(HERALD ZW) Wafawarova wants full hearing in Zwambila case
January 4, 2014
Herald Reporter
AUSTRALIA-BASED Zimbabwean journalist Reason Wafawarova wants the courts in that country to set aside a default judgment by a Canberra judge which found him guilty of defaming Zimbabwe’s outgoing ambassador in that country, Ms Jacqueline Zwambila.In a statement yesterday, Wafawarova said he wanted the matter to proceed to a full hearing so that he could justify his claims.
Ms Zwambila sued Wafawarova for defamation after the journalist reported that the envoy stripped in front of embassy staff during a heated argument. But Wafawarova said there was overwhelming evidence against Ms Zwambila.
“The application by the claimant to have my defence struck out on obnoxious technicalities is nothing but a cowardly attempt at escaping a full hearing of the case, a shameful fleeing from glaring and irrefutable evidence,” said Wafawarova.
“That will not be allowed to happen. The Zimbabwe Embassy in Canberra still stands with allegations it raised against Ms Zwambila on November 11 2011 and in its latest media statement the embassy has categorically stated those allegations as fact, and that makes it more compelling for the court case to be heard on its merits.”
Wafawarova said there had been misleading and inaccurate reports by The Canberra Times about the judgment by the judge.
“Firstly, it is absolutely unfounded that it is the ACT Supreme Court’s position that I am ‘an agent of the Mugabe regime’ or that any allegations raised against Zwambila were “false”.
“These words belong entirely to Ms Zwambila and her handlers at Canberra Times. They are not the court’s position.”
“Essentially, the words are a pathetic attempt at smearing my image, and they are part of a larger conspiracy that once led to two court cases in 2007 and 2009, where attempts to have me removed from Australia were thwarted after protracted court hearings.
“It is Ms Zwambila that accepted to serve the Mugabe-led government as its ambassador, and for her to label someone outside that government an agent of the same is plain ridiculous.
“While it is the option of anyone facing destitution to try everything in the book to avoid such a predicament, it is highly preposterous that one would try to hoodwink immigration authorities into granting them a protection visa by publicly pretending that the ACT Supreme Court has discovered ‘an agent’ of Mugabe when the court has not even heard the merits of this case.
“You do not make such ludicrous politicisation of a purely civil matter of this nature without making a complete fool of yourself,” said Wafawarova.
He accused Ms Zwambila and her legal team of avoiding a full hearing of the case because they could not confront the evidence against the latter.
“What the Supreme Court did was to strike out my defence on the technicality that I had refused to submit certain documents demanded by Ms Zwambila’s legal team, which in my opinion have nothing to do with the case.
“No allegation raised against Ms Zwambila was found to be false by the court because the matter did not go for hearing. Any suggestion by the Canberra Times or any other media outlet that allegations against Ms Zwambila were proved to be false are nothing but a pathetic sense of mischievous imagination.
“It does not take a rocket scientist to figure out that The Canberra Times are doing Ms Zwambila’s bidding in the hope that the paper can help her escape a fate of hopelessness back in Zimbabwe where the only thing she needs to be protected from is the awaiting poverty.
“The ongoing court case has nothing to do with Ms Zwambila’s unemployment woes, and trying to buttress her case for access to Australia’s social welfare benefits by using this court case as basis for whatever pretensions is frankly puerile,” he said.
Ms Zwambila claimed the article by Wafawarova injured her reputation and profession adding that the story was motivated by malice.
Ms Zwambila is reported to have reached a confidential settlement with The Australian newspaper which carried a similar story.
Wafawarova’s story was published in November 2010.
Labels: AMBASSADORS, AUSTRALIA, COURTS, JAQUELIN ZWAMBILA, REASON WAFAWAROVA
Read more...
(NEWZIMBABWE) Aussie firm acquires two Zim gold mines
15/07/2013 00:00:00
by Business Reporter
AUSTRALIA-BASED Prospect Resources has agreed a deal to move into Zimbabwe’s gold sector, while also receiving a strong investment support strategic investors, including Blumont of Singapore.
In one swoop, Prospect will acquire a 70% stake in a Zimbabwe gold exploration company which owns 100% of one gold project and can mine a previously operating gold mine and raises $4.5 million with strategic investors.
The deal involves two projects that were historical producers of high-grade gold a mine. The first mine is located at Penhalonga in Manicaland province and used to produce about 185,000 ounces of gold at until closure in 1943.
Prospect will also be looking to revive Bushtick Gold Mine near Esigodini which produced around 470,000 ounces of gold until it was closed in 1950
The acquisition provides the opportunity to fast-track projects using historical data with potential to generate cash flows early.
And in tough market conditions Prospect has signed subscription agreements to raise A$4.5million at $0.012, conditional on shareholder approval, with $3.9 million of this subscribed for by a Singapore-based consortium including Blumont Group Ltd.
Prospect's 100% owned UK subsidiary has subscribed for new shares to the value of US$50,000 representing 70% of Hawkmoth Mining and Exploration (Pvt) Limited (HME).
HME has since entered into a exploration and mining agreement, providing HME the right to explore and mine at Bushtick Gold Mine and surrounding acreage including tailings dumps.
Analysts said this was an “interesting deal” and announcement for Prospect and a value enhancing one at that for a company capped at just $4 million before the deal.
While Zimbabwe is not without risks, Blumont's investment and involvement was also said to be “intriguing”.
Labels: AUSTRALIA, GOLD
Read more...
(NEWZIMBABWE) More black Zimbabweans in Aussie than ex-Rhodies
Breaking the ice ... Ambassador Mathew Neuhaus meets Simon Khaya Moyo in Harare
09/07/2013 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter
AUSTRALIA’S Ambassador to Zimbabwe said Tuesday that there was now more black Zimbabweans in his country than Rhodesians as he opened the prospect of better relations between the two countries after this month’s elections.
"These elections are important for our future relations,” ambassador Matthew Neuhaus said during a meeting with Zanu PF national chairman Simon Khaya Moyo at the party’s Harare headquarters.
“There are now more black Zimbabweans in Australia than white Rhodesians. We also have a black Zimbabwean in our foreign service."
Uncertain about their future, an estimated 49 percent of the Zimbabwe's white population left the country after independence in 1980, the majority settling in South Africa and the UK while others emigrated to Australia, Canada as well as New Zealand.
Most of those who remained left beginning 2000 as the government started seizing white-owned farms 2000 to redistribute them to landless blacks.
But thousands of black Zimbabweans also followed them to escape a deepening economic and political crisis blamed by some analysts on the West's angry response to land reforms, among other problems.
Meanwhile, Neuhaus said he was holding meetings with all political parties as the country prepares for key polls on July 31 which will elect a substantive government to replace the coalition administration.
He said credible polls would help improve relations between the two countries which have been frayed after Canberra joined other Western countries in 2002 to impose sanctions against Harare over allegations of electoral fraud and human rights abuses.
Khaya Moyo however said Harare did not agree that Australia should have joined what he described as a dispute between Zimbabwe and the UK.
"We have nothing against Australia; not at all. We do not see the reason why Australia should be against us," he said.
"It (imposition of sanctions) is a great violation of human rights because many lives are at stake. Those who imposed sanctions should feel guilty because many people lost jobs and are suffering.”
Australia has since joined the European Union in easing the sanctions to reward for a series of reforms implemented by the coalition government which included a new Constitution.
Canberra has said it was ready to completely remove the sanctions provided Zimbabwe holds credible elections.
Labels: AUSTRALIA, SANCTIONS, SIMON KHAYA MOYO
Read more...
(NEWZIMBABWE) Australia announces further sanctions lift
26/05/2013 00:00:00
by Agencies
AUSTRALIA is further easing sanctions against Zimbabwe after the conclusion of constitutional reforms but warned the measures would be re-imposed if the reform process derails.
