Mr Couch gives to Rights man

Press, 19 April 1982, Page 6

Mr Couch gives to Rights man

PA Wellington The Minister of Police (Mr Couch) gave money to a visiting League of Rights speaker, (Mr Eric Butler), on Saturday and said that Mr Butler’s remedy “was on the right track.” Mr Couch also gave the vote of thanks after Mr Butler, the Australian League of Rights’ national director, had addressed a public meeting in Masterton. Mr Couch said last evening that Mr Butler’s remedy was that of getting back to Jesus Christ and the application of basic morals to all the problems of the world. Mr Butler had appealed for donations, Mr Couch said. He had felt that if Mr Butler was good enough to go round New Zealand then it was good enough to help him out. Mr ,Couch would not say how much he had given, except to say that it was

about the same as others had given. He said, “I have got to keep you guessing and leave it to your imagination.” He had missed the first half-hour of Mr Butler’s address but bad obviously arrived just in time as “Socialist and Labour-orientated people were haranguing the poor guy.” Mr Couch said that he agreed with Mr Butler’s assertion that Maori activists and Australian Aborigines were working together to disrupt the Commonweath Games in Brisbane. He also believed Mr Butler’s assertion that there was a Communist strategy to disrupt the Games and to use them as a revolutionary foriim. Mr Couch said that he had no plans to join the league. He had enough on his plate without joining the organisation.