology freaks from all strata of Australian society.

The media has focussed on Jack, a volatile, fast talking, hard hitting Irish-Australian, but hasn’t spoken much about his political views as a communist (naturally) so in these interview(s) we’ve asked Jack yrhy he’s standing as a communist. * * * Digger: Jack, what made you a communist?

Mundey: I came down from a country area 1,000 miles north of Brisbane when I was 19 years old to play football, having no industrial working experience at all. It was from the grim reality of working in the very uncongenial and arduous building industry . . . its instability is highlighted by the fact you could get sacked at an hour’s no­ tice . . . this really made an impact on me and I saw around me that the most dedicated and consistent fighters for improvement of the building industry and for a greater say for workers in the building in­ dustry were communists. I joined the Communist Party on that basis, as a militant worker without any great knowledge or philosophic understanding, having left school at 14. It was only after the outcome of the 20th Congress of the Com­ munist Party of the Soviet Union, that I became more concerned with the theory of marxism.

Digger: Your stand on the en­ vironmental issue is well known as shown by the Communist Party election slogan VOTE RED FOR A GREEN AUSTRALIA, What are the other main issues the Communist Party is campaigning around?

Mundey: Well, without dwelling on the environment one, I think the reason we have received favorable publicity is because we have acted on environmental issues. I think that because of the increasing concern, especially among young people, with the destruction of the general en­ vironment, and in particular the ur­ ban environment, there is a real pos­

sibility in the future of attracting more and more people because of the economic growth mentality of both the major political parties.

Despite their various differences they both believe in an expansionist economy, both believe in an in­ crease in gross national product without any real attempt to make our system more egalitarian. And while that is so I think that the des­ truction of the environment is going to continue apace — and it is one of the most important issues con­ fronting humanity today.

The other issues: first of all the unequal distribution of income; the illusion that we live in an affluent so­ ciety yet we have so many hundreds of thousands of people who live in dire poverty and many thousands of others who live on the brink of such poverty. At the same time at the other end of the pole we have this extravagant wealth.

We would want to introduce forms of taxation which would make it impossible for the very wealthy to hide by way of bonus shares and other devious means, the amount of money they make. This can be partly overcome by tax being a real attempt to curtail the power of the multinational corporations.

The report of the secret deal bet­ ween Anthony and the oil com­ panies indicates that the question of the distribution of wealth would worsen if the Tories came to power.

The other thing is the indepen­ dence of the Communist Party. I feel we have to highlight this more as an issue because lots of people see the Australian party as tied to either Moscow or Peking. I think that it is essential we use an election period to put out the fact that we § are one of the most independent Communist Parties in the world, w and that the socialism that we envisage will be a very open form of w socialism with every right of dissi­ dents to express themselves no mat­ ter what their viewpoint might be.

If we show that the socialism we want is not only one with a human face, but one which is based on the history and culture of the Australian people, and one which is concerned with such vital questions as eco­ logical issues and with supporting national liberation movements in the Third World countries, I think we can attract a lot more Australians to the Communist Party.

Likewise the other issues, that won't be aired by the other parties like real rights for blacks, real land rights and greater autonomy for the blacks themselves determining their own future, not only in the rural areas in Australia but also in the ur­ ban areas. Women’s rights, not just paying lip service to them as do the two other main political parties — although the ALP is a little better than the Liberals in allowing women to come forward and take leading positions right throughout society, and to inject the ideas of women’s liberation right throughout all areas of society particularly amongst working women and migrant women who are the most oppressed in the

country.

Digger: Quite a few people think you have a chance of being elected.

Why do you think this is so? And what would you do if you are elected?

Mundey: Personally I think it is because we have enabled a segment of the population to break with the illusion that the Communist Party is blindly tied to the fortunes of the CP in Russia or China or some other foreign model of socialism. I think that this has been extremely impor­ tan t The other thing is the leading role played by the Communist Party in a number of roles, like in the Black Movement and the Women’s Movement and the question of the

Abolition of the Senate as such!

The CP believes it is not a house of review and there should be a re­ structuring of the system based on one national government. We also feel that the archaic system of states where parochial interests abound is also not in the interests of the Aust­ ralian people. Nor are the 960 or so municipal and shire councils all of which are controlled in the main by business/real estate interests working in collusion with development com­ panies. This should be replaced by a

pathetic, but after the huge mora­ torium demonstrations and “ stop work to stop the war” success in the factories, we found Whitlam coming out in a more positive way.

This change would never have been if it weren’t for the change in com­ munity values brought about by these demonstrations. This illustrates the sort of mass action we envisage developing around other burning issues. We will be able to use our position in Parliament to link up with mass action outside Parliament,

Jack Mundey ('Vote Red for a Green Austratia'): “We want to clearly show the Australian people that the CPA is genuinely and truly independent; that it is a party based on the aspirations o f the Australian working class.” rights of homosexuals or the legalis­ ing of marijuana — or, as I prefer to put it, there should be no laws on marijuana. And in issues such as these I believe we are far in ad­ vance of any other political parties.

I believe that we shall attract the thinking workers who believe that we should go beyond wages and con­ ditions, and have the social involve­ ment we commenced with green bans and with support on other issues.

With a combination of these issues we should get a very good vote, even if we’re not elected. But we’re still entrenched in the two party system and it will take quite a massive move away from that for us to have success. The campaign has attracted a lot of attention and I think as the weeks go by we will find more and more people support­ ing us.

What will I do if elected?

two tier structure — national govern­ ment and about 30 regional govern­ ments — providing that the regional governments provided free access to community groups and Resident Action Groups and people deter­ mine what sort of community they want, the right of recall and other such democratic and grass roots structures.

Digger: What do you think of the parliamentary road to socialism?

Mundey: Many dogmatic grouplets in the left have distorted our position in regard to Parliament.

Our position is clear however. We consider that extra-Parliamentary actions are far, far more important than action in Parliament. We have always stressed that there have never been decisions in any Parlia­ ment in the world that are in any way progressive that have not been preceeded by mass action by wor­ kers and people outside that Parlia­ ment. For example Whitlam’s stand on Vietnam was pretty mediocre,

to add even more impact and bring about change.

When we talk about revolution in the western industrial world we are treading an uncharted path and if we’re sincere about bringing about revolution we’ve got to examine the possibility of working within Parlia­ ment whilst obviously giving priority to work outside this institution.

Digger: What do you think about the Labor Party? And what does the Communist Party offer as a real socialist alternative?

Mundey: The ALP is not a so­ cialist party and in fact no longer claims to be as such. The problem was that the ALP was born of the trade union movement, as a political expression of this movement after industrial action alone had failed.

But long since then the Labor Party has become more a bourgeois party with working class and capitalist in­ fluences. It’s also evident by noting the afnount of money that business interests have ploughed into the cof­ fers of the ALP in recent years, that

' The personal as political is only a start '

by Tim Pigott “The fact that the Liberals were thrown out in 1972 doesn’t mean that there has been an automatic swing to the left,” says Lyn Hovey, the Communist Party candidate for the Senate in Victoria. Like Jack Mundey, she believes that mass ac­ tion outside Parliament is more im­ portant than concentration on parliamentary activity. “ Only through mass action and experience will people begin to break with capitalisLddeas.”

Given that there hasn’t been a communist in any Australian par­ liament for the last 20 years, this may seem to be simply covering one’s tracks, however there is a question of principle. Commun­ ists, says Lyn Hovey, are more int­ erested in working with people at a grass roots level, to change their lives in a long term way.

Election time is when people become active in politics to the minimal degree that is tolerated in a capitalist society, so she feels that the Communist Party must use this time to put across what she sees as a real socialist alternative.

Lyn Hovey would upset most people’s prejudices about what Communists are really like. Her childhood was orthodox enough: born in Central Victoria in 1950; her father was a railway worker who belonged to the Communist Party under an assumed name when the party was illegal in the ’40s.

Her father died when she was 13.

Lyn came down to the city to

study at the Melbourne College of Education as a trainee teacher. She taught at Thornbury High School.

Lyn's idea o f a ‘real socialist alternative' is affected by her in­ volvement in the women's move­ ment: “ The influence of women’s liber­ ation ideas on orthodox Commun­ ism and the revitalising effect this had in showing what Communism can mean in Australia. As Commu­ nists we fight to abolish the workercapitalist relationship, but we find it hard to even examine our roles — men as oppressors, children as lesser and controlled beings, women as mothers and sex objects — let alone try and change our situations. . . . living in a collective with three other people. “ It was supportive, and provided the necessary communication as against the exclusiveness of being a married couple. We pooled all our money, our clothes. It Changed my way of relating to others and broke down old barriers about sexual possessiveness. When I became pregnant we all thought this was the first collective child. The first liberated child ever. Didn’t care who the father was, but unfortun­ ately the collective broke up before he — Bindiana, now nine months old — was born. His name is an aboriginal word meaning ‘child of love and peace’. Like many of our age group, we naively lived out our primitive communism and hoped it

would spread by example. “ When we all stopped studying or working and stopped active political work it became an extend­ ed ‘us’ and ‘others’ situation as if we were a family — felt bound to each other, frustrated by not being effective, like an ‘extended couple’ “ Many communes or collectives don’t last long. When it no longer exists people tend to think it ‘failed’. We have to examine the idea of permanence (as in the ‘I’ll love you forever’ syndrome) — flexibility seems to be para­ mount.

“However, the personal as political is only a start.”

Looking towards a socialist alternative on the environmental issue: “ Society will never change until there’s a rational answer to the ecological crisis which can overcome the weight of property ideas, of consumerism — and explain a viable alternative. The ecology crisis is predetermined by the fact that it’s not a bloody litter problem but a problem of big business. It’s only by grasping these ideas that people can under­ stand the depth of the ecology crisis.

1 “ Like the poster that says: ^ Keep Australia Beautiful with a g photograph of a pig. What an in- <2 suit to people! It’s only saying pigs should have good table manners. . .”

Lyn Hovey: “The ecology crisis is predetermined by the fact that it's not a bloody litter problem but a problem o f big business."

they hold no fear about a Labor Party in power carrying out even basic nationalisation, let alone other moves that would take Australia to­ wards socialism.

