Joint Council Attacks Statement By P.M.

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32068, 16 August 1969, Page 12

Joint Council Attacks Statement By P.M.

The criticism by the Prime Minister (Mr Holyoake) of the speech by-Mr J. Mathison, M.P., at the protest meeting”.held by the Christchurch Joint Council on Vietnam last week-end made it apparent that Mr Holyoake’s sources of information and those of the'epuncil differed, the council’s chairman (the Rev. M. A. McDowell) said yesterday.

“Mr Holyoake says that the majority of New Zealanders support the Government’s stand on the Vietnam war and he cites the last election as the barometer,” Dr McDowell said. "Mr Holyoake is surely aware that elections are not fought on one issue alone. Whichever party wins the forthcoming election, the result could not by any manner of means be interpreted as being solely on the Vietnam issue.

“As for the question of New Zealand’s treaty obligation to South Vietnam, the issue really boils down to what opinion one holds as to who is the aggressor in the war. Those who oppose the war take up the position that America and her allies have played the role of the aggressor - - ''' ' Thant Quoted “Perhaps it might be well to refitember here that U Thant condemned United States action in Vietnam and stated as his opinion that it was not a war of Communist aggression but a struggle for independence on the part of the Vietnam people. “Mr Holyoake speaks of the ‘representative form of government’ which has been introduced in South Vietnam. We ask, ‘How was this Government elected?* According to reports which came to hand at the time, Govern-

ment-sponsored candidates selected their opponents, had full support Of Government finance and facilities, denied their opponents privileges which they enjoyed, decreed that only people considered ‘reliable* could vote and denied registration to all those living in ‘lnsecure’ areas and to all who were considered ‘neutral’ or propeace. “Such an election was a travesty,” Dr McDowell said. “What has followed has shown how democratic the present Government is. Reliable evidence is to hand of the Government’s suppression of its opponents and critics. In fact, it has been estimated that there are 20,000 political prisoners in South Vietnam today. “To say that ‘Free speech, freedom to criticise the Government and freedom to organise political parties exist in South Vietnam,’ to quote Mr Holyoake, does not square with the facts obtained from such reliable sources as the White Paper of the American Friends’ Service Committee (May, 1969), and the report of the American churchmen presented to a committee of the United States Senate (June, 1969). Quakers* View

"The White Paper says: ■Workers report anti-Ameri-can feeling has never been so intense. The Thieu-Ky Government is a military government propped up by American power, despised and corrupt. Freedom of speech is suppressed. No-one knows how many political prisoners languish in Vietnam’s prisons, but the figure is certainly in the thousands and includes university professors, religious leaders, lawyers, newspaper editors, politicians—anyone who has dared to advocate political initiatives to end the war’,” Dr McDowell said.