Female challenge to Aust. P.M.

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 32975, 22 July 1972, Page 6

Female challenge to Aust. P.M.

(By

ISABELLE LUKAS)

SYDNEY.

A young brunette with the motto “Let’s Fight for Australia Now!” will contest the seat of Lowe against the Prime Minister (Mr McMahon) at this year’s Federal elections.

She is Mrs Helen Berrill, aged 29, of St Ives. Mrs Berrill decided to take up the fight after she returned from overseas last year. “I was horrified with the state of affairs,” she told me. After spending about six years travelling and “practically living in and out of a suitcase,” she has settled into a public relations job while leading her political quest. Now, armed with a forceful enthusiasm, statistics, quotes, slogans, and a bright intellect (she matriculated at 14), Helen Berrill speaks with a true crusading spirit. She argues that men are “institutionalised,” while women tend to be more individualistic. MEN “RAPACIOUS”

“Men are rapacious," she says. “Women preserve, protect, and look at the long-term effects.”

Indignant, she points out that there are no women in the House of Representatives. “Out of 13 million people, not one woman!” she said.

In the Senate, there are only two women, but neither comes from New South Wales.

Mrs Berrill is campaigning on the one-issue platform of stopping all immigration. She attributes all Australia’s problems to immigration and advocates as a solution the immediate suspension of the programme. She complains “Asians are holding jobs when Australians are unemployed, and 12,000 Asian students are taking places in our universities at a cost of no less than $6O million a year. “This country does not belong to Asians and we are going to be submerged ethnically. To say that they can be integrated is fantasy —and I am concerned with reality.” She asserts that an Asian “elite” and ethnic enclaves are being created here.

“When the British took over Scotland, they banned the use of the kilt and Gaelic,” she said. “Symbols and language are important in forming a society.” Although Mrs Berrill describes herself as a progressive Liberal, she leans heavily to the right. “Australia is for Australians,” is her political manifesto. “If you don’t own your land and your resources, how can you control the nation?” she asked.

Other points she makes include:

Some Australians acted as agents for investors in Indonesia and other countries. They bought blocks of land and properties for people who were not only aliens, but also non-resident.

Foreign private companies are subsidised with public funds at the cost of the taxpayer. “I object to politicians giving what does not belong to them,” she emphasised. LEADERSHIP ‘APPALLING’ She said: “We are being taxed out of our existence; we are fighting for survival. “The leadership of Australia is appalling and ineffective.” Hitting at the parties, she said: “The Labour Party is in the grip of the trade unions .and the Australia Party is politically naive. The

people of Australia are fed up with the Liberals are fearful of Labour.”

One of 11 candidates who will contest Lowe, which Mr McMahon has held since 1949, Mrs Berrill is nevertheless optimistic about her future.