"John Howard is a war criminal"
Denis Kevans It was expected to be a quiet meeting in conservative Springwood Civic Centre, Blue Mountains. But John Valder, ex-President of the NSW Liberal Party and later, National President of the Liberal Party, put John Howard under the arc light. "John Howard is a war criminal", said John Valder. "John Howard has dragged us into the war on Iraq, he has dragged the Liberal Party to the right, and now he's dragging it further to the right. "The slaughter and destruction are still going on", he said. "They have unleashed war, destruction, and maiming on the Iraqi people, and then they are actually going to fund the repairs to Iraq", John Valder said. "I've branded Bush, Blair, and Howard as war criminals." "I make no apology for branding them war criminals. It is the greatest act of aggression, by any Western nation, since the days of Adolf Hitler." There was a continuous applause and voiced affirmation of John Valder's statements by a roll up of 500 people, on the Saturday afternoon in Springwood. John Valder said that Howard's new "Anti-Terrorism law" would leave suspects guilty until proven innocent. "I shudder to think what freedoms will next be in jeopardy. I'm never going to vote for John Howard again", said John Valder, to loud and extended applause. "I let my membership of the Liberal Party lapse ten years ago, and I will only re-join if Howard is defeated in this election", John Valder said. "I will be concentrating on the seat of Bennelong (which is Howard's seat)." On stage was a feisty Margo Kingston, who gave a virtual, one- woman show of anecdote and humour, against the Howard Government. The audience streamed to the signing table to buy her book Not Happy, John! This title is now a bumper sticker and "every John Howard election poster in Bennelong" will wear one, Kingston said. John Valder said that Liberal Party membership had dropped from an estimated 103,000 in 1983, to about 10,000 in both NSW and Victoria. Liberal Party members were walking away "in disillusionment". John Valder confirmed by fax that he was "totally happy" with the report of his Springwood speech (as printed above). John Valder's fax continued: "The enormity of what is still going on in Iraq, just these last few days, just magnifies the crime, and of course has now brought terrorist attacks right to our doorstep, with the bombing of the Australian Embassy in Djakarta less than a week ago."