Foreign Minister Bob Carr said sanctions against 65 individuals - including politicians, government officials and military personnel - and three entities will be lifted.
The move comes after more than 90 per cent of Zimbabweans voted in favour of a new constitution on March 16 this year, with constitutional legislation being formally adopted last week.
Carr said Australia's decision was aimed at encouraging further democratic reforms.
"Zimbabwe's next step must be the holding of free, fair and credible elections by the end of 2013," he said.
He however, said Canberra remained concerned about the fragile political situation in the country.
"It has been made clear that Australian sanctions will be re-imposed should political reforms be derailed," he said.
Canberra lifted sanctions against 55 people in March.
Australia still has travel and financial restrictions against 33 people - including President Robert Mugabe - and one entity, as well as an arms embargo and a ban on defence links.
The country first adopted sanctions against Zimbabwe in 2002 accusing Mugabe of trampling human rights and suppressing the country's political opposition, led by Morgan Tsvangirai.
Tsvangirai formed a power-sharing government with Mugabe in 2009. He called on Australia to suspend sanctions when he visited Canberra in July last year.
Labels: AUSTRALIA, SANCTIONS
Read more...
Australia eases Zimbabwe sanctions
10/03/2013 00:00:00
by AFP
AUSTRALIA is to lift sanctions on 55 Zimbabweans in response to the announcement of a referendum on a new constitution ahead of July elections.
Foreign Minister Bob Carr said the group included members of the judiciary and media, provincial governors and leading business figures as well as a number of politicians from President Robert Mugabe's Zanu PF party.
“These individuals are not considered to be hindering democratic reforms or undermining the ultimate goal of free and fair elections in Zimbabwe, nor are they thought to be involved in human rights abuses,” Carr said.
“I'm pleased to be able to lift these sanctions and look forward to further democratic reforms in Zimbabwe.”
It follows similar steps last month by the European Union and forms part of a phased roll-back of sanctions by Australia which will be extended once the referendum, due on March 16, is held in a “peaceful and credible” fashion.
Once a free and fair election is held and a democratically-elected government replaces the shaky coalition between veteran leader Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, Carr said additional steps would be taken.
Any regressive developments, including derailing of the election process or a return to violence, would see sanctions ramped back up.
There are 98 individuals and four entities still facing travel and financial bans from Australia, as well as a general arms embargo and prohibition on military links.
Mugabe's Zanu PF denounced the partial easing of EU sanctions while demanding their unconditional lifting.
Labels: AUSTRALIA, SANCTIONS
Read more...
PM tells Australia to suspend sanctions
22/07/2012 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter
PRIME Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has called for Australia to suspend crippling sanctions against Zimbabwe adding the measures could be re-imposed if free and fair elections are not conducted on schedule. Tsvangirai, who is on a three-day official visit to Canberra, said lifting the sanctions would be a signal of faith in on-going reform efforts.
"There was a time when any restrictive measures (were) an incentive for good behaviour, but I think that we are past that. I think we have gone beyond what they can contribute positively," he said.
"Suspend these measures, but tie them to free and fair elections," he said. "And, if the election is free and fair, fine ... remove them permanently."
Speaking at a lunch hosted by Prime Minister Julia Gillard, Tsvangirai said while Zimbabwe had endured a "very dark and unfortunate history", the inclusive government in which he is prime minister was a step towards rectifying past political problems.
"I am hoping that with your assistance, and with the assistance of all the goodwill in the international community, we should be able to rescue the country," he said.
"My visit here has been largely to explain to the political leadership and the business community that Zimbabwe is ready to re-engage, to re-engage with the international community as a member of the international community and not just as a pariah state."
The MDC-T leader formed a coalition government with veteran President Robert Mugabe following violent but inconclusive elections in 2008.
"We had a stalemate. I had the support of the people, they had the guns," he said.
Asked if there were dangers in now lifting bans on military exports to Zimbabwe, Tsvangirai said the period of power-sharing had helped calm political tensions.
"I think the transition has removed a lot of barriers of suspicion, of polarisation. I think the country is moving towards accepting ... even the military ... accepting the overall civilian authority as the constitutional position,” he said.
“That way, it doesn't slide the country back again into isolation. Even the military will benefit from a thriving economy."
Tsvangirai said Australia's mining expertise was needed in Zimbabwe and business should again look at investment in his country.
"The country has been isolated for the past 10 years. This is our attempt at re-engagement," he said.
"Africa is going through a very delicate transition from the old Africa of dictators, of nationalisation and poverty. I think it's going through a very optimistic time."
Tsvangirai said Australia’s cricket squad would be welcome in the country.
The Australia A team toured last year, but the senior XI has not been since 2004.
***
COMMENTS
Carlistus16
What sanctions is Tsvangirai now talking about? Him and the MDC-T all along made us believe there were just restrictive measures on Mugabe and his inner circle? New Zimbabwe it may be helpful to unquote some of his denials in earlier speeches, just to assess who has all along told lies to Zimbabweans while we suffered under the guise of his co-habits. And may this be sold to all democratic Zimbabweans.
*
bantu_biko2
How long do you think he could keep fooling us ?W Ncube on his last interview said it straight. "We asked for sanctions but we didnt know they were going to involve companies"
*
BobZim
"Suspend these measures, but tie them to free and fair elections," he said. "And, if the election is free and fair, fine ... remove them permanently."
What the idiot is implying is suspend the sanctions now and if I loose reinstate them! We all know that these power mad MDC hooligans are at. Manje manyangira yaona! Hapana chinobuda gore rino ne varungu venyuvo!
*
Rafique702
Majaira jambanja vanhu veZanu....you will never win an election fair fair..NEVER
*
Gatsheni Khumalo
The man vying for the presidency has travelled all the way to Australia to be Mugabe's messenger. What a pathetic pretender of a politician. I hope he has time to get a few lessons from Tony Abott.
*
Mafiravanhu
uyu munhu anonzi tsvangirai azobuda pachenandiyo honzeri yematambudziko ese here aya vakomana ndirikuda kumumuona kuuya kwake
*
Mampara_Jexe
Morgan will never rule Zimbabwe. TB Joshua, his trusted medium even told him that. Ndumiso Dabengwa is a better candidate!
*
Whyisvm
Morgan , i can tell you all those Zanu pf so called armed forces & CIOs are shitting themselves right now , they know you are surely on your way to the highest office in this country .
*
FuturePresident
This man is very stupid. Sanctions should go unconditionally period!! At least don't say it in public that you want sanctions later on, lest they think all Africans are silly & unwise.
*
FuturePresident
This man is very stupid. Sanctions should go unconditionally period!! At least don't say it in public that you want sanctions later on, lest they think all Africans are silly & unwise.
*
AFROboy
Tsvangirai looking more like a statesman and president in waiting..would be good to get rid of Zanu PF,but still not a man that I think is the best leader for our country..''anyone but Mugabe would be a start..
*
Carlistus16
Just a thought, Mr Prime Minister, you be careful of Roy Bennett and his Rhodii thugs. He sure is not gonna take your overtures smiling. Hope you dont blame it all on Mugabe?
*
AFROboy
sop living in the past..we have white and black Zimbabweans..
Labels: AUSTRALIA, MORGAN TSVANGIRAI, SANCTIONS
Read more...
Australian SAS spying in Africa
Wednesday, 14 March 2012 00:00
SYDNEY — A secret squadron of Australian Spercial Air Service (SAS) soldiers has been operating at large in Africa, performing work normally done by spies, in an unannounced and possibly dangerous expansion of Australia’s foreign military engagement. The deployment of the SAS’s 4 Squadron — the existence of which has never been publicly confirmed — has put the special forces unit at the outer reaches of Australian and international law.