The other thing of course is that we are standing — therefore we want to clearly show the Australian people that the CPA is genuinely and truly independent: that it is a party based on the aspirations of the Austialian working class, and that socialism will come to Australia when Australians are convinced there should be a change from the rapacious capitalist system, creating a socialist society based on the his­ tory, culture and traditions of our people. This is not to be completely derogatory of other socialist systems (or socialist based as we call them), but it is a tragic fact that in other such systems there’s mistreatment of dissidents, the Cult of the Persona­ lity, — best seen in the case of Stalin but also in a different way with Mao Tse-Tung — and there’s a lack of socialist democracy. These things have held back the advance of revo­ lution in the western world and so, therefore, there is a need for all re­ volutionary parties in different countries to adopt, firstly, a genuine internationalist attitude by support­ ing all national liberation move­ ments in every conceivable way, and secondly, to concentrate on the problem in their own country so the people can have expression without dominance by any of the major Communist Parties in socialist based countries.

Abort

Digger: What is the difference between the CPA and the Labor Party, for instance, on industrial po­ licy?

Mundey: The Labor Party’s in­ dustrial policy is far from clear.

Three labor ministers: three policies.

However there is one very simple difference — in no way is the Labor Party prepared to take on the multi­ national corporations. They talk a lot about it. Cameron has made some very good speeches about this.

But they do not attempt to really restrict the profits of the national capitalists’ companies. These com­ panies that are most obviously des­ troying our natural and urban en­ vironment. The oil companies should be nationalised, for example.

This is long overdue and I believe that the Australian population, be­ cause of the high handed actions of the oil companies, would possibly agree with this. And I believe that the steel industry should be nationa­ lised.

The Labor Party would never dream of placing these controls on big business.

Another difference w<?uld be that we do not stand for Worker Partici­ pation, which is the most articulate left Wing position that the Labor Party advocates. The CP opposes such tokenism as having workers on boards and so on. We stand une­ quivocally for Workers’ Control.

And by this we mean a continuing process whereby workers demand the removal of the sacred rights of employers to run and control fac­ tories and other, edifices, and for workers to continually encroach and take away the rights of these employers. So Workers’ Control is much more challenging to the em­ ploying class. There are a number of examples — unfortunately too few as yet, but Harco was one — which have brought a great roar of dis­ approval from employers, whereas the question of workers’ participa­ tion does not hold the same threat for them. The capitalists know they are resilient enough to absorb such concepts.

Workers’ Control. Resident Con­ trol. People’s Control. This is what we advocate. I guess one of the most exciting examples recently has been that of the Builders’ Laborers’ Federation — not only in NSW but now spreading to at least 14 other unions throughout the country — taking various types of people’s ac­ tions and workers’ actions. I think these sort of actions show in em­ bryonic form the possibility of workers having real control and say over their own lives.

by Virginia Fraser “Many people in the black morn ment seemed to view the advent of the Labor government as the comin of the Messiah who was to save them by giving them Land Rights etc. . . . it is very obvious to all bu Blind Freddy that Labor was not the Messiah. There are many ob­ noxious features in Labor policy pertaining to Blacks . . . In fact if one looks into Labor policy on Aborigines, one finds only pro­ visions for continuation o f welfare programs, etc., thus perpetuating th handout mentality. With regard to Land Rights, surely the paramount need at this time, it merely provide for land to be granted (with limita­ tions) “where there is strong tribal structure” or where Blacks “demon­ strate a potential for corporate ac­ tion”. No provision is made for compensation for detribalised Blacks . . . It is very clear that the Black movement has a long political struggle in front o f it ” Gary Foley and Cheryl Buchanar (Black National U). * * *

The newly formed Aborginal In­ dependent Party is running two. can­ didates for the Senate elections on what might be described as a policy of reconciliation, education and community self-determination.

The Party’s two candidates, Bruce McGuinness and Elizabeth Hoffman, are not the first Blacks to stand for seats in federal and state Parliament. Past candidates have in­ cluded poet Kath Walker, Harold Blair, and Gordon Briscoe who stood for the Australia Party in the last federal elections. But so far, only Neville Bonner, a conservative Liberal Senator from Queensland has actually got there.

Bruce McGuinness, National Abor­ iginal Congress Minister for Inform­ ation (previously chairperson, of the National Aboriginal Consultative Committee) says he thinks at least one of the two Aboriginal Independ­ ent candidates has a good chance this time. They have ALP pref­ erences in Victoria where they are standing, and need about 50,000 first preferences to be well in the running. “ With a good campaign I thipk I’d be elected. I don’t think I’d have any trouble in the world being

Page 7

ay 9 - M a y 23, 1974

gitial Independent Party

rights is granted isn't sufficient You have got to have total control over the land, mineral rights, water rights, offshore rights and airspace rights. ” elected. I’d need to get about 50,POO people to vote for me; and see, I’ve got ALP preferences, they’ve .got me seven on their ticket and my ginning partner eight, so that gives ps a hell of a lot of preferences. it - \ “ I’m running with Elizabeth .Hoffman, an Aboriginal woman, a .housewife. She’s now a resident in Collin gwood, a very articulate woinap, and very aware of the prob­ lems Aborigines have. She’s been in­ volved in them for a number of .years, has been one of the prime e movers. ^ , “We’re an independent party; an •. independent party to represent not g>r only Aboriginal interests, but to .point out to the big boys that popple aren’t happy with them. . .‘I’m sure people would want to vote for me rather than those ‘great’ party machines. But the problem is getting to these people because we don’t ,.4iaye access to the media.

I ' * * * i i >:>.“ In terms of land all we’re in­ terested in is land Aborigines are occupying at the moment~and when I say Aborigines I mean Aborigines and Islanders — reserves, settlements, missions, and the lands that are known to Aboriginal people , * to be sacred sites. r, (“ We’re not interested in people’s homes; we don’t want to push people into the sea. It wouldn’t ne­ cessarily stop mining unless it’s a sacred site and then there’s no way m the world we would mine it. But if you discovered gold under St. ¡Pat’s Cathedral or the Shrine of Re­ membrance, you wouldn’t put a mining company in there. They’re not mining the white people’s sacred •sites and we just ask that they do the same for us.

“Fd ^want to look at any legis­ lation on land rights — anything concerned with Aborigines — but specifically land rights. That land fights is granted isn’t sufficient.

You have to have total control over the land, that’s total economic ' control — mineral, rights, water rights, offshore rights, and air space 'fights. ' “ I don’t think any other coun­ try in the world has granted mine­ ral rights and water rights has al­ ways been a problem with the American Indians. And of course air rights is important in regard to

pollution. “ Cities are able to force com­ pensation out of the multinational corporations for pollution. Abori­ gines should have the same rights. “ And we ask for compensation to be paid to Aboriginal people de­ prived of land. This applies to Aboriginal people all over Australia including cities. The compensation should be paid into a trust fund and the people who run it should be elected by the people in specific areas. They’d allocate the money, finance whatever projects they feel are in the interests of the whole Aboriginal community. “ Any figure I put on this would be an arbitrary figure, it would need to be negotiated. One figure mooted was $6 billion, but I feel this would be an underestimate. It should be a continuing amount of finance, and a more realistic figure would be five per cent of the gross national pro­ duct for a basic period of 30 years. “ After 30 years with five per cent of the GNP, Aboriginal people in this country would be socially, economically, politically, on an equal basis with the rest of the com­ munity and in a position to not only formulate policies but also to finance their own projects and po­ licies. This would bring about a great deal of independence for Aboriginal people and not make them a burden on the European people as they are at the moment.

And after 30 years that situation could be reviewed again. “ There are literally hundreds of Aboriginal groups right throughout the country who have been able to bring about certain progressive moves in Aboriginal Affairs simply because they have in fact been in decision making, they have been the ones that have initiated the moves and have implemented them. “ There’s the Roper River people, they’re on a reserve at the moment but they have a degree of auto­ nomy. There’s the Wattie Creek people of course, and there’s Don McLeod’s mob at Port Hedland. “ They’ve got a mining concern there and they’ve been using really archaic techniques but they’ve survived. “ To really boost it they need a lot of money. Once they get the money the necessity of having Don McLeod there as a European

wouldn’t be necessary. Aborigines could continue in an autonomous way. “ I have to give a plug to the Labor Party here. Since they’ve been in they’ve helped support autonomous groups in specific areas right throughout the country. They didn’t establish any of them but they did give them the necessary support for them to function rela­ tively efficiently: the Aboriginal legal service, the medical services, housing cooperatives.

‘The government ought to use these projects as catalysts for the whole underdeveloped sections of Australian society, the poor whites, the migrants, the whole works.’ “ Take the Redfern Housing Co­ operative.” (A black community de­ fined, urban redevelopment scheme for an inner Sydney suburb.) “ The basic philosophy was that people would do it for themselves, to learn as they go along and learn from their mistakes. It’s going along pretty slow but I reckon in 12 months’ time it will be finished. “ They could have set the place up in a matter of six months if they’d got recognised European building contractors in to do the thing. But at Redfern it’s the Abori­ ginal people with a scattering of Maori and Aboriginal tradesmen who are doing the job themselves.

And it should be a prototype for the whole of Australia, the way our communities ought to be developed.

“What I’d really like to see is the setting up in every capital city of multicultural colleges that would en­ compass Aboriginal and the better parts of European culture. They could be set up along the same lines as a museum, but not the same as museums which unfortunately are just places to go and look and not for people to participate in what they mean. They need to be teach­ ing institutions, community con­ trolled and government supported, jj “ People ought to consider the ¡¡richness not only of the Aboriginal x culture but the Greek culture and "Sthe Italian and Macedonian and ¿southeast Asian . . . These people should have an opportunity to im­ part to everyone their culture and their knowledge.

“Most of these groups exist in communities — they have their dance groups, folklore groups, they have their own newspapers — a mul­ titude of cultural activities. At the moment these people are forced in­ to enclaves and it’s very difficult to get entrance to them. If it’s made a public thing, put in the public arena, made open to all people then I think it would be one of the best sort of race relations projects there could be. There would be cross fer­ tilisation of ideas, and people would be participating in them. Culture must be participated in otherwise it’s useless, just another form of en­ tertainment. “ Education should be bilingual for all ethnic groups — migrants, Aborigines. They should not be taught only in English, in fact Eng­ lish should be regarded as a second language in many areas, particularly in the Northern Territory. “ The text books have got to be rewritten, especially racist history books — in a lot of cases changes in terminology would be enough, ter­ minology plays a large part in racism — but some books have got to be taken off the shelves imme­ diately. There’s been sufficient re­ search in the field for so many years that a think tank of academics and Aboriginal people and migrant people could be got together, a group that could recommend proper reading lists and reading guides for libraries in primary, secondary and tertiary institutions. * * * “ The education system is really antiquated, it caters for 17th cen­ tury Anglo Saxons. It doesn’t even cater for white Australians. It’s a system which had its beginnings in

Victorian times. It’s values and morals are Victorian. It’s racist be­ cause the people who wrote it had no understanding of the people they were dealing with. They had very little understanding of themselves and were highly elitist. “ We need a revolution in educa­ tion really. Education is not just the three Rs. It involves a great deal more and the sooner everybody be- i comes aware of that the better.

