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Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 289, 5 December 1936, Page 10

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MRS. FREER ON WAY. Appeal to Court Against Act Dismissed. NO AUTHORITY GROUNDS. United Press Association. —Copyright. SYDNEY, December 4. The habeas corpus application on behalf of Mrs. Freer Avas dismissed after the hearing of evidence. She is returning to New Zealand on board the Awatea, which sailed for Wellington at 5.10 p.m. The main ground of the application for a writ of habeas corpus was that the Immigration Act did not specify who was to choose the language in which a person was to be given a dictation test. Also it was urged that having sought unsuccessfully to be examined in one language and having refused to undergo a test in another Mrs.. Freer had not in fact "failed to pass" the dictation test. Herbert Cody, Customs officer, pave evidence that Mrs. Freer when subjected to a dictation test in Italian said: "It is too absurd for words. I will get Mr. Paterson where I want him. He is not a fit man to be in the position he is occupying." When told she would be treated as a prohibited immigrant Mrs. Freer exclaimed, regarding Mr. Paterson: "Give him my very best love." Later she apologised for her outburst. After hearing the evidence of Captain Davey, Mr. Justice Evatt discharged the rule nisi. He said the Legislature had not given the Court any authority to inquire whether anyone was a fit and proper person to land in Australia and the Court had no authority to set aside a decision of a Minister, even if it was quite wrong and unjust. The question was whether the woman had failed to pass a dictation test and the test was no less a test because she had refused to submit to it by closing her ears. Accompanied by detectives, Mrs. Freer remained on the Awatea until the vessel was clear of Sydney Heads. Mrs. Freer said she would secure a position in New Zealand and flglit to clear her name.