The Age has confirmed that troopers from the squadron have mounted dozens of secret operations over the past year in African nations including Zimbabwe, Nigeria and Kenya.
They have been out of uniform and not accompanied by Australian Secret Intelligence Service officers with whom undercover SAS forces are conventionally deployed.
It is believed the missions have involved gathering intelligence on terrorism and scoping rescue strategies for Australian civilians trapped by kidnapping or civil war.
But the operations have raised serious concerns within the Australian military and intelligence community because they involve countries where Australia is not at war.
There are also concerns within the SAS that the troopers do not have adequate legal protection or contingency plans if they are captured. “They have all the espionage skills but without (ASIS’s) legal cover,” said one government source.
In a comment relayed to government officials, one soldier said: “What happens if we get caught?”
Australian National University professor Hugh White, a former deputy secretary of Defence, said: “Such an operation deprives the soldier of a whole lot of protections, including their legal status and, in a sense, their identity as a soldier. I think governments should think extremely carefully before they ask soldiers to do that.”
Despite the dangers, then foreign minister Kevin Rudd last year asked for troopers from 4 Squadron to be used in Libya during that country’s conflict.
SAS 4 Squadron is based at Swan Island, near Queenscliff, a high-security defence facility that has doubled in size over the past decade, in part to accommodate the new squadron.
The squadron was formally raised in 2005 by the Howard government, but The Age has learnt that its new intelligence-focused role was authorised in late 2010 or early last year by Mr Smith.
Collecting intelligence overseas without using violence is the main function of ASIS, which was created in 1952 but not officially acknowledged until 1977. Since the mid-1980s, ASIS officers have been refused permission to carry weapons or use violence, but in 2004 the Howard government amended legislation to allow them to have weapons for self-defence and to participate in violent operations provided the officers themselves do not use force.
It was around that time that the creation of the fourth SAS squadron was authorised, with its soldiers expected to be an elite version of bodyguards and scouts for ASIS intelligence officers.
The African operations by 4 Squadron initially centred on possible rescue scenarios for endangered Australian citizens, such as freelance journalist Nigel Brennan, who was held by Somali rebels.
The soldiers have also assessed African border controls, explored landing sites for possible military interventions and developed scenarios for evacuating Australians, as well as assessing local politics.
ASIS officers are legally permitted to carry false Australian passports and, if arrested, can deny who they are employed by. ADF members on normal operations cannot carry false identification and cannot deny which government they work for.
While the SAS has worked alongside Australia's intelligence agencies for decades, the creation of a dedicated squadron mirrors the US model, where the military and the intelligence services have closer links.The intelligence gathered by the Australian soldiers in countries such as Kenya all flows into databases used by the US and its allies in Africa.
Australia’s security service ASIO is also increasingly concerned by the domestic threat posed by Somalia-based terror group al-Shabaab. ASIO holds concerns that a small group within Australia’s growing Somali community is sending money to al-Shabaab.
— Sydney Morning Herald.
Labels: AUSTRALIA, NEOCOLONIALISM, SOMALIA
Read more...
Smith tight-lipped on SAS Africa claims
by Emma Griffiths and Emily Bourke
Updated March 13, 2012 17:13:24
Defence Minister Stephen Smith has denied a secret SAS unit is operating "at the outer reaches" of Australian and international law in Africa. Fairfax newspapers have reported the SAS's 4 Squadron has been operating in the past year in several African countries, doing work normally done by spies.
The report says the secret unit, set up in 2005, has mounted dozens of secret operations over the past year in Zimbabwe, Nigeria and Kenya, gathering intelligence on terrorism and scoping rescue strategies for Australian civilians detained or trapped by civil war.
But the report says Defence insiders fear the troopers could be left without adequate legal protection if they are captured during operations in countries with which Australia is not at war.
Speaking to ABC News 24 this morning, Mr Smith said all SAS operations conducted overseas were authorised by law and the government of the day.
"The suggestion ... that somehow we've got Australian Defence Force personnel or SAS personnel operating at large in Africa, rubbing up against the boundaries of the law is just wrong, it's just wrong," he said.
He would not confirm that SAS troops were in Africa and refused to comment on the details of any operations.
But he rejected the report's assertion that SAS troops were operating "at the outer reaches of Australian and international law".
"Everything which occurs in that general area is done in accordance with our domestic law," he said.
"It's done in accordance with our international legal obligations, whether that's the law of armed conflict, whether that's international humanitarian law, and we make sure our officials, our officers or personnel operating in that space have all the necessary personal protections."
The Fairfax report says the SAS operations include gathering intelligence on terrorism and drawing up rescue plans to be put into action if Australian citizens are kidnapped by local groups.
The minister says the SAS is doing "the necessary work" to make sure Australian interests and Australian individuals overseas are protected.
"Australians would expect that, in terms of protecting our national security interests, protecting the interests of Australians overseas, from time to time you'll have the Australian Defence Force working closely with DFAT (Department of Foreign Affairs), with ASIS (Australian Secret Intelligence Service) on matters such as consular crises, on kidnappings, on counter-terrorism," he said.
'Provocation'
But Professor of International Law at Sydney University Ben Saul has raised concerns this type of intelligence work represents an expanded and dangerous new remit.
"When Australian forces are posted abroad, usually it's because they're on a peacetime deployment with the consent of local government and they're undertaking joint exercises and so on, or they're there as United Nations peacekeepers, or they're there in the hard edge of military conflict as in previously Iraq and now Afghanistan," Professor Saul said.
"The key international law issue here is really whether or not they have the consent of the local government, because without that it would be fairly clear that their deployment here would be illegal under international law.
"The only way you can deploy military forces lawfully is if it's in self defence - and here of course Australia hasn't been attacked - or their is an authorisation by the United Nations Security Council, which again is not the case in places like Kenya, Somalia, and Nigeria."
Professor Saul says the national interest banner does not justify these sorts of secret missions.
"Everybody knows that many, many states send civilian spies to gather intelligence on other countries," he said.
"The difference here is that this is the deployment of military forces, not civilian spies. I mean that's a provocation so far as many countries are concerned."
And he says such work places the troopers themselves in a legally precarious position.
"If they are deployed in an armed conflict and they're captured by enemy forces, then they've got an expectation to be treated as prisoners of war under the Geneva Conventions," he said.
"If on the other hand the SAS are there without permission of local government, secretly spying, not in uniform, then upon capture they've got no expectation of any proper treatment whatsoever.
"I mean really they could be put on trial for espionage, they could be subjected to the death penalty and there's really very little that the Australian Government could do for them."
Professor Saul says the rules of engagement should be explained publicly.
"Are they just spying or are they moving more towards the American end of these kind of deployments, which includes in some cases, abductions, hit squads, targeting of drones and so on?" he said.
"I mean these are pretty serious questions that the Australian Government should answer if Australians are to have confidence that their forces are being used appropriately and Australian lives are not being unnecessarily risked."
Labels: ARMED FORCES, AUSTRALIA, NEOCOLONIALISM
Read more...
COMMENT - Time to nationalize Australian 'owned' mines in Zimbabwe and Zambia.
Australia special forces in Zimbabwe
Secret mission ... Members of the Australian Special Forces
12/03/2012 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter
A SECRET squadron of Australian SAS soldiers has been operating clandestinely in Zimbabwe over the last year, an Australian newspaper sensationally claimed on Monday.
The special forces unit - dressed in civilian clothes - also deployed in Nigeria and Kenya on intelligence gathering missions, The Age newspaper reported.