There are various communities in which there are primary, secon­ dary and tertiary institutions. You need to get these people together and get them to talk about what ought to happen in education in their community. “ One school where they think they’re progressive — they advocate to the kids that racism is bad, that sexism is bad. And at the school break up last year they put on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

To me this is one of the most highly racist and sexist plays they could have put on. Played by kids!

Sado-masochism personified. Yet it’d be difficult for these people to see, to understand, unless they sat down and talked about it.1They should be asked to look at the stuff and then change it, write new plays for kids, or let the kids write them themselves. “ I’ve been brought up through an education system that has forced me to be a male chauvinist pig. I have been and probably am still very sexist, however I’m aware of my sexism. I attempt not to show my sexism and to be constantly aware that women are oppressed. I think I’m getting to the stage where I can treat women as equals which I wasn’t able to do even 12 months ago. I think that any man who says that he’s not sexist is an out and out liar. He’d have to have been brought up in a different way from most of us. Admit that you’re a sexist and try to do something about it . . . I think that if all males, and women too for that mat­ ter, were able to come to this sort of thinking a lot would be done to alleviate the oppression of women and bring about a sort of agree­ ment, where both (men and wo­ men) could work to a common goal and that is to lift the oppression of everybody. “ Pensioners need a lot of atten­ tion too, because they are in the lower strata of Australian society, and they’re kept there by economic factors and stereotypes. People just regard old people as finished, having no use.

“This is totally untrue; most old people in this country have a lot to contribute still, they shouldn’t be put out to graze just because they’ve reached a certain age. “ I would like to see the govern­ ment take a lbng serious look at the pre-white contact Aboriginal system their political system — one did exist — their social system and their social .order where each and every member of the community contri­ buted not only to the productivity but each and every one of them had a relevant contribution to make to the running of the total system, economically, politically and socially.

“You know it was pre techno­ logical, hunting and gathering, but there wasn’t any bosses and laborers sort of thing. All of them were able to come together in a compatible way and bring about an evenness and social compatibility which was classless and statusless in many ways and where hierarchies and lower echelons were nonexistent, where people were as equal as I think you can possibly get and still be able to enjoy the various things they did differently. “ And they were still able to en­ joy the things they did differently without any interference provided it was done'for the well being of the total society and not just for any individual people that may exist within that society.”

melbourne gay liberation •P H O N E : 4 1 4 9 2 6

’Phone us if you’re down. We’re homosexual women and men who understand and care.

We’ve been through it too, and we think that gay is just as good as straight. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

Ponch Hawkes

androne fo rm e r surfie still lagging at the p o s t :

“Sex produces illegitimate children who become bikies and the dregs o f our society, who fill up the prisonhouses, ” says Phillip Scott alias Sabhapati Das.

D ivine fascist Saturday night in Bourke Street, Melbourne, and the Hare Krishna drumming and jangling now drowns out ranting Christians on the Russell Street Corner.

Hare Krishna home base and trading front for the movement, the Spiritual Sky factory, can be smelt a block away.

by Greig Pickhaver and Ponch Hawkes The fragrances of jasmin, sandal­ wood and rose waft around West Melbourne streets. From here, gaunt emaciated beggars dance all over the city to the accompaniment of drums and finger cymbals. The saffronrobed characters offer incense and flowers to passers by, touching them for money: trying to sell their maga­ zine Back to the Godhead, or copies of several weighty publications. All this is done with a simpering hu­ mility and continual grin in some sort of religious parody of Brecht’s “ The Threepenny Opera” .

Recently the front has moved in­ to the power business, founding the “ In God We Trust” Party. The same group that offers you flowers, in­ cense and vegetarian feast invita­ tions, is now offering the electorate a religious fascism that makes the protestant ethic look downright re­ volutionary.

The front person going respect­ able to the electorate is ex-surfer and Monash economics graduate, Phillip Scott, known in the trade as Sabhapati Das. He is standing in the Labor stronghold of Melbourne, hoping to appeal to the intelligent, the frustrated, and the dropped out with the promises of leaders who are honest, powerful, resourceful and generous. The campaign, funded by friends (a mere $300 is being spent), colorfully goes about the business door knocking, demon­ strating, attracting votes with free food and coconut honey lollies.

The amazing thing is how readily the god-conscious can transfer to western political power structures!

The chain of command, the handing down of the word from leader to following and the absolute faith in the person above you would make Billy Snedden green with envy.

The word to take the legislative lunge has come down from his Di­ vine Grace, AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, eminent vedic scholar and foremost authority on

god consciousness in the world to­ day. His Grace is the most realised being and therefore he has most say.

The bid for parliamentary power is being made in Britain, Sweden and the USA: The Swami lives, blissed out, in India and calls to the faith­ ful daily with the aid of tape re­ cordings — advocating a “ spiritual communism under an enlightened monarchy” — a cassette dictatorship.

Meanwhile back in Australia, Sabhapati Das is being advised by an American with the unlikely name of Charu das Chris Warden. This system of advisers runs up the chain of command. The buck stops at Swami AC who believes some people lead and others voluntarily obey.

Party policy rests on four major points. The first bans any form of intoxication. Tea, coffee, alcohol and cigarettes are out. These items affect the senses, the sense control the mind, and the mind controls the intelligence. The second bans the eating of meat. “ Slaughtering has to stop as it creates a brutish society.”

The third taboo’s gambling and engaging in speculative enterprises like the stock market. The fourth, a really anti-life stand, is the big No on sex. Sex is meant for procreation and should only take place within the hallowed bonds of marriage. “ Sex produces illegitimate children who become bikies and the dregs of our society who fill up the prison houses.” Birth control is by absten­ tion. Abortion is not a possibility. “ Women can solve the problem of unwanted pregnancies by ending de­ sire” — pretty simple huh?

Nothing much to calm the East Melbourne voters’ worries about in­ flation or interest rates. In fact not much for anyone, except of course the Right to Life and Festival of Light organisers who must draw some comfort from support on this scale.

The platform is composed of sim­ plistic, naive ideas which would fall to the right of any CWA organisation in a Doug Anthony stronghold.

There are of course moments in the platform which are undeniably true. “The capitalists hold the wealth”, “ Advertising misrepresents the real values in life and creates false desires”, Life is frustrated by ignor­ ance of how to win” . The candidate is very strong on the environment and when he sets up the images of shade trees and fragrant flower gardens, Bourke Street becomes an attractive place.

It’s a curious clash of cultures that produces the party machine with “a political platform that will never change” in Melbourne in 1974. There is a strong agrarian reform plank in the platform. Cow protection is top of the list —real security and eco­ nomic development won’t be possible until this policy is implemented.

Cows are placed alongside brahmins who get the cream, The brahmins are the smallest class — intelligent men who are fixed in god consciousness and trade knowledge for food. The food is provided by the legs — a euphemism for the working class.

The workers slot into a caste system and have no rights. They remain obe­ dient because they have “ a centrepoint fixed on God”. I can’t see the BLF coming at this one.

So as May 18 draws near, the 50 devotees (you may be surprised by the small number — maybe it’s the same 50 all the time) clash cymbals, chant, collect, convert and campaign for Phillip Scott. A candidate fed up with false promises and the materia­ listic, hedonistic western lifestyle, Scott refuses to accept money if elected. The wage presumably, along with thousands picked off the streets, is sent American Express (probably) direct to India. (This month $7,000 worth of butter is going to the 10,000 fed by the Hare Krishnas in India.)

On the question of preferences the candidate, in chop logic style, sug­ gested the faithful make up their own minds about “ the rest of the rascals”.

Spiritualism moves to the ballot box. Politics and religion, that disas­ trous couple, combine again. For God’s sake, and my sake too, let’s not tell the Divine Light about elec­ tions — perhaps we’ve only just begun.

Page 8

THE DIGGER

May 9 -

May 23, 1974

The story continues...

Students take Thailand HOW

THE

TW O

DAY

R E V O L U T IO N

HAPPENED:

A

THREE

PAGE

R E P O R T O F T H E F A L L O F T H E T H A I G O V E R N M E N T IN A V IO L E N T STUDENT LED

R E V O L U T IO N ,

A L M O S T U N M E N T IO N E D

F R O M W A Y N E O A S T L E R , W H O W A S IN H A PPEN ED TW O M O N T H S A G O .

by Don de Campos What happened in Thailand in October? Why did the generals give up so quickly and leave the country after less than a week of student demonstrations?

When the Third Army Corps based in Phitsanulok was ordered to Bangkok to crush the October stu­ dent riots, it refused to move from its base. The Second Army Corps based in Korat marched ten kilo­ metres towards Bangkok and then returned to its base. The army was split Divisions in the army had come about because for many years the profits of corruption had been concentrated in the hands of three top officers: Field Marshal Kittikachorn, the Chief of Staff; Prapat, the Chief of Police; and Narong, also of the army. Narong is the son of Kittikachorn, and Narong’s son is married to Prapat’s daughter. So in fact the proceeds of -corruption were concentrated in one family. Other officers, with an eye to these pro­ ceeds, were not particularly con­ cerned to save the top three.

The students mobilised a huge force. It was not based solely in Bangkok. Students in far away pro­ vinces, from universities, technical schools and high schools had been organised, and came in trainloads to Bangkok. Nor was it just a bunch of students and intellectuals protesting about the situation. The mobilisa­ tion was very deep.

Massive student demonstrations like these had never been seen be­ fore in Thailand. Action sprang from solid preparation on a study and discussion level, and the organi­ sational know how and experience of students showed itself in the spe­ cific tactical purposes of the de­ monstrations. Again and again stu­ dents came out, over issues like clean government, a return to demo­ cracy, student welfare.

