WHITE AUSTRALIA

Grey River Argus, 23 February 1949, Page 5

WHITE AUSTRALIA

POLICY UNDER FIRE O’Keefe Case and Dutch Attitude

MELBOURNE, February 21.

Sir John Latham, chief Justice, has decided that the case of Mrs Annie Maas O’Keefe, the Indonesian wife of an Australian, against the Federal Government’s decision to deport her, .shall be heard by the Full High Court.

He decided, when Mrs O’Keefe applied for an interlocutory injunction to restrain the Minister of Immigration (Mr A. A. Calwell) and an officer of his department from deporting her. An undertaken was given that Mrs O'Keefe would not be deported before her case was determined. Many leading Dutchmen have tele phoned the Dutch Minister in Canberra, Mr P. T. Teppema, demanding stronger action by him. Most of them say that nothing’ less than a full retraction by the Minister of Immigration, Hon. A. A. Calwell, or by the Prime Minister, Rt. Hon. J. B. Chifley, of the statements made by Mr Calwell in the House will satisfy Dutch honour.

Ln Canberra it is stated that following recent attacks on the Dutch, by Australian officials, “The Netherlands is now ready to accept the view that hostility to Holland is the considered policy of the Australian Government; also-thia the British Government is believed to be deeply concerned about the deterioration o' relations between the two countries; and that there has already been y decline in trade between Australia Holland and the Netherlands East Indies ,and a further decline is expected. It is also said that the New Zealand Government is understood to be watching the situation closely. Mr CalwelFs Warning of Australia’s Danger MELBOURNE. Feb 21. Hon. A. A. Calwell, in a broadcast address, said. —“The only people who want to water down the White Australia policv are graziers, extremists of the Right and Left Wings and silly sentimentalists. “They want to return to the good old days of kanaka labour —days that are best forgotten. “The fact Is that the only Asiatics who are interested in our immigration policy are political agitators. The ordinary Asiatic does not want to come here, and if he did he would not have any desire to mingle his blood with ours. “We are eager to meet our obligation to help the people of Asia, but we would not be helping the Asiatic nations if we took 20,000, 30,000,_ or even 40,000 people from their teeming millions. “Before long Australia would become a Eurasian nation, with its coloured people no better off than in their native lands, and its whites reduced to poverty, except for a ruthless few.”