The unit’s operations put it on the “outer reaches of Australian and international law”, defence experts said. The African operations by SAS 4 Squadron initially centred on possible rescue scenarios for endangered Australian citizens, such as freelance journalist Nigel Brennan, who was held by Somali rebels.
The soldiers have also assessed border controls, explored landing sites for possible military interventions and developed scenarios for evacuating Australians, as well as assessing local politics.
The intelligence gathered by the Australian soldiers “all flows into databases used by the United States and its allies in Africa,” The Age reported.
But the operations have raised serious concerns within the Australian military and intelligence community because they involve countries where Australia is not at war.
The revelations come just weeks after an Australian couple were detained by Zimbabwean police and accused of spying before being deported.
Although the charges were unproven, it would suggest a level of heightened awareness in Zimbabwe’s intelligence community about the presence of Australian mercenaries on Zimbabwean soil.
Last Saturday, Nathaniel Manheru, a columnist for the Herald newspaper who is widely believed to be President Robert Mugabe’s official spokesman, George Charamba, teasingly made reference to the arrest of “western special forces... a few weeks ago”, but gave no further details.
The Age reports growing concerns within the SAS that the soldiers do not have adequate legal protection or contingency plans if they are captured.
''They have all the espionage skills but without [ASIS's] legal cover,'' said one government source.
In a comment relayed to government officials, one soldier said: ''What happens if we get caught?''
Australian National University professor Hugh White, a former deputy secretary of Defence, said: ''Such an operation deprives the soldier of a whole lot of protections, including their legal status and, in a sense, their identity as a soldier.
“I think governments should think extremely carefully before they ask soldiers to do that.''
Professor Ben Saul of the University of Sydney said: “If Australian forces are present in other countries, in circumstances where Australia is not fighting lawfully in an armed conflict but they are just picked up as spies on the ground, that then exposes them to the full force and penalty of the local domestic law.
“In many countries espionage is an incredibly serious political offence which can carry the death penalty.”
SAS 4 Squadron is based at Swan Island, near Queenscliff, a high-security defence facility that has doubled in size over the past decade, in part to accommodate the new squadron.
The squadron was formally raised in 2005 by the John Howard government, but its new intelligence-focused role was authorised in late 2010 or early last year by Defence Minister Stephen Smith.
Labels: ARMED FORCES, AUSTRALIA, ZIMBABWE
Read more...
Civil, economic libertarianism
Wednesday, 07 March 2012 21:04
When you are an anti-imperialist and you are in the habit of attacking imperialism’s economic libertarianism it is quite easy to find allies among Western leftists and it could even be achievable to end up with centre-right allies of the likes of author AC Grayling.
It is when one attacks Western capitalism as having certainly benefited from the regime of civil liberties, more precisely from the façade of the doctrine of human rights, that one starts to get fewer and fewer allies from the West.
This writer has on numerous occasions been accused of confusing civil liberties with economic libertarianism, often being reminded to look at China, defined in the West as practising the later and intolerant of the former. Often this writer has been reminded that his own Zimbabwe lacks both economic libertarianism and civil liberties, and that he is “lucky” to be in Australia.
At one time this writer was billed to debate South Africa’s Patrick Bond at a place in Sydney. The invitation was unceremoniously cancelled after the organisers came across articles authored by this writer and attacking Western imperialism’s pretexts premised on human rights and civil liberties, especially with such attacks citing some examples from native Zimbabwe — something that was interpreted as tacit support for President Mugabe’s alleged “oppressive regime.”
It is quite easy to be applauded when one points an accusing finger at the power of imperialist interests for harming innocent civilians in countries militarily ravaged by the West’s illegal capitalist wars like the one waged against the Iraqis in 2003, or the recent murderous war on Libya. Equally it is quite attractive for Western critics of capitalism to see a non-Westerner pointing an accusing finger at capitalism for the harm it does to individuals, to the environment, to developing nations, and for causing economic disasters like the 2008 credit collapse.
Slovenian born Slavoj Zizek lost a large chunk of his Western allies after his attacks on the West’s disguises, especially those wrapped in the doctrine of civil liberties. That was seen as a blanket “attack on the hard-won dispensation of civil liberties and rights that define Western societies,” to quote A C Grayling.
The civil liberties regime is rightly credited with creating trade unionism and perhaps all forms of social democracy. Both capitalism and civil liberties are products of the Enlightenment settlement. It is, however preposterous, to confuse capitalism’s abuse of the nobility of civil liberties with an attack on the liberties themselves.
The idea of protecting civilians from genocide is not and cannot be derided by any sane person. It would be fatuous for anyone to do that. However, describing UN Resolution 1973 and its subsequent abuse in the brutal bombardment of Libyan cities by the devilish trio of France, Britain and the US as “protection of civilians” is imbecilic at its best.
The only thing protected by Libya’s invasion was the West’s oil interest, otherwise everything else was destroyed, the civilians and the country included.
The cogitative diktats of political reason would be incomplete if we as political writers were to fail to criticise the fronting of aid by predatory imperialists simply because we fear to be labelled critics of philanthropy itself. We cannot shy away from criticising the illegal and callous murder of Gaddafi for fear of being labelled “undemocratic”.
Liberal democracies themselves may to a large extend be premised on liberal ideas that culminate in the human rights and civil liberties regimes, but that alone does not mean we must pay a blind eye to the fact that the same human rights and civil liberties are the most used of imperialism’s masks, apart from philanthropy.
Indeed the liberal ideals enshrined in civil liberties must be allopathic to the deadly exploitations created by economic libertarianism, and one would from this perspective naively assume that civil liberties and the excesses of imperialism cannot be complimentary — that they are inherently not mixable.
Imperialism has successfully portrayed its opponents as authoritarian arrangements hostile variety, free speech, free Press, multiplicity, consent, and institutionalised protections of civil liberties. Often imperialism will seek to prop up rebellion and obnoxiousness so as to entice authorities in enemy states to crack down on the sponsored rebellion. Once this happens imperialism will stick the label of despotism and tyranny on its nemesis and from then on we are told civil liberties are under attack.
In the Western lexicon civil liberties can stretch to treason and armed rebellion, for as long as the context is some anti-imperialist enemy state standing in the way of Western expansionism. This is why Zimbabwe was once expected to watch and escort Morgan Tsvangirai and his supporters doing a “Final Push” march to dislodge President Mugabe right from State House. It was then opined that we all needed to abide by “the rule of law,” allowing protesters to march into the State House unabated.
It was all part of free speech for Tsvangirai to declare that President Mugabe had “to go peacefully, or we will remove you violently.” Arresting him was to the imperialist powers a violation of Tsvangirai’s civil liberties.
For brooking no nonsense on these machinations President Mugabe earned himself demeaning accolades from the Western media and their political masters. By extrapolation anyone who criticised Tsvangirai and his MDC for fronting Western interests became a “Mugabe crony,” and this writer was vastly persecuted by both the Australian media and the state — smeared and slandered, and threatened with expulsion.
It is seen as a paradox of liberalism that it allows “illiberal” critics like this writer to flourish under its protection. “Why do you write from Sydney, Australia if the West is so bad?” That is the question always asked in the comments section of almost each of this writer’s pieces.
[Because Australia isn't under economic sanctions, and hasn't had it's currency destroyed by them? They hypocrisy and sanctimony of the MDC/Rhodesian Front types is endless. - MrK]
We are told Western societies denote pluralistic societies characterised by limitless freedoms, individual autonomy, free speech and the rest of the niceties of democracy. So good is Western democracy that its principles grant freedom of expression to its own underminers and opponents.
The likes of this writer are widely believed to be enjoying impunity and celebrity offered by those they deride and scorn, right from within the safety of the derided ones. Safety is always the word of emphasis.