The army was demoralised after the shooting of the students. The troops had been told that they were shooting communists. Thai troops are quite well used to shooting pea­ sants who have been stamped as communists. But it is another thing to shoot at your own relatives. No­ body knows exactly how many stu­ dents were shot down. The esti­

IN

THE

BANG KO K W HEN

PRESS.

IT

D IG G E R N O . 25

mates are as high as 600 killed and injured over the three days October 11-13. Many of these were the children of well to do middle class people and of army officers.

democracy” ; their hands are vir­ tually tied.

Coup making is now also a much more difficult business. Before, it was a decision of three people to make a coup. Now that the three have been removed, preparations for a coup become much more compli­ cated. The plotters must first ne­ gotiate amongst the officers to de­ termine who gets what, with busi­ ness interests, with the royal family and with the US. If after six months or so a mili­ tary coup did occur, many people would move from the urban areas into the countryside. The opportu-. nities for the Patriotic Front to conduct open political struggle would be very limited. Then a military offensive would have to be considered. But at the moment, while everyone is waiting for the results of the constitutional conven­ tion, conditions are favorable for open political struggle by the above­ ground left.

But there’s no doubt about the strength of the underground left.

About a year ago, government troops went to one of the Thai Pat­ riotic Front’s strongholds around Phitsubum in the north and decided to stand and fight. They brought in many ’planes and about 3,000 troops, but they were unable to .penetrate the area. It is a mountai­ nous region, with plenty of caves . . . ideal territory for guerilla war­ fare. When the battle was over there were more than 600 government casualties.

WHO GOT W HAT

It was the royal family which really gained something from the October riots. They took advantage of the disturbances and managed to take control. It’s the royal family which now effectively controls the bureaucracy and Bangkok politics.

But at the same time, as a result of 'October there certainly hâve been concessions towards démocratisa­ tion.

Students are now able openly to print Marxist works and sell them on the streets of Bangkok; they are openly organising meetings and se­ minars on Marxism. This hasn’t been done for years. Among the students, the Marxist wing is still very much a minority but they are the most in­ fluential. Most of the leaders of the October demonstrations call them­ selves socialists of one kind or an- > other.

And the peasants in central Thai­ land are now openly organising; be­ fore, they would have been put in jail. The peasants have had their, own leaders for a long time, but un­ til now they’ve never been able to organise openly. Now they are de­ monstrating in front of Government House in Bangkok, demanding that the government do something about their problems.

The main problem is land. In central Thailand, as little as ten years ago there was no land prob­ lem. Now at least 50% of the pea­ sants in Phitsanulok for example have lost their land to the money lenders, and most of the others are heavily in debt. Basically there are two reasons for this. Firstly, the capitalist penetration of the area.

There is a kind of domestic colo­ nialism between Bangkok and the rest of Thailand. And secondly there are the effects of population growth . . . from generation to generation, land is subdivided; with this present generation, land plots have become too small to subdivide again.

Since October, there have been strikes all over Bangkok. Not by workers in the foreign owned in-

dustries — they are relatively better paid, and form a kind of labor aris­ tocracy in Bangkok. The strikes are in Thai owned light industries, where the workers just don’t,re­ ceive adequate wages.

T O W A R D S E L E C T IO N S

At the moment everyone in Thailand is waiting for the results of the constitutional convention.

Everyone knows that it will be in favor of the monarchy. It has been rigged already so that the upper house will be appointed by the council which is controlled by the royal family. It’s only the lower house which will be democratically elected.

Assuming there will be an elec­ tion either towards the end of this

year or early next year, the mainly urban based, aboveground left has agreed to unite. There are about 13 leftist groups which have agreed to unite around a common platform.

Their basic demands are: Out with all Foreign Bases (ie. US bases); Out with all Foreign Investment (US and Japanese investment); a Neutral Thailand and Land Reform.

They are even demanding the na­ tionalisation of certain industries.

The underground left in Thailand has a long history and is now in a very strong position. The Thai pat­ riotic Front has bases operating fully in 41 of the 71 provinces. The Thai army says 51 provinces, but the Patriotic Front only talks about 41. Some of these areas are in ef­ fect liberated zones — the army cannot enter them.

These liberated strongholds are all along the border from Burma and Laos along the Mekong River down to the Cambodian border.

The Patriotic Front hasn’t desig­ nated them Liberated Zones and that isn’t a term which they use.

They talk of Quiet Zones’, quiet in the sense that the government can’t cause anything to happen there. In 1970, there were no area& which could have been called liberated car quiet The Thai Patriotic Front is busy consolidating. After October, they don’t want to mount any offensive, for fear it might be used as an ex­ cuse by the military to take over again. At least until after the elec­ tions, the army will not be able to claim that “ the people are tired of

STRONGHOLDS

These liberated strongholds are all along the border from Burma and Laos along the Mekong River The northeast of Thailand has/ been the stronghold of the left for generations. It is the most politi­ cised part of Thailand, and has con­ sistently sent left wing deputies to Bangkok . . . the deputies’most often unseated by the military. The northeast is an area where the people are Lao-speaking Thais. They have very close relations with their brothers and sisters across the Me­ kong River in Laos — and close ties with the Lao Patriotic Front.

The north is basically a minority area. Several years ago the Meo people in the hills there were forced

by the government to stop growing opium which meant they lost their main cash income. The Thai Pat­ riotic Front organised them to fight and now it is too late for the go­ vernment to win them back. The government is uprooting the Meos and transferring them into camps further south. But the camps con­ tain only the very young and the very old; all the able people are fighting in the hills.

In the south, in the Moslem pro­ vinces of south Thailand bordering Malaysia, the situation is a bit more complicated. There are three diffe­ rent groups operating there as well as the Thai Patriotic Front, which in this area is made up of Malays and Thais. The first of the other three groups specialises in robbery and kidnapping businesspeople for ran­ som. They call themselves the Thai Bandits’ Association, The second group is based on the Pattani independence, movement But this movement itself has three .

Wings: one wants to make the fou£? provinces into a buffer state beti ween Thailand and Malaysia; an­ other wants to merge with Malaysia; and the third and biggest wing sup­ ports and works with the Thai Pat­ riotic Front. Finally there is the Malayan Communist Party, the rem­ nants of the Malayan insurgency led

by Ching Peng. They are the best equipped and the most experienced in military activities.

1 ** * * In the ‘quiet zones’, the social transformation is already quite ad­ vanced. One of the crucial diffe­ rences between the quiet zones and other areas is that cattle rustling has been eliminated. There have been a lot of changes in agriculture . . . dykes and irrigation channels have been constructed and technical people, come in to talk to the pea­ sants about ways of raising produc- j tivity. Education and health services have been vastly extended.

The Thai Patriotic Front also runs a radio station; it’s illegal to listen to it, but that seems to be an unpoliceable law. It reports on events in Thailand within 24 hours of them happening, and that says quite a lot about the effectiveness of the Patriotic Front’s administra- ✓ tion.

Cheap to u rists b o o te d o u t o f M alaysia:

A real Penang in the neck

by John Sinclair

Penang’s Batu Ferringhi has a lot going for it — magnificent tropical beahces, a long stony water­ fall, good food, Buddha grass, and cheap accommodation in the huts of friendly villagers. So it was not surprising that when a task force of Malaysian Immigration officers and police shone their torches through the hut windows at 3.00 am one morning late last month, they found no less than 94 Europeans in residence —Australian, American, British, French, German, Swedish, even one Mexican and two children.

We were told to pack all our belongings, surrender our passports

and after a half hearted search for drugs, to move “ on the double” to a dozen waiting trucks and vans.

We were assured that all would be explained at the Immigration Office, but soon found ourselves instead at Georgetown jail where, after a brief hassle with the jail authorities who didn’t seem to want us, we were separated into sexes and left to wait in the yards until dawn.

The men were then moved off to the cells, but having more pre­ sence of mind than earlier that day, refused to enter, and instead walked clear out of the cell block, preferring to spend. the day in the warders’ cafeteria, lying in the sun, reading, wandering around taking photo­ graphs or playing frisbee, and spas­ modically trying to communicate with the Malay bureaucrats.

After the walkout the riot squad

was called and stationed all day outside the main gates, complete with little red helmets and shields.

Fortunately the Immigration of­ ficials. mixed up their orders from head office and released the women, Who were then able to spend their day running around Georgetown doing such things as. making futile appeals for assistance to the RAAF base at Butterworth and the Aust­ ralian consulate at Kuala Lumpur, and buying outward tickets for the men. For the catch was that you could only . be released if you had an outward ticket, but you couldn’t go and buy one. By about 6 o’ clock almost all had been released on a 24 hour exit visa, and have since dispersed into' Thailand and Indo­ nesia.

The only explanation for all this that we were able to get was that

we were “ cheap tourists” , that is, action against the “ hippies” in the we were not staying in one of the light of a possible forthcoming elec­ plush jetabout hotels which are tion. The Straits Times (with which springing up. all over the island, the Melbourne Herald is closely in­ nor were we spending the regulation volved) had fostered some contro­ SM25.00 per day. versy about the Penang hippies during Rather, we were living a version the previous month, when together of ' the traditional kampong lifestyle with a local story on a fortuitous that most Malays still follow today, streaking incident in Penang a few but which has become.an embarrass­ days before, calculated to outrage ment to a government heavily com­ Muslim morality, cultivated a climate mitted to crude policies of western style “ development” , which are sys­ which legitimised the raid. It was tematically fucking up the Malaysian | interesting to see that the press had been tipped off and were pre­ environment and society alike. (A sent during the raid itself. despairing Tamil radical told me that even the communists are just frus­ Batu Ferringhi has been pretty trated businesspeople.) quiet since, and Immigration pressure But the Malaysian Immigration is still on throughout the country.

Ministry was not only acting to But western travellers shouldn’t be keep Penang safe for the Hilton, put off going there by the western but in conjunction with the press style tactics of the Malaysian govern­ to create an illusion i of decisive ment. .

283 Glqnferric Road, Malvern, Victoria, Australia, 3144.

Four doors from High Street. Phone: 50.1952: (Approximate hours: Mon. --'Thu., 8.30 am 6 pmy \ Friday, till 9.00 pm ' / \ Saturday, 8.30 am —; liOO pm /

Whilst the coproprietor David is recovering from a spleenectomy, the other proprietor (wife Mercedes) and trusted part timé sales assistant Randall are in atten­ dance at the premises to help you select the fine re­ cords from the collection, as well as attempting to track down those “hard to get” albums!

