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Letters may be e-mailed to guardian@cpa.org.au.
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Letters to the Editor:
A question for the Labor Party
When R Hawke, was Prime Minister [PM] of this country he showed the Tories how to attack the working class. Firstly he attacked and broke the pilots' UNION. Then he deregistered the BLF, something the conservative side of politics at that time dared not do. Then he perpetrated EBA's on to the workers of this great country and now the reality is that to get a wage increase the worker has to trade away their conditions. What happens when the worker has no more to give to the capitalist bosses? Now the Premier of Queensland wants Mr R J Hawke, in my opinion the greatest Liberal Prime Minister this country has ever seen, to help him with the nurses' UNION. The Courier Mail reported that Beattie (or should we say bleatty?) wants to outlaw the nurses' bans, i.e. UNION bans. If this is the type of behaviour we can expect from the champions of the working class, I have a question for the LABOR PARTY: Who do we the working class vote for in the next election? In my opinion the working class of this country no longer have a voice in parliament. Who will step forward and offer us some political protection from these unjust industrial laws? Trevor Campbell
Brisbane, Queensland
I bought a book in the Domain about 1950 on how the forces of the USSR captured Unit 731 in Manchuria and the trial of Japanese war criminals — The Other Nuremberg: The untold story of the Tokyo War Crimes Trials by Arnold C Brackman. In 1982, in the face of various reports, the Japanese Government formally acknowledged that more than 3000 allied prisoners of war and Chinese civilians were used as guinea pigs in biological and medical experiments. The last surviving judge at Tokyo, RVA Roling of the Netherlands, expressed the view that the United States should be ashamed because they withheld information from the court with respect to the biological experiments of the Japanese in Manchuria on Chinese and American prisoners of war. Further it is a bitter experience to me to be informed now that centrally Japanese war criminality of the most disgusting kind was kept secret from the court by the US Government. Unit 731, operated by 40 top Japanese medical scientists under General Ishii, was allowed to avoid prosecution on conditions that all notes and evidence were given to the Americans. General Ishii was sent to the USA to work in US bacteriological units. Japan was a fascist ally of Germany and Italy, racist and expansionist and are now close allies of USA. Have the leopards changed their spots or has the USA become infected with their policies? And John Howard a very close Buddy of President Bush? I have preserved The Other Nuremberg for loan and study if required. Ted Lawes
Jannali, NSW
For some two decades Australian Governments have pleaded with, provided advice to and have been angry with the US and the European Union about the need to lower tariffs and reduce subsidies. Isn't it time to recognise that (a) they don't listen to Australia; (b) that Australian farmers and manufacturers are often the victims of level playing fields which aren't really level at all? The good examples by Australia have frequently backfired. It's time for another type of policy. One that protects our generally efficient farmers and gives the manufacturing sector a real opportunity to get off the ground again. Globalisation as a guise for propping up inefficient industries in other parts of the world behind massive subsidy regimes obviously has nothing to do with free trade whatever. Should we not take that as a starting point for new policies? Something more like Fair Trade? The fears about Protection are now old hat and we should recognise that. Klaas WoldringBack to index page
Pearl Beach, Queensland