REPATRIATION SHIP CONDITIONS

Press, Volume LXXXII, Issue 24820, 9 March 1946, Page 7

REPATRIATION SHIP CONDITIONS

Protests Continue In Australia

GOVERNMENT DENIES GUILT .

(N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) (Rec. 10.30 p.m.) SYDNEY, March 'B. The demilitarised Japanese destroyer Yoizuki, which left Sydney on Wednesday with more than 1000 prisoners and internees, including 200 Formosan women and children, was 200 miles north of Brisbane at noon to-day. Protests against the sailing of the ship, which was built to carry a crew of 180, continue in the Australian press, and in the Federal Parliament, where an Opposition motion of censure is being debated. In reply to an order by the Federal Cabinet, the destroyer’s commander, Araki, sent a radio message from the ship that all was well. He added that he would answer with his life for the safety of everyone on board. Opposition Party leaders have issued a joint statement demanding an inquiry and concluding: “Australia’s reputation before the world is at stake.” More than 2000 people have signed a petition presented by two private citizens in Pitt street, Sydney. After a five-hour debate the New South Wales Legislative Assembly decided to urge the Prime Minister (Mr Chifley) to use his influence immediately to have the ship recalled to Brisbane pending a full investigation and report.

During the censure debate in the Federal House of Representatives, Mr H. L. Anthony (Country Party) said the Chifley Government was adopting the same defence as the infamous controllers of the Belsen camp; It was blamed on someone higher up, in this case the United States authorities and General MacArthur. In reply the Minister of the Navy (Mr N. J. Makin) said the Australian Government was completely free of any guilt. The nature of the vessel and the number to be placed on board had been detertnined by General MacArthur, and the Australian Government had been asked to provide food for 1200 people for 20 days. These instructions had been followed. . Mr W. M. Hughes (Liberal) criticised the Government for trying to shift the blame to General MacArthur.

In a broadcast from Canberra Mr A. D. Fraser (Labour) challenged the Government when he said: “It is inconceivsble that I should defend the treatment of these Pormosan women and children* Am I to be told that because I am a supporter of the present Government I must be silent on this issue? I reject that entirely. I do not propose to deviate from the principles for which the party stands, but while I remain a member of Parliament I will exercise my right and declare my mind on such issues." Last night 75 members of the House of Representatives were invited to attend a midnight screening of a newsreel showing the embarkation of the repatriates. The six members of the Country Party attended. They expressed themselves as app&lled and sickened by the sight and more than ever determined that the ship should be ordered into port immediately. “In Heavy Seas” The afternoon papers in Sydney today carried banner headlines stating that the Yoizuki is steaming into the centre of a cyclone and is already believed to be in heavy seas. As the passengers are confined in makeshift deckhouses occupying the position originally taken up by gun turrets, and as the only lavatories for the passengers are temporary wooden structures hanging over the stern, heavy seas would soon make the lives of the repatriates unbearable. The passengers include 15 stretcher cases and two women in an advanced state of pregnancy. The Chief of the General Staff (Lieutenant-General A. H. Sturdee) said he felt the outcry about the Yoizuki was “more sentimental than sensible,” and that such conditions were quite normal by Japanese standards. The ship could, in fact, have carried 15 more. If any service was responsible it was the Navy, as the Army’s job finished when the repatriates went on board. He doubted if the repatriates were objecting to the travelling conditions, although they were mistakenly upset in thinking they were going to Japan. Lieutenant-General Gordon Bennett, sail that technically some repatriates might now be Chinese subjects, but the - were still Formosans. "If Japan had won they would have been waving Japanese flags in our faces,” he said.