STRENGTH IN KNOWLEDGE

May 9 -

May 23, 1974

THE DIGGER

The FBI, Amerika’s long famous federal police agency has b,een the butt of a good many jokes — jokes about its efficiency, about all the things the FBI is not able to find right, under its nose. But there’s another kind of Black Panthers allege S L A leader is F B I agent jok6 too. Like the one about FBI people making up a large per cent of the membership of the American Communist Party — and they’re always so earnest they do all the shitwork. And other jokes about how if groups of radicals gather there’s always an FBI person there to urge them on to vio­ lence, and to provide the weapons.

On recent evidence, however, this i really a fact of life in police state Amerika. than usual with any blacks unfortu­ The latest allegation of FBI mis­ nate enough to be linked to a cache chief comes from the black com­ of weapons. munity in San Francisco, which The recent Black Panther news­ claims the Symbionese Liberation paper story argues that “ the release Army was either inspired by the on probation of two black men with FBI and that the FBI has been police records, apprehended in pos­ creating and using a climate of fear session of more than 200 guns, in­ in which to terrorise blacks gene­ rally, and disrupt and discredit black cluding automatic weapons, at this period in California could only have organisations. occurred with approval at the In February, the SLA issued a highest level for some benefit to podeath threat against Black Panther live authorities”. cofounder, Huey Newton, who had In 1969 Defreeze was picked up denounced the SLA’s assassination' again by the police while carrying a of Marcus Foster, the first black superintendent of schools in the city fully loaded semiautomatic rifle. Ac­ cording to police records the gun of Oakland. ( was described as one specifically de­ Now the Black Panther news­ paper has charged that the police re­ signed for police and military use.

Although Defreeze was on proba­ cord of Donald Defreeze, alleged to be General Field Marshal Cinque of . tion, neither this nor two subse­ quent arrests for burglary and car the SLA, strongly suggests that he stealing resulted in his .being jailed. was an active police agent at least He was finally sentenced to jail from 1967 to 1969. later in 1969 as a result of a shoot­ According to the Panthers, De­ out with police and a bank guard. freeze was arrested in 1967 for The gun Defreeze used was a *32 carrying a concealed stolen weapon. calibre Beretta automatic pistol.

Following his arrest, a brief escape According to the Panthers, the and recapture, Defreeze led police serial number on the gun establishes to a cache of over 200 stolen rifles it was one of the 200 stolen guns and automatic pistols hidden in a confiscated from Defreeze in 1967. friend’s house.

Defreeze was then sentenced to Despite evidence that Defreeze Vacaville'Medical Facility Prison and and his friend had stolen the guns, later transferred to Soledad’s mini­ they were allowed to plead to the mum security facility from which he relatively minor charge of “ buying escaped in March last year when a and receiving stolen goods” . And despite the fact that this was De- x guard left him alone to work on a boiler in an unused part of the jail. freeze’s fourth arrest on weapons’ The final argument used by the violations, that he was already on Panthers concerns the state of Cali­ parole and that a California Depart­ fornia’s refusal to permit Defreeze’s ment of Correction report labelled extradition to face charges in New him dangerous because of his fasci­ Jersey. Defreeze admitted in court nation with firearms and explosives. is to place informers and agent pro­ were planted. Less than 36 hours that he has been wanted in New Defreeze received a suspended sen­ vocateurs within ranks of radical after the raid the charges were Jersey since 1965 to face charges of organisations active in California. tence. He was placed on probation; dropped, for lack of evidence. Ac­ kidnapping, extortion and assault. ordered to begin psychotherapy and cording to Pacific News Service, po­ * * * Despite repeated requests by the released. lice said that the raid was triggered New Jersey authorities, California’s This took place only six months A few days after the recent Pan­ by a complaint from a 21 year old after the Panthers had carried out Attorney. General Evelle Younger re­ ther allegations, police armed with black hitchhiker who claimed he their historic armed demonstration fused to permit the extradition. a warrant raided a Panther head­ was assaulted by three Panthers. Ac­ at the state capital building in Sac­ Younger was the official responsible quarters in Oakland, confiscated a cording to the hitchhiker, Michael ramento. Alarmed by the demon­ for the formation in the ’60s of the cache of arms and marijuana, and Foster, three men living at the stration and growing community notorious Criminal Conspiracy, Sec­ arrested 14 Panthers on charges of house later raided, picked him up support for the Panthers, the police tion of the Los Angeles Police De­ illegal weapons, dangerous drugs and and beat him up with a baseball bat. began to deal even more harshly partment. The function of the CCS conspiracy. Panthers claim the arms Police claimed to have found a

Page 9 him to serve as an informer. The charge against him was finally dropped and he was released. * * *

Feds eat Panthers eat SLA

Gotta Lotta Stock Man!

O N E ST Q P

W h a t w o u ld

recouds Î0 t t DISCO UNT in d e f in it e l y

you

bloody baseball bat at the house.

The day after the raid on the Panthers, the mother of the alleged assault victim told reporters that her son had been approached by the FBI to become an informer. In a radio interview the women des­ cribed her son as an ex-Panther who was arrested in 1971 on charges of assaulting a policeperson. During the four months he was jailed pending trial, she said, he was repeatedly approached by the FBI who wanted

If it all sounds a bit too far­ fetched, even for Amerika, docu­ ments have emerged recently which lend the story very strong credi­ bility. A series of FBI memos dated from 1961 to 1970, released by court order to NBC newsperson Carl Stern, called on law enforcement groups to “ prevent the rise of a black Messiah” by working to “ dis­ rupt, discredit and otherwise neut­ ralise the black nationalist move­ ment” . This raises the possibility of a police hand in the rash of assassi­ nations of black political figures — Malcolm X and Martin Luther King among others — that took place in the ’60s. During the same period, police raids on Panther headquarters across the country decimated the Party’s ranks and nearly destroyed its structure.

Similar evidence emerged during the recent trial of American Indian Movement (AIM) activists, Dennis Banks and Russell Means, for their role in last year’s siege of Wounded Knee. During the trial the FBI was ordered to hand over all the docu­ ments relating to the Wounded Knee siege. It was then revealed that the FBI had assembled 5,239 volumes of documents relating to the siege, indicating that there had been mas­ sive surveillance of the AIM dating back to 1972. * * * The Black Panthers have changed their political strategy since the end of the ’60s, contesting elections, working in the schools, running free food programs. They’re trying to live down their image as gun-carry­ ing extremists. They claim the raid was designed to rekindle fears of them.

Since 1970, the Panthers have had an agreement with San Fran­ cisco area police, worked out by Panther attorney Charles Garry, that Panthers wanted by police would be notified through Garry and would turn themselves in voluntarily.

“We’d rather take our chances in court than on the street, where po­ lice can say, ‘Oh, he resisted arrest, I had to blow his head o ff,” said a Panther spokesperson. Panthers see the recent raid as signalling the ter­ mination by police of the agree­ m ent

*

*

Renewed harassment of the Pan­ thers is taking place in a San,Fran­ cisco in which thousands of black men are being stopped and searched at random by police who have launched a dragnet operation through the black community in search of thé so called ‘Zebra’ killer.

Since the end of January, 18 whites in San Francisco have been shot, apparently at random, by a black. There are indications that the same assailant has been responsible for all of the attacks which have claimed 12 lives.

Mayor of San Francisco, Joseph Alioto, instituted a massive police campaign to stop and question any black resembling the vague ‘Identikit’ picture of'the killer put together by police. The description — male, five feet 11 inches tall, thin face, y o u n g gives virtually complete discretion to the police to stop any black male under 40 who is not conspicuously overweight.

Not content with unleashing the police, Alioto has linked the street killings with the Symbionese Libera­ tion Army, and went on to compare the SLA with the Black Panthers in the days of Eldridge Cleaver’s in­ fluence. In this way he has deftly linked the Panthers with the SLA, and in turn with random killing of whites, kindling race hatred and vir­ tually holding the whole black com­ munity hostage.

Police have been searching through the black community, stopping, questioning and searching —even prowling in movie theatres, shining torches to flush out blacks for questioning.

TTie same climate of fear is being used against radical groups too; po­ lice have been conducting house to house searches through wide areas of San Francisco on the pretext of looking for SLA hideouts. Probably the most seriously affected organisa­ tion is the Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW). One of the two SLA men arrested in January, Jo­ seph Remiro, was a founding figure in a San Francisco branch of the or­ ganisation. Although he has had no relation with the branch since early last year, police have used the con­ nection to harass and intimidate indi­ vidual members of the VVAW and to paralyse the work of the branch.

— by Alan Smith

d o if you w ere

a P ortugese captain?

ALL REGULAR PRICED ALBUM S

has held meetings with the leaders of the formerly clandestine political parties, including the socialists and the communists.

by Alan Smith The CDE (Democratic Movement) is reported to have reached a broad agreement with Spinola; Dr. Mario On the morning of April 25, Soares, leader of the Socialist Party the Portuguese army seized power is back from exile and expected in Lisbon and the President, Admiral to seek a major role in the new Americo Thomaz, and Prime Minister government. And the Secretary Ge­ Dr. Marcello Caetano, were bundled neral of the Communist Party, Al­ off to Madeira. A week later, under varo Cunhal, has said that the Com­ 3-5 Hosier Lane a military junta headed by General munist Party is “ ready to assume O N E S T O P * M e l b o u r n e . Antonio de Spinola, the Portuguese its responsibilities” in a provisional 'government.

B tíB O O R D S, FU.: 63.3542. were cheering soldiers armed with But there is still a problem. There red carnations, and wildly celebrating appears to be fundamental disagree­ ite do MAIL ORDERS also U ‘ May Day, a free press, the return $Q cents. __________ of long exiled political leaders, the ment over Portugal’s future relation­ release of political prisoners and the ship with the colonies. The parties in­ arrest of members of the secret sist that the colonies should have the right to self-determination and inde­ police. pendence. Soares, for example, has The Portuguese political crisis has OUT OF THE said “ we need an immediate ceasefire, come to a head. But it has by no means been resolved, for it was then negotiations with the freedom FRVMG Pflfl caused by events outside Portugal— movements” . Spinola’s views are well - o w o m en / the wars in Portugal’s African co­ known. It was the publication of his lonies — and it is there that the book, Portugal and the Future, in fe s tiv a l crisis must finally be resolved. (See which this ex-Governor and Military Digger, No. 28, “ The Empire Crashes Commander of PortugueseGuinea in­ May 22 to June 3 sisted that the colonies could not be in Portugal” .)

