PRIME MINISTER'S WEEKLY BROADCAST
RMR FRASER'S CLOWNS
SUNDAY 2 NOVEMBER 1975
I don't suppose there has ever been a time when the
Opposition's behaviour has come closer to sheer knockabout
farce than it did during the past week. At the centre of
it all was the continuing drama of Mr Khemlani. For days
we were led to believe by the Opposition and the press that
Mr Kheilani had the answer to all Mr Eraser' s prayers
evidence which would somehow incriminate the Government and
justify the Opposition in blocking the national Budget.
Mr Khemlani's documents, we were told, would prove that
the Prime Minister . had been associated in the loan raising
activities of thn Government,
Mind you, I have never been able to understand why
a Prime Minister should not be associated with the loan raising
activities of the Government it would be extraordinary and
reprehensible if he were not. But let that pass. Mr Khemlani
duly arrived in Canberra. The world waited with bated
breath while his luggage -was examined by the Opposition.
Now my colleague, Fred Daly, has a well known talent
for humour, so I thought I'd read from an account he gave to
Parliament of what happened on Mr Khcmlani's arrival.
Fred Daly had been studying all the press reports of thse
incidents, so naturally his version is authentic. He pointed
out that a Comnmonwealth car was booked by the Deputy Leader
of the Opposition to meet Mr Khemlani on his z. rrival at
Canberra Airport. He was greeted by members cf Mr Lynch's
staff. Fred Daly went on:
" Mr Khemlani was then pushed into the Commonwealth car
along with 2 sinister bearded staff members and taken
on a high speed car chase through the back streets of
Fyshwick reaching speeds of 100 kilometres per hour,
turning down side streets, and doing sudden U turns
before coming to a sudden stop at his destination
a $ 23 a night room at the Hotel Wellington. Mr
Khemlani, still using the car, and the men then disappeared
into room 49 the room adjoining the motel shoe-shine
box. Lemonade, potato chips and 2 Sydney afternoon
papers were pushed through the breadfast hatch. He
stayed locked in his room while the staff members
stayed huddled in a corner sifting through his 8
suitcases of documents. Later in the afternoon Mr Khemlani
was taken on another high speed car chase. This time,
as a taxi pulled up at the front of the motel,
Mr Khemlani disappeared out the back door and sped off
in a late model gold Torana with the manager of the
Wellington Hotel at the wheel. That is service. It
raced through the peak hour traffic, went one and a half
times round State Circle, and reached speeds of up to
120 kilometers along Commonwealth Avenue before swinging
around and returning to the hotel. Then Mr Khemlani
dis ineared."
2.
That waG Fred Daly's account. Of course, the
real embarrassment for the Opposition canme later, when
SMr Khemlani's" documents" were examined by Mr Ellicott, their
appointed spokesman on Aboriginal Affairs of all things.
Presumably it was felt that Mr Ellicott's'; legal training
could quickly enable him to : ac. ' sc the documents as evidenc.
As it happened, Mr Ellicott promptly offe: red his considered, . ind
no doubt honest opinion, that the documents proved nothing.
They did not implicate the Prime Minister in any wuy. To use
his own words: " There is no direct evidecnce in the documents
I saw which involved the Prime Minister." But that wasn't ( jood
: enough for the Opposition. Mr Ellicott war summoned to a
meeting of the Shadow Cabinet and later issued another statement
saying that while there were not documents passing between
Mr Khemlani and the Prime Minister, he was sure the Prime Minister
was involved. I was reminded of Mr Chipo's humiliation a few
weeks ago when he stated publicly that the Liberals would scrap
Medibank and was later persuaded to issue a statement saying
the Liberals would do nothing of the kind. The trouble with
Mr Fraser's shadow ministers is that they are often too candid
for Mr Fraser's comfort and too outspoken for their own good.
While the so-called loans scandal was collapsing
around the Opposition's heads, some pretty large cracks
were appearing in the temple of Liberals unity which Mr Fraser
has proclaimed. Mr Fraser keeps saying that he won't yield
on this issue, but what about his senators, what about his
friends and followers? His whole case depends on getting an
election for the House of Representatives as soon as possible.
That's the purpose of the whole discreditable exercise a
quick election. Yet Mr McMahon, a former Prime Minister, was on
the radio this week telling us that he didn't know when the next
election would be held. I quote him " It might not be in
the immediate future, it might be a little later on, next year
or even the year after." Obviously the former Prime Minister
isn't too confident that an election will be held before 1977:
and we all know the views of Mr Gorton, the Liberal
Prime Minister before that.
The truth is that behind these sideshow antics there
remains a grave threat to the nation's economy, to social order
and our democratic institutions The farcical side of the
Opposition's conduct is in marked contrast to the behaviour
of the more responsible Opposition senators. Senator Bessell,
for example, can see very clearly the perils involved.
Senator Bessell is -one of a small groups of Liberals who have
grave reservations about Mr Fraser's chosen course. Senator
Bessell said firmly this week that he would never vote against
the Budget, and he added again I quote good many others
would feel the same way as I do." All that Senator Bessell and
his group are prepared to do is defer the Budget. Only in this
way, on this tenuous measure of support, can Mr Fraser sustain
his threat to deprive the Government of the taxpayers' money and
bring the nation to a standstill.
We had a very good illustration of the anxieties of
these senators during an incident in the Senate on Wednesday.
Senator Missen and Senator Baume two of the waverers, the
" jellyfish" as Mr I" raser's people contemptuously call them
were presenting petitions fi.: cm Australian citizens prot esting
at the opposition's tactics. Senator Greenwood objected to the
petitions being received. Senator Missen and Senator Baumne, to
their great credit, insisted on the right of the Australian
people to protest. It was a revealing moment. It came 24
hours after another Liberal, Senator Wlood, failed to turn
up for a division on one of the crucial money bill~ s.
The way things have been going for Mr Franer, we
can hardly be surprised by the results of the latest opinion
polls. Normially it's my practice not to comment on opinion
polls, but the recent surveys have been so unanimous, so
clear-cut-so decisive and essentially so relevanrt, to the
nature and origins of the present crisis that no one can ignore
them. Certainly Mr Fraser can't ignore them. The polls
show that 70 percent -of the people believe the Senate should
pass the Budget; well over half the people believe the
Government should remain in office. it is rare for any opinion
poll on a matter of basic political allegiance to produce
a result so unmistakable, so overwhelming; but in the present
context the polls have a special significance. Mr Fraser
has tried to justify his action in blocking supply by repeated
claims that the people were demanding the Governmient's disis-sal.
He talked of a great upsurge-of public opinion, a rising tide
of anger, a veritable public clamour to see the Government
removed. These lofty insights into the national mood, so
mysteriously vouchsafed to Mr Fraser, are now revealed as
illusions if indeed Mr Fraser ever really believed them.
If Mr Fraser wants to liv e by the polls, let him now accept
the verdict of the polls. The people have given him their
answer with dramatic clarity. They want an end to the farce;
an end to the fruitless fishing expeditions of the past week,
with their wild charges, their web of innuendo, the car
chases and suitcases; and end to these threats of economic
and social disruption; an end to this challenge to our
democratic system. Mr Fraser has one course only left open
to him. Hie must let the Budget pass. Hle must let the
Government govern. He must let the economy and the nation
go forward.