GRIFFIN CASE COSTS

Taranaki Daily News, 16 April 1935, Page 5

GRIFFIN CASE COSTS

AUSTRALIA TO PAY ABOUT £l5OO.

RETURN OF NEW ZEALANDER.

By Telegraph -Press Association. Wellington, April 15.

Among the passengers by the Makura was Gerald Griffin, whose conviction as a prohibited immigrant was recently quashed by the High Court of Australia. Interviewed, he said his return to Australia after his deportation was to achieve his original mission of making contact with the Australian anti-war movement, and if possible to initiate legal action against the Government. He arrived at Sydney on November 12 and was not arrested till November 25. For a time he affected a disguise which consisted of wearing a hat and spectacles, though actually there was no need for him to adopt a disguise, for, with the exception of one police constable, nobody knew him. Prior to his arrest he walked openly about the streets of Sydney and Melbourne, and had several interviews with Press representatives who were let into the secret and did not break the confidence.

Owing to developments in the Kisch case it was considered advisable he should also bring the issue into the law courts, and after speaking in the Sydney Domain he allowed himself to be arrested. Griffin said that the .costs in the Kisch case were £1235, and he estimated that the costs in his own case, which the Commonwealth Government had to pay, would be £l5OO.