For more information held militarily, that sparked the crisis IA Lisbon the leader of the new contact Pram Factory, junta, Spinola, has promised a quick in Portugal.

325 Drummond Street Spinola’s vision was of a new transition to a broadly based and Carlton. Phone: 3477493 predominantly civilian government^ Portuguese commonwealth within to be followed by elections. He which the colonies would become semi-autonomous members. The ex­ treme right in Portugal, which in­ cluded many of the older generals F R O M P A R IS ..........T H E E N C H A N T IN G and the President, Admiral Thomaz, were outraged. Prime Minister Cae­ tano was a little more ^impressed; it was he who had created the position of Deputy Chief of Staff of the Army for Spinola, on FIRST AUSTRALIAN TOUR his ‘triumphant’ return from Guinea, and who had announced tentative moves towards political reform in MELBOURNE Mozambique.

Dallas Brooks Hall There was talk of a coup by May 16. 17. 19. the right, and Caetano was forced to choose. He chose the right, and dismissed Spinola. In terms -of his ADELAIDE own survival, he chose wrong.

Festival Theatre But the problem still remains May 22 How will Portugal resolve its co­ SYDNEY lonial dilemma? The political parties Town Hall and Spinola seem miles apart. But May 26. 28 29. who has the power in Lisbon? The unknown factor is the group of C anberra T heatre May 31. younger officers in the junta and their supporters. It was they and BOOKINGS USUAL AGENTS not Spinola who carried out £he Presented by Clifford Hocking in Association with The coup. And it is yet to be seen Record Collector and Professor Longhair. what they thipk.

$5-70

FridaBoceara

In the meantime, changes have can government, one which would already been made. At the United not seek to sever ties with Portugal.

Nations, Portugal’s delegation has What the Captains in Lisbon think dropped its claim to represent any­ is not clear. Is their position es­ thing other than Portugal p ro p e r— sentially the same as Spinolsf s? To a significant step away from the *what extent do they symathise with old position, that the colonies were the political parties? Are they de­ overseas provinces of Portugal. The pendent on Spinola’s leadership to change comes at an interesting time, avert political strife in the army? when Guinea Bissau, following its If thé Captains do think the declaration of independence from same way as Spinola, why is the Portugal, and which has been re­ junta courting the political parties, cognised by nearly 80 governments, which on the crucial issue of the has appointed an observer delegation colonies differ so greatly from him? to the UN prior to seeking admission Does the junta expect that the po­ as a member. litical leaders will so greatly value their own freedom of movement at home that they will give way on the colonies?

What the Captains think could have far reaching consequences — in Portugal. But either way, there is probably no calling off the war in Africa. Portugal is simply not sufficiently in control of the situa­ tion to make its solution stick.

Spinola’s program of reform would certainly cut no ice with Frelimo in Mozambique; its military success was one of the factors responsible for the whole crisis in the first place.

An attempt at reform, the crea­ tion of a semi-autonomous Mozam­ bique under a “ third force” would not end the war. It might however Two years ago Frelimo forces extended their area o f operations from the There is no doubt that it would be a way to intèrnationalise the remote northern districts o f Cabo Delgado and Niassa, bordering Tanzania, be pointless for Portugal to attempt conflict — to transfer the burden to negotiate with anybody other of the defence of a new “ demo­ into the western Tete district bordering Zambia and Rhodesia. Even so, for than the PAIGC — the organisation cratic” Mozambique to, say, the a while it appeared that the Portugese had successfully confined Frelimo ac­ tivity north o f the Zambesi River. which has fought for Guinea’s inde­ United States. The growing strength In the last year however, there have been frequent and widespread opera­ pendence. And there’s no doubt that of the Russian navy in the Indian the PAIGC would accept nothing Ocean has interested the US in tions right down the Rhodesia border, as far south as the railway which but complete independence and with­ the potential of Mozambique’s sea­ links Rhodesia with the Mozambique port of Beira . . . and further south still. Some observers are simply waiting for what seems the inevitable strike drawal of what it sees as Portugal’s port and airport facilities. on the railway leading into Lourenco Marques, the Mozambique capital in army of invasion.

But it’s not at all certain that the far south, beyond the Limpopo River and deep in Rudyard Kipling Spinola may be prepared to write even moderate reform would be off Guinea, especially if a more acceptable to the white settlers. country.

The Portuguese seem to have been badly misled by their earlier apparent satisfactory solution (satisfactory to There were demonstrations in Mo­ success in confining Frelimo to the north. They have found that the recent him!) could be found for Mozam­ zambique against Spinola while he bique and Angola. What Spinola has was still Deputy Chief of Staff. extension o f military activity to the south appears to have been preceeded in mind can be seen in the sorts If the Mozambique whites believe by careful political penetration in the previous couple o f years.

In Rhodesia, the Smith regime appears to have panicked. The English of changes underway in Mozambique. that Lisbon is about to settle with There, as in Portugal, things have Frelimo — as the parties in Lisbon newspaper The Guardian recently revealed documents that show that Rho­ already been loosened up. Press cen­ are urging, then a Rhodesian style desian paratroopers have been involved in raids deep inside Mozambique — sorship has been cut and the secret UDI is certainly on the cards. And coordinated with Portuguese operations and working to the same orders — to police, have been put under military the same sort of ) situation exists take no prisoners but to kill anybody encountered since they could be as­ control. The Legislative Assembly in Angola. In which case,- again, sumed to be ‘terrorists'.

The situation in Mozambique does present a direct threat to Rho­ has been dissolved and a new mo­ the war will go on, save that South derate political organisation — GUM Africa would be forced to take over desia. Frelimo control o f the border area provides a greatly extended area (Grupo Unido de Mozambique) given the defence of the whole rickety o f operations for the ZANU (Zimbabwe African National'Union) guerillas, and Rhodesia is heavily dependent on access to Mozambique's railways and the go ahead. apparatus of white southern Africa — These moves simply push on with at a time when Frelimo has taken ports.

Portuguese military sources have confirmed the transfer of some 10,000 a program already underway before the war almost to South Africa’s more troops to Mozambique from Angola by convoy across Rhodesia. This the coup, establishing a framework own borders. brings the strength o f Portuguese troops in Mozambique — at the time o f the in which power can be seen to be Portugal’s problem is bigger than Lisbon coup — to 70-75,000. transferred to a predominantly Afri­ Portugal.

Page 10

THE DIGGER

May 9 — May 23, 1974

H o w else can an actress m a ke a crust?

Acting out a liberated lie was Coralie’s sister, an earnest, good natured sort who is exasperated by Coralie Lansdowne Says No: Nimrod Coralie from time to time but basically loves her.

Street Theatre, Sydney.

In the first half Coralie dominates A new stereotype has been the situation with superbly delivered created. Flowihg out of Alex Buzo’s deadpan expressions, raised eyebrows 1biro comes Coralie Lansdowne, and a beautifully timed repartee. She liberated lady. The walls of the foyer and the writer exchange in jokes and of Nimrod Street Theatre display memories to the exclusion and montages of women’s magazines and aggravation of the little mouse wife photos which illustrate clearly to us who almost became hysterical when how women are exploited by her husband accidentally drops her advertising and the press (reminiscent box of heated rollers (exclaiming of a similar montage to be found in “Those cost money!” and “They the foyer of the women’s toilets at save so much on hairdressing”). How the Sydney Filmmakers’ Co-Op., blatant a stereotype can you get? only a little more glib). A nice touch The audience (pretty middle class on and certainly enough to whet your the day I went) is delighted and appetite for a glimpse at the life of a laughs along in recognition of “liberated woman” . familiar faces.Coralie is a 29 year old, out of The next door neighbor, a sort of work school teacher, unmarried (I ageing bureaucrat, laughs admiringly hesitated to say “as yet unmarried”, at Coralie’s brilliance and patronises but that is one of the underlying h e r beyond human assumptions of the play). She lives in endurance.

The third man is a sort a trendy flat (house?) by the sea — of Marty Feldman character who is lots of purple wall to wall, determined to wed Coralie and is aluminium and plastic, drinks confident .of his success. She in turn; Southern Comfort (but is not into puts him down continually and refers Joplin —Brenda Lee and Leslie Gore to him as “the worm” (such a strong are her bag), doesn’t wear a bra and woman!). It is predictable that of the talks tough. three suitors he, being the least likely She is courted by three men. I to succeed, is the one who Coralie was a bit late for the show so the Front of House person told me that I had missed the “character introduction scene”, and that “the man with the patch over his eye is the next door neighbor, the man in the good suit is the writer” (he and Coralie used to live together), “and the other one is an old acquaintance”. She didn’t mention who the women were, but suffice it to say that one was the stereotyped whining, neurotic wife, and the other

by Marion Haste

finally chooses to marry. She is “bored” with the next door neighbor man’s “scene” . . . it’s so “empty”.

The writer (whose wife rather predictably suicides, at the end of the first half) gets a bit heavy handed with “Coral” . . . enfringes on her freedom as it were.

■ “I must be treated well,” she says to the Marty Feldman character (twice). Meaning, “OK, I give in, I’ll marry you, it’s been a long hard run and I know this is inevitable, so take me, you worm . . . I’m bored with my freedom” . And this is where the play really gets out of hand.

She gets married (a family wedding with her in pink, and still braless), comes home and breaks the news to the other Two suitors who exit, suitably disgusted (with both Coralie and the worm). The newlyweds plough their way through stereotyped bad taste wedding presents (not only- five Sunbeam fry pans, but also an ugly vase!), and' then for some inexplicable reason Coralie has a coughing fit (during which you suspect she is going to die) just as the happy couple are about to go to bed and consummate.

A doctor from down the rokd is called in; he has a limp (earlier references are made to how the rich

people who live around Coralie’s place are not only crippled socially but also physically too . . . an acute observation eh?). The doctor fixes the ~ cough miraculously and prescribes some antibiotics and rest for two days. When the not so happy couple are left alone, the Marty Feldman man says something like “You won’t be able to go board riding for a couple of days Coral”.

Long pause. She looks at him with resignation and fatigue and says, “You’ll do” . Blackout. End of play.

So what are you left with?

Firstly, a headache from wanting to walk out of the play so often but staying because you couldn’t bear to miss what happens in the end.

Secondly, a feeling that liberated women like the one depicted by Buzo will always be, in the words of Orson Bean, “desperately unhappy, haunted girls”. And lastly, an over whel mi ng feeling of depression.