It is quite revealing that the safety in question meant for this writer a stinging campaign to halt his studies at an Australian University in 2007, and of late efforts to have the University rescind the qualification awarded.
It is a safety that resulted in a prolonged legal battle between this writer and Australia’s immigration department after the authorities in that part of government bought into a slanderous and malicious “dob in” by amateurish political activists.
Four times this writer has been detained and body searched at two of Australia’s international airports because his name is flagged as a “person of concern” — most probably flagged by the same department that once unsuccessfully tried to effect an eviction.
Twice the detentions took several hours and included torturous interrogation and a rather obnoxious attitude to all responses.
The common accusation is that the views this writer expresses at the lenience and mercy of his hosts would result in imprisonment or death in his own home country, Zimbabwe. If this were true, then there is not much difference because the Australian immigration department furnished this writer with a thick copy of the Rome Statute in
January 2009, advising in red ink that the document was to be read “with the assistance of a lawyer” because there were “reasonable grounds” to send this writer to The Hague for trial.
The views of this writer perhaps attract imprisonment in both liberal and illiberal regimes, and the myth of “safety” in a Western democracy is as flattering as telling newlyweds that they will “live happily ever after.”
Yes, Western societies do not generally see themselves as entitled to stop those who criticise their political systems, but that does not mean the critics of Western imperialism pass their views in luxury. The absence of a sense of entitlement to silence dissent does not mean there are no efforts to silence such dissent.
It is easy for Westerners to criticise their governments for becoming less liberal and more authoritarian in the name of anti-terror laws. Ironically, the same critics believe that the political elites who mask their oppressive and intrusive tendencies as national security are better devils abroad, arguing that their pretexting behind human rights and civil liberties is in fact genuine and must be universally accepted.
Australia runs international affairs on a “me too” foreign policy where it imitates the US and Britain in almost everything related to capitalism. Its sanctions regime on Zimbabwe is an imitation of ZDERA sanctions, just like the partial relaxation of the same sanctions is. The undeniable fact is that imperialism is a monster with unquenchable appetite, and it has no concern whatsoever with the harm it causes its victims, especially the poor masses from the developing world.
We cannot blithely ignore this threatening reality simply because we cannot separate our obsession for freedoms and liberties from the tragedy of those abusing our plight in order to pursue self-interests.
It is a fact that leading capitalist figures like George Soros often commit themselves to vast acts of philanthropy — many times masking the ugly face of imperialism by exercising touching humanitarianism, that way concealing the face of exploitation and deception that brought the surplus into their philanthropic hands in the first place.
It is not philanthropy that should be blamed for Soros’ misdemeanours. Attacking philanthropic imperialists does not amount to denouncing philanthropy itself, just like criticising civic imperialists does not equate to attacking civil liberties or human rights.
Western propagandists love to portray the likes of this writer and authors like Slavoj Zizek as rejectionists of notions of rights and liberties — misleadingly claiming that attacking imperialism for abusing the plight of those in search of civil liberties and human rights is the same as asserting that rights and liberties are in themselves a conspiracy by imperialists to disguise their true objectives. There is a huge difference between attacking civil liberties and attacking imperialists.
There is a strong belief in the West that one is entitled to vociferously complain against the harm and wrongs of imperialism, but criticising imperialism itself as a concept is seen as unpragmatic, archaic and even communist.
The regardant resolve to indigenise the economy of Zimbabwe must not be vilified as an attack on civil liberties and or human rights. It must be seen as the foundation for a true concept of civil liberties and human rights — especially in view of the fact that individual autonomy is defined by economic independence. Free speech on an empty stomach is an insult to humanity, just like political pluralism with no economic independence is an illusion leading to perdition.
We cannot allow politicians and political activists to misapply the nobility of liberties and human rights for ends that interfere with the destiny of the nation – for treacherous endeavours inspired by the enticing temptation of donor power.
Equally we cannot condone pseudo-revolutionaries who dismiss every mentioning of human rights and civil liberties as insidious lexicon at the service of quisling opponent politicians pursuing regime change agendas.
Human rights and civil liberties are universal fundamental rights that must be observed by all civilised peoples of this world. It does not matter that imperialists mask their vile intentions behind civil liberties and human rights. That in itself does not make these values unacceptable or bad. An enemy of human rights and civil liberties is by definition an enemy of the people.
Africa we are one and together we will overcome. It is homeland or death!
* Reason Wafawarova is a political writer based in SYDNEY, Australia
Labels: AUSTRALIA, GLOBALISATION, NEOLIBERALISM, PRESS FREEDOM, REASON WAFAWAROVA
Read more...
Australia eases Zimbabwe sanctions
04/03/2012 00:00:00
by news.com.au
ACTING Foreign Minister Craig Emerson has said Australia will remove 82
regime loyalists from its autonomous financial and travel sanctions list.
Dr Emerson says the figures no longer pose a threat to the restoration of democracy, the rule of law, or progress under the country's power-sharing agreement.
"Australia's autonomous sanctions regime against Zimbabwe remains one of the world's toughest," he said.
"We will continue to uphold this until there is further progress towards democracy and respect for the rule of law in Zimbabwe."
The government will maintain travel and financial sanctions against 153 individuals and four entities allied to President Robert Mugabe.
Prohibitions on defence links and a ban preventing the adult children of listed individuals studying in Australia will also remain in place.
Australian is the third largest bilateral donor to the global effort to assist Zimbabwe, focused on humanitarian relief and promoting economic recovery.
"We want to see Zimbabwe get back on its feet so that its economy can prosper, and its society can be freer, fairer and more democratic," Dr Emerson said.
The Howard government first imposed sanctions against Zimbabwe in October 2002.
The government removed 17 people from the sanctions list last August.
The European Union removed 51 people and 20 companies from its sanctions list last month.
Mugabe, who turned 88 last month, has held power in Zimbabwe since the 1980s.
His Zanu PF party is in a shaky power-sharing coalition - formed after violent and disputed 2008 elections - with his long-term adversary, Morgan Tsvangirai.
Mugabe has pledged to call fresh elections this year, despite opposition calls for the polling to be delayed until constitutional reforms are complete.
Labels: AUSTRALIA, SANCTIONS
Read more...
Vice President Guy Scott expected in Australia tomorrow
TIME PUBLISHED - Wednesday, October 26, 2011, 1:58 pm
Vice President Guy Scott is tomorrow expected to arrive in Perth, Australia to represent President Michael Sata at the 2011 Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting (CHOGM 2011).
Foreign Affairs Minister, Chishimba Kambwili confirmed to ZANIS in Perth that upon arrival, Dr. Scott will attend a session of the Commonwealth Executives. He said the Vice President will on Friday join 16 heads of government and representatives from 54 Commonwealth member countries in the official opening of the CHOGM 2011.
Mr. Kambwili said Dr. Scott will also attend a multilateral meeting which has been arranged with the European Union (EU). The Vice President will be accompanied to Australia by Minister of Labour, Fackson Shamenda and while Mr. Kambwili and Minister of Commerce, Trade and Industry Bob Sichinga are in the advance party of senior government officials attending pre-CHOGM 2011 meetings.
And Mr. Kambwili has disclosed that Cyprus will in the near future send a team of experts to Zambia to explore the latter’s tourism potential. He said this was discussed during a meeting he held with the Foreign Minister of Cyprus in Perth yesterday.
He said Cyprus has since offered to sponsor Zambian officials that are responsible for the development of the tourism sector through training. He hoped that this bilateral arrangement between Zambia and Cyprus will help market the former’s tourism sector, which he said had not been fully done in the past.
The Queen of England and the Duke of Edinburgh, who have since arrived in Australia, will be among the many dignitaries that will attend CHOGM 2011 at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre. The theme of the CHOGM 2011 is ‘building national resilience, building global resilience’.
