phillip adamsThe Australian 27/11/07 SPARE me the sentimental tosh about John Howard. Here’s why his departure is a joyous occasion. The scene: The Great Hall at the University of Sydney. The grand opening of a conference for the Centre for the Mind. Crowds have gathered to see Nelson Mandela cut the ribbon. As chairman of the advisory board it is my duty to welcome our patron, the Prime Minister. That long-time opponent of sanctions against apartheid South Africa will then welcome Mandela. When I complain bitterly about my chore, the vice-chancellor murmurs, “Protocol.” ... The resolution? The VC will introduce Howard. I’ll move the vote of thanks. When I explain the change, Mandela isn’t fussed but asks me: “How’s Paul Keating getting on?” This backstage kerfuffle is nothing to Malcolm Fraser’s loud performance in front of the gathering dignitaries, including the PM. He tells of a crisis early in his prime ministership involving Vietnamese close to the Australian embassy. They are understandably desperate to be allowed into this country. Fraser phones Gough Whitlam, who agrees they should be welcomed. “So did my entire cabinet, except for one person. Guess who!” And he points the finger at Howard. A new prime minister manipulates Hansonism in the mid to late 1990s. Forget dog-whistle politics. In a campaign as deafening as any air raid siren, Howard declares war on multiculturalism and political correctness. White Australia rises from its grave. Bigotry is unleashed via an epidemic of racist graffiti, schoolyard attacks and shock-jock broadcasting. Thanks to the main parties’ accommodation of One Nation, Australian racism is world news. The scene: A few thousand refugees flee the Taliban and Saddam Hussein in 2001. Howard brands them queue jumpers, illegals and has cohorts hint that they’re terrorists. The Tampa sails into view and our detention of decent people in concentration camps becomes an international disgrace. Kim Beazley rolls over. The ALP is complicit in this political pornography, this immense stunt. Kids overboard. The Australian Navy is appalled by what it’s ordered to do. More than 350 die on the SievX. All this wins Howard another term. .. A few days before the election, Howard is asked to list his proudest achievements. Right up front he says the destruction of - yes - political correctness. Is Howard a bigot? His support of apartheid South Africa, his long-term indifference to the issues of Aboriginal Australia, his exploitation of the refugee issue and his on-the-record hostility to Asian immigration would suggest so. Or is he a main-chancer, a cunning manipulator of other people’s fears and racism? If the latter, isn’t that morally worse? That’s why I’m not shedding tears at Howard’s departure. Because his fondness for the Menzies era involved the revival of too many aspects of White Australia. No other modern PM on either side of politics would have touched it with a barge pole. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ The Australian 20/11/07 HAS Honest John ever been honest? As many have been unconvinced by my 12 years of tirades, please pull the following books from your library. You’ll need them for reference. Kickback: Inside the Australian Wheat Board scandal by Caroline Overington. Dark Victory by David Marr and Marian Wilkinson. Waterfront: The Battle That Changed Australia by Helen Trinca and Anne Davies. Plan of Attack by Bob Woodward. High and Dry: John Howard, Climate Change and the Selling of Australia’s Future by Guy Pearse. It’s the more formidable fibs that prove Howard the least honest PM of the 25 Australia has had since Federation. Ask Peter Costello about the PM’s promise to hand over the big job. Or ask Howard about his oft-repeated undertaking to serve as PM only as long as his party wanted him... But better to move on to the really substantial stuff, beginning with the great refugee stunt detailed in Dark Victory: Howard’s breathtaking manipulation of the truth (and our national boundaries) in response to a few thousand poor bastards fleeing the Taliban and Saddam Hussein. All became blood sacrifices in Howard’s determination to win the November 2001 election. Not one of his predecessors would have behaved so recklessly, slandering the refugees as child murderers and likely terrorists. In turning back the clock to revive and harness the hatreds of White Australia, Howard was willing to trash our international reputation simply to cash in on Hansonism. He was still encouraging Kevin Andrews to exploit white bigotry in regard to Sudanese refugees just a few weeks ago. ..Woodward has Howard playing a crucial and secret role in getting the war under way... ....the AWB scandal. “We knew nothing,” chorused the PM and his cohorts. Whether it was the AWB or WMDs or kids overboard, Howard has never hesitated to look Australia in the eye and lie. Even worse for the Liberals, Howard has ended his career and his party’s hopes by lying to himself. BBI: And then there are the bloggers on this page. They are relentless about Howard`s arrogance and deception.
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