One of the actors told me after the show that the play is positive because it elicits such a strong reaction from people, particularly women. That argument has been used many times by per­ formers caught in that sticky area between theory and practice. It means that an actor has chosen to play a part because she or he needs the money or “ a break” , knowing, at the same time, that the play expresses ideas quite con­ trary to those she or he believe^ in.

You find yourself rationalising the situation and saying to your­ self “ It’s so bad, no one -could take it as anything else but bad” But the horrible truth is that people can and do, and there’s no way out of it once you sign on the dotted line.

So what do you do if you’re an actor who wants to work when there’s so little work around foi women? You make compromises.

Discreet diners get theirs B u n u eV s D iscreet Charm o f th e B ourgeoisie

Trivial sophisticates

by Tim Pigott Andre Breton once described bourgeois life as characterised by exclusiveness, egoism, vanity, strife, sluggishness, hypocrisy and lying, as sanctioned »by the persistent and unequal scandal of inheritances” .

His comrade in the surrealist ad­ venture, Luis Buñuel, turns his cold eye on the bourgeoisie in his latest movie exposing the same qualities.

The film begins with a group of friends ‘dining’ together. They are all far too eductaed, civilised and sophisticated to merely eat to­ gether. Their obsession with trivia is elevated to a way of life. The bourgeoisie don’t want to change the conditions of life; but they are bored enough to change the menu nightly. Their individualism is remorsely conformist. They scramble together with narcissistic greed amongst the ruins of human ex­ perience. And they are all very very nice people. They smile at each other. They charm themselves and each other. But what is this charm?

Nothing more than manipulation and seduction. They not only reveal themselves as incapable of under­ standing life: they hardly notice life strait jacketed in their social rituals and biown around in a clumsy wind of obsession and compulsion.

And things are going badly for them. Their lives disintegrate into dreams then nightmares. Nightmare and reality intermingle. They can’t finish the meal without inviting in the army. The bourgeoisie needs

the army to keep their disgusting values intact, but at the same time, find the Colonel crude and insen­ sitive.

At dinner the ambassador assures the other guests that a fascist arrested in his South American re­ public is ‘a nice person . . . an animal lover who goes everywhere with a large dog’, yet dreams of murdering the army officer who in­ sults him over some small matter.

He scolds a young terrorist assigned to murder him: “ We think alike . . . pollution . . . the bomb” . She -quotes Mao. He replies pompously that Mao hasn’t read Freud obviously.

Another dream: the bourgeois group of friends seated around the table. Suddenly the curtain rises re­ vealing them on stage before a jeering audience. Panic: they have forgotten their lines! They manage to absorb every criticism. They find drug addicts filthy and obscene.

But they smuggle cocaine under the privilege of diplomatic immunity.

Buñuel keeps cutting back to these six ‘charming’ friends marching along the road, selfassured with their imbecile optimism that the world isn’t so good but a delicious meal, a charming conversation, a hurried compulsive fuck looms on the next horizon.

A French surrealist group has described, modern life as a choice between dying of hunger or dying of boredom. Buñuel has focussed on the poverty of everyday bour­ geois life revealing these characters as those ‘who speak with a corpse

in their mouths’. He has managed once again to make an excellent, critical ‘(yet commerical) movie in which his surrealist insights are still present: against- the stifling narrow­ ness of bourgeois rationalism inter­ venes his subversive exploration of the unconscious, explosions of black humor; against the petty fiction of realism surrealism defends the truth of dreams, ¿ '. ; The surrealists were described as veritable- intellectual terrorists.

‘A clan of poets and artists who, attack Religion, insult the Pope, spit on priests; they attack the army, renounce their country; they abuse in an uncouth and filthy manner members of the French Academy; ridicule the appointed administrators of the Sorbonne, of Parliament, the Bar, the Medical Profession. They proudly claim for themselves the title of barbarians, arsonists, des­ troyers. They demand the opening of prisons and the liberation of the mad . . .’

Buñuel is more pessimistic, more ironic than is evident in his work, from a more heroic period of smv realist assault against bourgeois art But still manages, like á surgeon, to cut deeply into the troubled brains of the bourgeoisie and reveal the nightmares within.

The Discreet Charm o f the Bour­ geoisie doesn’t have the dazzling surrealist imagery of Un Chien Andalou, L ’Age d ’Or, Los Olvidados, The Exterminating Angel; but it’s still a superb film of a kind that only Buñuel seems able to make.

What d o w o m e n learn a t S y d n e y 's film school?

Terrific technique b u t....

Jude Kuring as Ms. Coralie Lansdowne.

rDon't trip on it, man . when you're offing oppression you have to handle a few heavies ik. from the pig. >

I say — I thought that whacking obscenity fine would've stopped the DIG G ER in its k tracks!

The hardest part of our whole operation is getting the Digger distributed to our Victorian readers. If it isn’t readily available near you, you can ask your newsagent to contact our Victorian dis­ tributor, Collins Newsagency, who will supply any outlet that asks for the Digger.

Otherwise, you can subscribe (see form at right).

The Digger is appealing against the crippling $1,350 obscenity fines we copped last month. (The issues in question, numbers 3 and 6, are still avail­ able, 45 cents each by post — other back copies too — from 15 Avenue Road, Glebe 2037). Meanwhile, donations to our staggering-on fund Eire gratefully received.

Subscriptions, The Digger, P.O. Box 77, Carlton 3053.

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iable.

by Meaghan Morris “ Gillian Armstrong and Robynne Murphy were the only two women selected for the 1973 interim training scheme for film directors run by the Australian Film and Television School. This program includes their first films, films made while at the Film and Television School, plus the premiere of their latest films.”

That’s what the blurb says about the films currently showing at the Filmmakers’ Cinema. I didn’t get to read it until after the screening, so I sat down to watch with all the wrong assumptions about what was going to happen. Someone had said to me “ Come and review some women’s films,” so I automatically substituted “ Women’s Films” in fe­ minist capital letters. Also I’d seen Robynne’s first film, Woman's Day 20 Cents, which showed a day in the life of a highrise housewife, and I knew that Robynne had got into the, Film School. So I thought, wow, all that money and equipment, and scurried along to the Co-Op. expecting the great new feminist 20 minute extravaganza. It didn’t arrive, but there was a rescreening of Woman's- Day. What did arrive was half a dozen lovely-to-look-at, suave, glossy films, the credits just bristling with pro­ fessional (male) names. The session started with Gillian Armstrong’s 2 Commercials, the first of which gets under way with a guy throwing a big wet turd at a woman. I with my narrow ideological concerns thought great, here we go, but no, the lady likes it and the film turns into a rather funny satire of Drug Council ads. It’s followed by a short one on Reading Dynamics which could turn you off speed reading for good if you ever thought of taking it up.

Gretel came next, and again I was misled. It’s adapted from a Hal Porter short story. I don’t know what the story’s like but I can only describe the film as Gumtree Gothic. It’s a strange film; the situa­ tion portrayed is melodramatic to the point of being corny. A mansion hemmed in by trees, a man’s memory of a loony little girl set to suitably eerie music. But Gillian Armstrong just about carries it off by purely visual effects; the faces, in particular, are grotesque and almost frightening.

I don’t know quite what to say about the other films. Gillian’s Satdee Nite and Robynne’s Sunday Morning are inner city life pieces and they just beg for adjectives like funny and touching and sad, and I liked them but . . . I think Robynne’s Bellbrook focussed my disappointment with the whole program. It’s a film of people in a small country town near Robynne’s own home town, and except for the beautiful color, it mighL have been a really good television docu­ mentary. That’s the trouble — it was so neutral and polished you couldn’t even call it detached. The contrast with Woman's Day when it came to round off the screening was amazing. By comparison with the others a lousy little grey movie with ratshit sound but . . . it meant something, and it came across from the film that it meant something to the women. who made it.

For me the films made at or after the Film School were beautiful but impersonal and empty. I find that reaction pretty hard to justify.

After all, I watch impersonal pro­ fessional apolitical films all the time and love it. But they’re usually by men, and here’s where I feel am­ biguous about women’s films that aren’t Women’s Films.

On the one hand it’s pretty sad that feminists, the ones who do all the complaining about the ex­ clusion of women from anything that’s fun, are often the first to attack women who succeed in doing something they want to do. Since everything in society has been created by males, women who make films, write books (unless they’re about women), are coopted male surro­ gates who are underlining the wo­ men’s movement or worse. In other words, a woman who has consciously or otherwise fought her way up from the bottom of the shitpilè turns round to cop a good one in the eye from the Sisters. One major problem in the women’s move,ment is that it has developed a tendency to define what is approp­ riate for women to do with as much rigor as the male society has done.

So I don’t feel like saying that Robynne and Gillian should have made films about women, or films made from a feminist viewpoint (though I wish they had). On the other hand it bothers me that they didn’t, and that participation in an institution like the Film School seems to have had such a radically unradical effect on their films. It bothers me; that I’ve seen a program of six films by women and I can’t think of much to say except what terrifie technique . . . It’s like watching a new generation of es­ tablishment filmmakers being cre­ ated, only this time more women are involved; women making films on some sort of a par with men, and making films which any man might have made. Whether that’s something to be glad or sorry about, I just don’t know. ,

May 9 -

THE DIGGER

May 23, 1974

H ALL

by Alistair Jones Peter Andrew, manager for Daddy Cool, rang up an hour before press time. He has co-ordinated a concert in support, of the ALP on Friday 17 May, at Ormond Hall, Moubray Street, Prahran. “ Actually the idea was suggested by me missus. We were all sitting round last week won­ dering what the hell we could do, because Labor’s re-election prospects looked desperate. She suggested we do a concert so I’ve spent since then trying to get a hall. Finally we got a place by talking the people who had it, out of it. They were gonna run a camp dance there and were sympathetic to the ALP. “ All the artists appearing are doing it for free, to make a state­ ment. It’s 100% in support of the Labor party. There’s no way any­ one wants to know about those other sneaky bastards. I’ve been inundated with volunteers. Every fuckin’ band in Melbourne has volunteered, and there’s no sweat on that. “ We had to try to keep a varied bill. At the moment it will be Dingoes, Daddy Cool, Barry McKaskill, Skyhooks, Gully and Russell Smith, and Billy Thorpe who has said yes personally, but won’t know if the rest of the band will, until tonight” [after press time]. “ I want to see if the Whoopees [Captain Matchbox] can do it too, but they’re in Sydney at the mo­ ment. The only people involved in music in this town who were un­ sympathetic — to the point of openly disagreeing — were two for­ mer managers.