And Minister of Foreign Affairs Chishimba Kambwili says Zambia’s membership to the Commonwealth is very beneficial to the country. And the 2011 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM 2011) is scheduled to officially open at Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre on Friday, October 28th and close on the 30th of the same month.
Mr. Kambwili said in Perth today that among the benefits of Zambia’s membership to the Commonwealth is the opening up of the Australian market to African countries to export their products.
During the Commonwealth Business Forum, which preceded the CHOGM 2011, Prime Minister of Australia, Julia Gillard announced the opening up of her country’s market to products from Africa.
Mr. Kambwili said Zambia is already benefitting from the pre-CHOGM Foreign Minister’s meeting, Commonwealth and Small Developing States Foreign Ministers’ meeting and the Commonwealth Business Forum (CBF).
He said Zambia will now take advantage of the opening up of the Australian market to products from Africa.
Mr. Kambwili further said Zambia’s position on issues of climate change has been made clear during the meeting of Commonwealth and Small Developing States yesterday.
He said Zambia’s position, just like other developing countries, is that developed nations should financially assist the poor and developing countries to fight challenges of climate change.
He argued that this is because developing nations were not responsible for the emission of most of the greenhouse gasses to the atmosphere.
The theme of the CHOGM 2011 is ‘building national resilience, building global resilience’.
There are 54 countries in the Commonwealth.
ZANIS
Labels: AUSTRALIA, CHISHIMBA KAMBWILI, COMMON WEALTH, GUY SCOTT
Read more...
WikiLeaks cable leak ‘irresponsible’, says Australia
Thursday, 01 September 2011 02:00
SYDNEY. - Australia's attorney general has described WikiLeaks as "incredibly irresponsible" for publishing the names of 23 Australians accused by security services of having links to al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.
The cable, emanating from the US embassy in Canberra in January 2010, recommended that
11 Australians be placed on a no-fly list and a further
12 on a terrorism watch list.
"The publication of any information that could compromise Australia's national security - or inhibit the ability of intelligence agencies to monitor potential threats - is incredibly irresponsible," said the attorney general, Robert McClelland, breaking the government's longstanding position not to comment on WikiLeaks' material.
"On occasions in the past, WikiLeaks has decided to redact identifying features where security operations or safety could be put at risk," he said.
"This has not occurred in this case."
WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, hit back, saying McClelland "bemoans having his department being publicly caught ratting out 23 Australians to the US embassy without due process".
Assange said if McClelland was unhappy about being "caught out" perhaps he should consider cancelling his Australian passport again.
"It (the passport) has not, after all, proven terribly useful to me in the last 267 days of my detention without charge. Or perhaps he could do us all a favour, cancel his own passport and deport himself?" said Assange.
The one common element linking those named in the classified cable is an alleged connection with al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, now considered to be one of its most deadly franchises.
Many are accused of having direct contact with Anwar al-Awlaki, the US-born cleric allegedly connected to high-profile attacks.
Many of those named in the classified cable are either related by blood or marriage, including a mother and her two sons.
A lawyer acting for her dismissed the allegations as baseless in an interview with a Sydney newspaper. Others named have also rejected any wrongdoing.
McClelland said Yemen had become an increasingly important hub for al-Qaeda-associated terrorist activity, particularly as al-Qaeda encountered mounting pressure in Afghanistan, Pakistan and
Iraq.
"Australian authorities are working together with international partners to identify and mitigate threats, including by preventing Australians to travel overseas to undertake terrorism-related activity," he said. - guardian.co.uk.
Labels: AUSTRALIA, JULIAN ASSANGE, WIKILEAKS
Read more...
Forrest and Chinese companies fire new broadside on mining tax
This week the crème de la crème of global businessmen gathered in Sydney for the Forbes Global CEO Conference and some of their number blasted the minority Federal Gillard Government's intent to introduce higher taxes on iron ore and coal projects.
Author: Ross Louthean
Posted: Wednesday , 29 Sep 2010
PERTH -
Late this afternoon the chief executive of Australia's big new iron ore producer Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (ASX: FMG), Andrew "Twiggy" Forrest fired a new salvo at the intent of the Gillard Labor Government to persist with a Minerals Resource Rent Tax (MRRT).
Forrest said there were now infrastructure and mining investment concerns over the MRRT - indicating clearly he has little confidence in a pending independent study on the merits of the tax.
He said future investment in infrastructure is penalised by the MRRT because it doesn't allow infrastructure investment to be deducted against the tax. The tax suits only those players who already have their own infrastructure and who have always denied third party access.
"The three big mining companies deliberately designed this tax with no tax deductibility for infrastructure," Forrest said of the negotiations Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton and Xstrata held in Canberra for a new tax regime to placate the Government's thirst for revenue.
"Without infrastructure access or investment there will be no new mines. These three big miners know this and they are trying to shut the door to new entrants," Forrest said.
He considered the MRRT Transition Policy Group's inability to address infrastructure funding and construction -- crucial to development of new mines, jobs and export revenue - as being a clear indication of the Government's failure to recognise the impact of the MRRT on infrastructure development.
"The Government should encourage infrastructure development, instead they are inadvertently frustrating it," Forrest said.
"Under the proposed MRRT we will see the streets of Australia's mining industry empty of mining companies other than for these big players. When you look back you can blame the MRRT when those streets are all called BHP and Rio."
The Fortescue chief said that according to mining analyst estimates, BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Xstrata will pay less than A$1 billion (US$997 million) in MRRT revenue to the Government in the first year, casting further doubt over the design of the tax.
The tenuous position of the Gillard Government was shown on opening day today when her Government suffered a defeat in the House of Representatives - the first time a Government has suffered a Parliamentary defeat in the Lower House for more than 70 years.
Meanwhile, at the Forbes Conference and in China there was criticism reported today on the mining tax, with The Australian newspaper saying Chinese steelworks are upset with the extra tax Rio Tinto, BHP and Xstrata will pay on their coal and iron, for those costs would be passed on to Chinese steel mills.
Earlier this week Steve Forbes of the Forbes magazine empire told the high profile billionaires and multi millionaires attending the conference that Australia's top income tax rate should be cut to as low as 17%.
The world's richest man, Carlos Slim Helu, proved to be a thorn for the Gillard Government by saying its proposed A$43 billion (US$41.7 billion) national broadband proposal was far too expensive and too inflexible, and could be outmoded in a few years time. Financing the national broadband move was seen as being partly funded by increased taxes on Australian mining, with the sector believing that eventually other metals and minerals - notably gold and nickel - could be hit by elevated taxation.
Helu, ranked by Forbes magazine as being worth US$53.5 billion, has made much of his fortune from the communications business.
Labels: AUSTRALIA, GEORGE FORREST, WINDFALL TAX
Read more...
Howard snub: global power relations reconfigured
By: Nancy Lovedale
Posted: Saturday, July 3, 2010 4:42 am
Nancy Lovedale writes from Beijing China
THE failure by former Australian Prime Minister John Howard, in his bid to become International Cricket Council vice president and subsequently president in 2012 is a sign of the waning influence of the western world on the international scene.
It is also a sign that international power relations are being reconfigured. Mr Howard tried almost every trick in the book in his bid to become vice-president of ICC, yet failed.
The power players in the ICC could not accept the idea of having a man who once lobbied against imposing sanctions on the Apartheid regime of PW Botha and his predecessors in South Africa taking a key role in cricket -- a sport that is supposed to be unifying nations across the globe.
In fact, Mr Howard himself overstretched his importance in a world where the South and the East are increasingly becoming key players, and where the likes of him are no longer needed.
The days of the Empire are gone. His naivety in this regard was amazing.
