Spirited Reply By The Minister

Wanganui Chronicle, 5 February 1949, Page 5

Spirited Reply By The Minister

CANBERRA, Feb. 4 (Rec. 11 pm). —ln an outspoken reply to criticism of the deportation of Mrs. Annie O’Keefe and her eight children, the Minister of Immigration (Mr. Calwell) tonight insisted that Mrs. O’Keefe would not be allowed to stay in Australia.

‘‘The Government will deport Mrs. O’Keefe if she does not go voluntarily,” he said. “The marriage of an Asiatic woman to an Australian citizen gives her no right to remain in Australia by virtue of her marriage. “The only people affected by the recent departmental action are those who sought sanctuary in Australia from 1940 onwards. These Asiatic wartime evacuees knew they wou’d have to leave when the war ended. Wartime evacuees were special class, and they have all beer, treated in the same way. More than 5000 of 6000 have returned voluntarily to their own countries. “I am not making a drive against any Asiatics in. or arriving in, Australia within categories under which they can be normally admitted. An awful tragedy awaits Australia if her economic standards are not protected by strict observance of the immigration laws and practices which have stood the test of nearly a century.”