Digger identified these “ former managers” as Michael Browning, former manager of Billy Thorpe, and Rod de Gruchy, former manager of Lobby Lloyde’s Colored Balls. “ Fm probably one of the only man­ agers who ever made much out of a band. . said de Gruchy, at a recent party for Sydney’s La De Das.

Ross Wilson will donate his PA for the night. It will cost $2.00 to get in, and Andrew is personally underwriting the show. Any funds raised will be directed to Bruce McGuinness, aboriginal Senate candidate.

LA MAMA Words and Music by Samuel Beckett, and Lady Lazarus — A Sketch; La Mama, Carlton, Thurs. — Sun. at 8.30 pm.

by Nigel Garner

Page 11

L L 1 A .I I S C U S

Ms.

Friday May 10

Following the terrific response to the Women’s Weekly supper shows, the Women’s Theatre Group in Mel­ bourne plans a ten-day Women’s Festival called Out o f the Frying Pan, to run in the Front Theatre of the Pram Factory, 325 Drummond Street Carlton, from May 22 to June 3.

The Love Show - complete with ‘The Story of Two Cigarettes’ and the ‘Virgin White’ ballet — will be played again. The Epic Theatre group has worked in ensemble^on a piece about girls who end up in institutions on the police catch-all charge ‘exposed to moral danger’.

How to Marry a Millionaire is one of the films to be screened in one afternoon of flicks from the past. Six o’clock showings of local feminist films are also planned.

The Festival will open on May 22 with a concert and close on June 3 with a dance featuring the all-woman rock band The Mystical Ms. There will also be a non-competitive talent show. Any women who want to per­ form should ring the Pram Factory on 347-7133 or 347-7493.

The two pieces now playing at La Mama , are very refined drawing room entertainments from the home of rough Carlton theatre. Martin Friedl has composed some delightful and elegant music as the third voice in Beckett’s Words and - Music, a difficult, and to me abstract, dramatic poem.

The lightness of touch and pre­ cision of the musicians — Alan Vivian, clarinet; Clare Farmer, vio­ lin; Gerard Willems, piano; and Dale Barbare, percussion — combines very well with the spare, even severe, acting of Jan Friedl and Paul Hampton.

The second piece, a sketch (or rather, a sort of theatrical lino cut) about an audition, is lighter and more obvious, but once again achieves a complex and exact union of music, voice and movement.

Although this is intellectual rather than popular • theatre, its strength is much more in its per­ formance than its theme. I was in­ trigued to notice that the audience, composed largely of faces familiar at La Mama, took upon itself, for the occasion, a slight concert-going quality; ' an audience performance nicely, undercut, ,by;.. the ( intimacy and informality of the theatre.

It is hoped that the show will French singer Frida Boccara —she’ll be in Australia round the middle o f May. extend until May 19.

Sundowner: Madder Lake Chelsea Civic Centre: Dingoes Caulfield Tech: McKenzie Theory, Buster Brown Swinburne Tech: Chain Kilsyth Memorial Hall: Sid Rumpo Teaser: Full Moon Monash: Bluestone, Takio Whitehouse Hotel: Hush George Hotel: Stratton Island Matthew Flinders: McKenzie Theory

Saturday May 11 Get it On: Madder Lake Teaser: Dingoes, Sid Rumpo Sirius: McKenzie Theory Athenaeum, Doncaster: Bluestone Whitehorse: Hush Frankston: Alroy Band, Hush Blaises: Axios, La De Das, Madder Lake

Sunday May 12 Iceland: Hush Teaser: McKenzie Theory Ormond Hall: Skyhooks

Monday May 13 St Kilda Town Hall: Bluestone

Wednesday May 15

BLU ESM AN You may never have heard of Willie Dixon, but you’ve surely heard his songs: he wrote ‘Hoochie Coochie Man’, ‘Seventh Son’, ‘My Babe’, and, for Muddy Waters, ‘Little Red Rooster’. Later, for (he Rolling Stones he wrote ‘I Just Wanna Make Love To You’ -and ‘Bring It On Home.’

Willie Dixon was born in"Vicks­ burg, Mississippi, and has been part of the blues world for 45 years.

His musical career began at the age of 14 when he moved to Chicago,

and he’s been based there ever since.

It wasn’t till the mid-’60s that he became known as a performer, after his reputation as a song-writer had long been established.

These days, like every other black bluesinan who tours this country, Dixon is hailed as the in­ carnation, thè father, the boss of the blues. Hard to tell tiil the show’s bvef . . . but the"crèdentiàis are impeccable.

Poor Tom’s Poetry«/ Band at the Commune Coffee Shop, 580 Victoria Street, North Melbourne; 329.9310.

Eyery Monday night from 7.00 pm onward

ARETHA

Mushroom Records present

Canberra: Willy Dixon, M att Taylor Dallas Brooks: McKenzie Theory fare­ well Whitehorse: Colored Balls Sundowner: Band of Light, Shadow Facts Southside 6: Aztecs Croxton Park: Red House Roll Band

Thursday May 16 St Kilda Town Hall: Bluestone Monash: Takio Whitehorse Hotel: Red House Roll Band Sundowner: Colored Balls Waltzing Matilda: Band of Light, Frog Matilda's: Big Push

Friday May 17 Adelaide: Willy Dixon tour Mushroom Super Dance, St Albans: Madder Lake, Skyhooks, Buster Brown

Whitehorse Hotel: Aztecs, C lo ud 9 Sundowner: Red House Roll Band, Shadow Facts Sandown Park: Band of Light, Glenrowan Matthew Flinders: Big Push

Saturday May 18 Brisbane: Willy Dixon tour Brighton Town Hall: Madder Lake Matthew Flinders: Chain San Remo: Skyhooks Get It On: Buster Brown Whitehorse Hotel: Henchmen Sundowner: Kush, Shadow Facts Southside 6: Band of Light Croxton Park: Big Push Brighton Town Hall: Cloud 9, Band of Light Ormond Hall: Colored Balls, Red House Roll Band Frankston: Buster Brown, Aztecs

Sunday May 19 Sundowner: Johnny O'Keefe Croxton Pajrk: Fantasy Iceland: Cloud 9

Monday May 20 Melbourne Uni:.Bluestone Chelsea Civic Centre: Mushroom Super Dance: Madder Lake, Skyhooks, Dingoes, Buster Brown Dandenong Town Hall : Mushroom Super Dance: Madder Lake, Skyhooks, Dingoes, Buster Brown

Tuesday May 21 Dandenong Town Hall: Mushroom Super Dance: Madder Lake, Sky­ hooks, Dingoes, Buster Brown Melbourne Uni: Dingoes, Takio Swinburne Tech: 69ers

Thursday May 23 Coburg: Mushroom Super Dance: Madder Lake, Skyhooks, Dingoes, Buster Brown

Friday May 24 'Geelong Plaza: Mushroom Super | Dance: Madder Lake, Skyhooks, Dingoes, Buster Brown

travel Linkup Community, 59 St John Street, Prahran. 51-9129.

Linkup people give help by telephone, and have the best alternative information files in Melbourne. However..'. people are needed to help Linkup keep going/expand/ change. You can ring the above number, or come to a meeting at 8 pm on Thursday 16 May, at Linkup.

TRAVEL THE STUDENT WAY TRAVEL AUS! 84 Cleveland Street, Chippendale, NSW. Ph.. 698.3719 220 Faraday Street, Carlton VIC. Ph.: 347.8462

THE FAREWELL PERFORMANCE of Arts Council grant winners soon to go overseas

Evans, Gudinski & Associates present

MACKENZIE THEORY with Peter Jones (keyboards) and Keith Stirling (trumpet) being recorded for live album also

THE DINGOES Australia's; No. 1 country rock group

WED MAY 15th DALLAS BROOKS HALL 2 SHOWS O N L Y 6.15 PM A N D 9.00 PM Tickets only $2.50 and $2.00 1 eSS with students concession.

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the greatest blues songw riter ever

THE¿ P Ü I9 N SERIES A HlsToRy op Rock H' Roll Rapio

written over 400 hits including Little Red Rooster, Spoonful and I just Wanna Make Love To You

FROM

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Book now Myers, MSD, Celebrity Services, Hotel Australia. Phone bookings 60 1911.

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Have your personal horoscope drawn up by an experienced astrologer. Your chart will be supplied with a serious, exhaustive character analysis. For mail service, enclose $12.40 together with details of your date, time, and place of birth, to: RAYMOND MOORE 52 CROMWELL ROAD SOUTH YARRA 3141, or call personally. Compatability charts, etc., also erected.

and the Chicago blues all stars SUNSHINE PROMOTIONS PO BOX 322 ELSTERNWICK, VIC., 3185.

featuring Buster Benton (guitar) Lafayette Leake (piano) Carey Bell (harmonica) Freddie Dixon (double bass) Clifton James (drums)

Supported by MATT TAYLOR AUSTRALIAN TOUR - MAY 1974

Management: Adrian J. Anderson Phone (03) 58.7908, 24 hr. service.

WEDNESDAY 15th - CANBERRA THEATRE MONDAY 20th -SYD NEY HORDEN PAVILION FRIDAY 17th - ADELAIDE FESTIVAL THEATRE WEDNESDAY 22nd - PERTH CONCERT HALL SATURDAY 18th —BRISBANE FESTIVAL HALL THURSDAY23rd—MELBOURNE FESTIVAL HALL

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CRUISIN' THE FIFTIES AND SIXTIES, is a year-by-year recreation of pop-music radio during the years 1955 through 1967..

Each album is not just a collection of the top pop music of a particular year, but a total recreation by a top disc jockey (of

that year) doing his original program oyer a major pop music station. That means actual commercials, promotional jingles, sound effects, newscast simulations and even record hop announcements, in addi­ tion to the original records themselves.

12 VINTAGE YEARS 1955 - 1967

available only from:

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TIVOLI ARCADE 247 BOURKE ST MELBOURNE

F o R T E fc.

Published by Hightimes Pty L td , 58 Canterbury Road, M iddle Park, 3206. Printed by Peelprint, Queensberry and Peal Streets, M elbourne.

Responsibility for electoral comment: John Halpin, 350 Victoria Street, North Melbourne, 3051.