The Telegraph of India reported that Mr Howard personally spoke to the Presidents/Prime Ministers of at least three of the seven Test-playing nations opposed to his candidature.
He even had the nerve and audacity to secretly jet into Zimbabwe to solicit support from the people who are "hungry" courtesy of his inhumanity.
That intense lobbying came to nought. No amount of diplomatic or other pressure could alter his chequered imperialistic history; or erase our experience with his regime.
Mr Howard even “threatened” to use his influence and get Australia to terminate “all aid” to Zimbabwe. He has terminated significant support already, and pushed millions of people in that country to abject poverty already.
The former Australian PM should know that Zimbabweans have developed some resilience to such pressures and the threat of further sanctions does not move Zimbabweans in any way. They have seen the worst and suffered the most.
In any case, Zimbabweans know that Australia needs our beloved country (and continent). Canadian companies are busy mining our diamonds. Why don't they pull out? Why are those companies not on the sanctions list?
EMBARASSED: Former Australian PM who campaigned against Nelson Mandela and against imposition of sanctions on the apartheid regime in South Africa, but imposed illegal sanctions on Zimbabwe for refusing to reverse the land reform policy that stood to benefit millions of blacks
Mr Howard's arrogance was shocking. He refused to back off even after Cricket Australia (CA) and New Zealand Cricket (NZC), who’d nominated him, apparently advised that the numbers just weren’t in his favour.
As far back as April, Mr Howard should have heeded the alarm bells ringing against him when the ICC’s Executive Board kept his nomination on hold. At that point, he should have called off his bid; but he didn't. With the arrogance akin to that of Britain, which still sees it appropriate to view itself as an "Empire", Mr Howard kept on fighting until he was embarassed earlier this week.
He reminds me of another former pime minister, Gordon Brown, who tried to push the UN Security Council to pass a sanctions resolution on Zimbabwe. Brown ran around with pictures of MDC activists who were allegedly tortured by Zanu-PF, when he was killing thousands in Afghanistan.
Mr Howard's “friends” in the Foreign Office in Canberra could not even wield enough clout to push for his presidency of the ICC. They simply can't. India is a powerhouse, South Africa is also one. They are emerging economies with enough influence on the global scheme of things.
Even "Great" Britain this year could not resist the temptation to invite Cde Jacob Zuma to the palace. They need South Africa, and needed those lucrative deals at the World Cup. Unfortunately, Cde Zuma "sold off" some of the major contracts to Tesco, etc which is the official food supplier at the 2010 World Cup, among other Anglo-American contractors.
Mr Howard and his friends got it very wrong, and suffered defeat indeed.
India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, South Africa, Zimbabwe and the West Indies didn’t want to have anything to do with Mr Howard. His tenure as PM was controversial and no amount of public diplomacy would have rescued him.
Anglo-Saxon countries, Australia, New Zealand and England, were the only ones backing Mr Howard. That, too, owing to compulsions.If it wasn't for that, they would have also saved themselves the embarassment of supporting such a caustic character.
Mr Howard should realise that the days of the "Empire" are gone. The west can still claim superiority, but at its own demise.
China and India have over half the world population and together wield a lot of economic and political power. Africa has all the mineral resources the west needs: platinum, copper, gold, diamonds, etc. The Middle East has almost all the oil.
This leaves the west with "nothing". Global relations in this century are exciting and the shift in the balance of power to the East and the South is a sure sign that global politics is no longer business as usual; and the likes of Mr Howard are merely "tiny dots".
When countries like Britain and the U.S. struggle to change the political landscape of a country like Afghanistan, can they be entrusted with managing international conflicts?
With all their military might, the Taliban with its archaic weaponry can still claim that they are winning the war.
Strange occurences indeed! To Mr Howard we say, "Bon voyage! You won't be missed".
_____________________
Nancy Lovedale writes from Beijing, China. She is an avid supporter of Dynamos FC and Arsenal FC and can be reached via: nancy_lovedale@yahoo.com
Labels: AUSTRALIA, CRICKET, ICC, JOHN HOWARD, SANCTIONS
Read more...
White slavery: Britain’s shameful secret
By Kathy Marks in Sydney, Australia
IT sounded like an adventure camp to the pale-faced youngsters who emerged blinking into the sunlight at Fremantle, in Western Australia, after their six-month voyage from Southampton.
Among them was Laurie Humphreys, looking forward to his new life in the "land of milk and honey", where food was plentiful and children rode to school on horses, so he had been told.
It was September 1947, and the SS Asturias had just docked in Fremantle with 147 boys and girls, the first to arrive under a post-war plan to empty overflowing British orphanages and repopulate the former colonies with "good white stock".
Humphreys and other boys were dispatched to Bindoon, an isolated institution 60 miles north of Perth, run by the Christian Brothers, a Catholic lay order.
The first shock was the desolate landscape; the second was the place itself, an abandoned farm property. It was the boys who were to build Bindoon, and children as young as 10 were set to work, constructing schools, dormitories and kitchens. They hacked at the ground with picks and shovels, and mixed concrete by hand in the blazing heat. Those unable to cope with the backbreaking labour were flogged, sometimes until their bones were fractured.
But the routine thrashings — meted out for "offences" as trivial as bed-wetting or stealing fruit to supplement a miserable diet consisting mainly of bread and dripping — were not the worst of it. Sexual abuse was rife at Bindoon, and the boys dubbed their religious guardians the "Christian Buggers". This grim regime was presided over by Brother Francis Keaney, 6ft tall and 17 stone. "I guess you could call him a sadist," says Humphreys, one of an estimated 10 000 British children sent to Australia between 1947 and 1967.
While Bindoon was especially brutal, conditions there were replicated in numerous other institutions and for decades the "lost children of the Empire", as they are sometimes known, have been lobbying for official recognition. Last week they finally achieved one of their goals, when the Australian government announced it would offer them a formal apology, similar to the one delivered to the "Stolen Generations" of Aboriginal children last year.
It has been a long time coming. In 1998 a House of Commons select committee described the migration scheme as "Britain’s shameful secret". An inquiry by the Australian Senate in 2001 heard stories of rape, abuse and cruelty, including children scrambling for breadcrumbs on the floor and a boy being forced to shoot and skin a horse he considered his only friend.
Almost as shocking was the deceit that had been practised on children who had been robbed of their country, roots and identity. "We were told we were orphans, that we had no one," says Mick Snell, who has bleak memories of Dalmar House in Sydney, managed by the Methodist Wesley Mission. In fact, Snell had been given up as a baby because he was illegitimate. Other children were placed in care by impoverished families.
Jean Costello spent 10 years in St Joseph's orphanage in Perth, run by the Catholic Sisters of Mercy. She, too, believed herself an orphan. Like many child migrants, she returned to Britain in the 1990s to try to trace her family. She learnt that her mother and father had lived well into their 70s. By that time, though, both were dead.
Although children were also shipped to Canada, Rhodesia and New Zealand, Australia became the favoured destination after the war. The young immigrants were cheap to house and a good source of labour. And, importantly, they were white. As the Archbishop of Perth declared in 1938, at a time when Australia was desperate to boost its population: "If we do not supply from our own stock, we are leaving ourselves all the more exposed to the menace of the teeming millions of our neighbouring Asian races."
The apology has been welcomed by some. "You have no idea what this means to me," says Snell, originally from Yorkshire. "All I want is for them to admit it was wrong, and for my kids to be able to understand me a bit better." But to others, it means little. "I wonder how they think making an apology can right the wrong that was done," Costello says. "They turn your life upside down, they deprive you of ever knowing your mum and dad."
