NOT WANTED IN AUSTRALIA

Press, Volume LXX, Issue 21323, 16 November 1934, Page 11

NOT WANTED IN AUSTRALIA

Legal Action Brought For Herr Kisch OFFICIALS' DOUBTS ABOUT MR GRIFFIN (united mess associatiow— by electric telegraph—copyright.) (Received November 15, 9.30 p.m.) SYDNEY, November 15. The chief boarding inspector attached to the Sydney Customs Department thinks that the man who posed as Mr Gerald Griffin last night and gave an interview to the press, was not actually Griffin but someone who impersonated him with the object of putting the authorities off the scent in Melbourne, where the real Griffin went immediately after his arrival by the Wanganella, and where the officials believe him to be at this moment. The man who posed as Mr Griffin, in an interview, declared: "I have returned to fulfil the mission for which I was appointed, and that is to discuss the relations between the opponents of war and Fascism in Australia and New Zealand." Asked when and how he came to, Sydney, he replied: "I arrived early this week, but came to Sydney only this morning. I intend to remain here until I have made my object clear to the public of Australia." The supposed Mr Griffin gave details of his deportation a fortnight ago. He explained that he arrived on November 3, and after being subjected to a dictation test in the Dutch language, in which he failed, he was transferred to another vessel which left an hour later for New Zealand. Attorney-General Acts The Attorney-General (Mr R. G. Menzies), at Canberra, announced that the report that Mr Griffin had evaded the Federal immigration authorities and re-entered Australia would be investigated immediately. If it were found that Mr Griffin was . in Australia, steps would be taken by the Commonwealth Government to arrest him, and he would be dealt with according to the law. Any person who was a prohibited immigrant and who was found in Australia was liable to imprisonment for six months or deportation, or both. Herr E. E. Kisch, the Czech author who is also prevented from attending the congress, apparently injured his leg more seriously than was at first thought when he jumped on to the wharf at Melbourne in an attempt to evade the authorities, and is thought to have a double fracture.

Invitation from Distinguished Men Herr Kisch reached Sydney aboard the Strathaird to-day, but there was no demonstration, probably because of extra police precautions. Herr Kisch is lying helpless in his bunk, extremely agitated. Detailing his experiences to reporters, he declared that his visit to Australia was the outcome of an invitation by senators, lawyers, and a former attor-ney-general, but the authorities were treating him like a criminal. A number of friends and sympathisers, the acting-secretary of the Trades and Labour Council, and a good many women, besieged Herr Kisch's cabin, but the police prevented several avowed communists from even boarding the liner. Leaders of the anti-war movement stood in groups on the wharf. A doctor examined Herr Kisch's injured leg, which is causing him much pain. An X-ray examination will be made to-day, and on the result will depend whether he is allowed to enter a hospital or has to stay on the ship. An application for a writ of habeas corpus, directed at Captain Carter, of the Strathaird, who refuses to allow Herr Kisch to land, was argued in the High Court to-day and adjourned till to-morrow.