Many former child migrants, who were as young as three when they were transported to the other side of the world, are still profoundly affected. Some never formed adult relationships; others are alcoholics. John Hennessy, a former Bindoon boy, speaks with a stutter – a legacy, he says, of being stripped naked and publicly flogged. "A lot are starting to top themselves," says Snell, who admits he found it hard to show affection to his six children. In recent years, Snell has been afflicted by nightmares. "I sleep in a separate bedroom because I’m afraid I’m going to swing out and maybe hurt my wife. I dream I’m back there and I’m locked up, being verbally abused and whacked. I wake up in a cold sweat."
The worst thing about Dalmar House, which was infested with rats, and where he got up before 4am to milk the cows and worked until dark, six days a week, was the loneliness. "You had no one to turn to," he says. No one showed the children any affection — unless you count the outsiders who turned up to take the younger boys out for the day. Snell remarks: "I know for a fact they were rock spiders [paedophiles]. The kids that were involved, they didn’t like talking about it."
Humphreys believes the British government should apologise, too. So far, it has only expressed "sympathy and sincere regrets", although it has helped to fund airfares back to the UK. Britain claims it thought it was sending the children to a better life. "But they didn't do too much checking once we got here," says Humphreys.
At Bindoon, the threat of violence was ever present. The brothers carried a strap consisting of four pieces of leather stitched together and a metal weight. Humphreys recalls one particularly vindictive man who "gave me one hell of a hiding" after he tried to protect a younger boy.
There was no teaching at Bindoon, and he knows several former inmates who still cannot read or write. Aged 14, he worked as a truck driver. All that sustained the children was each other. "You had good mates, and we were all in the hardship game together. And you knew nothing better. You knew nothing of love and affection. I can't recall being given a Christmas or birthday present until I was married."
After Costello left the orphanage, she had a breakdown and was admitted to a psychiatric hospital. The transition to a world where "you can go and clean your teeth or wash your hair without asking permission" was too difficult.
Snell hopes the apology will enlighten his fellow Australians. "Most people don’t even know about the child migrants," he says. "They say to me: ‘You’re a £10 Pom (an Englishman who migrated under an assisted package).’ I say: ‘No I’m not. I got deported out here."
Humphreys observes that many of his friends have died without hearing an apology. He likens the child migrants to the Stolen Generations. "Whether you’re black, white or brindle, they were saying we know what’s best for you. We were stolen, too." — www.independent.co.uk
Labels: AUSTRALIA, CATHOLIC CHURCH, CHILD ABUSE
Read more...
Australia reconsidering sanctions against Zimbabwe
Ralph Mutema
Tue, 15 Sep 2009 09:26:00 +0000
AUSTRALIA will consider easing the illegal sanctions imposed against the Zimbabwe after a European delegation indicated at the weekend that significant progress had been made in the implementation of the Global Political Agreement.
That country's Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said on Tuesday the country will consider "lifting a ban on high level contacts with Zimbabwe".
Although the country says there are targetted sanctions against President Robert Mugabe and other Zanu PF officials, there are a number of sanctions imposed on Zimbabwean companies that limit trading with Australia and the West.
Smith, in a statement to parliament, said Australia would also contribute an extra "US$6.9 million in aid to Zimbabwe to fund emergency food supplies, agriculture projects and help reinvigorate education."
Smith, echoing a statement made by the Movement for Democratic Change party over the weekend, said more needed to be done to fully implement the power sharing agreement signed a year ago between President Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai, now Prime Minister.
MDC-T party has called for the ousting of Attorney General Johannes Tomana and Reserve Bank Governor Gideon Gono, whose appointments were beyond the scope of the Global Political Agreement and was done six months before the signing of the agreement.
"Much more significant progress will be required before the Australian Government undertakes any broader review of Australia's sanctions with respect to Zimbabwe," he said, also echoing a weekend statement by EU officials who visited Zimbabwe over the weekend.
A European Union delegation visited Zimbabwe and said relations were entering a new phase. The EU said "full cooperation hinged on the implementation of the power sharing deal".
President Mugabe says everything agreed in the GPA has been implemented except the swearing in of Deputy Agricultural Minister designate Roy Bennet, who faces charges of treason. He wants him cleared of the charges before he is sworn in.
Smith said there were growing signs of hope and optimism in Zimbabwe, with major improvements to the country's economy and health system.
Australia in 2002 banned direct ministerial contact with government ministers in Zimbabwe, and in 2004 imposed sanctions against Zimbabwe. Australia also tightened scrutiny of student visas for the children of senior Zimbabwean government officials.
It was now time for Canberra to consider working with some Zimbabwean government ministries and to look at direct ministerial engagement with some government members, Smith said.
"Australia will consider opportunities for ministerial engagement on a selective case-by-case basis with those ministers of the Zimbabwean government who we judge to be making a real and genuine contribution to Zimbabwe's social and economic recovery," he said.
Labels: AUSTRALIA, SANCTIONS, ZDERA
Read more...
Australia not lifting sanctions against Zim
Associated Press reporter/Our reporter
Wed, 17 Sep 2008 10:29:00 +0000
AUSTRALIA’S foreign minister says sanctions against Zimbabwe will not be lifted, despite the signing of a historic power-sharing deal by the leaders of the African nation. Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said Tuesday that sanctions would be reviewed
depending on human rights progress and
social and economic reconstruction. Smith welcomed the agreement signed Monday by President Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai as "modest progress."
"From a very low base, this is modest progress," he told Parliament. "The proof will be in the actual implementation and we certainly wish that Mr Tsvangirai has a full and complete opportunity to advance the interests of his people."
He said the Aussie Government would also consider increasing the humanitarian food aid to Zimbabwe.
"Depending upon progress, we will look to whether it's possible for Australia to increase its humanitarian assistance to Zimbabwe, and also whether capacity building development assistance is also appropriate," Smith said.
The sanctions include a ban on non-humanitarian aid, prohibition of defense links, and restrictions on financial transactions and visas for members of some government and business leaders.
Associated Press/Zim Guardian
Labels: AUSTRALIA, SANCTIONS, ZIMBABWE
Read more...
China criticizes Aussie newspaper report on Zim
Ralph Mutema
Thu, 24 Jul 2008 04:02:00 +0000
CHINA has refuted claims by an Australian newspaper that Air Zimbabwe’s scheduled civilian flights to China engaged in illicit trade dealings and dismissed the report as ‘malicious’ and meant to discredit China's relationship with African countries.
Australia’s The Age newspaper reported on Tuesday that flights of an Air Zimbabwe Boeing 767-200 to Beijing and southern China, via Singapore, have been used to transport goods including ivory, gold and diamonds.
“Flights from Harare, also carrying tonnes of illicit goods including ivory, gold and diamonds, pass directly through Australian air space en route to Singapore before touching down in Beijing and southern China,” alleged The Age on its website.
The report was dismissed by China as non-existent news and said the reporters of the newspaper “lack … basic professional ethics” adding that this “would finally ruin their reputation and credibility.”
The newspaper reports was also refuted by Australia’s Foreign Minister Stephen Smith and Transport Minister Anthony who issued a joint statement saying: “Air Zimbabwe flights between Harare and China via Singapore do not fly through air space over Australian territory, but through international air space managed by Airservices Australia on behalf of the International Civil Aviation Organisation.”
A spokesman for the Zimbabwe embassy in Canberra, Felix Nyamupinga, was reported by the Associated Press saying he knew of only one instance a month ago, during his three years in Australia of a Zimbabwe-registered plane gaining clearance to enter Australian air space.
The Age newspaper has taken a negative stance on Zimbabwe recently. On Wednesday it called the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the two main parties a ‘vague’ deal, notwithstanding the fact that it was not a ‘deal’, but an agreement to engage in talks.
In an article entitled, “Zimbabwe foes begin talks,” The Age’s Johannesburg correspondent Craig Timberg said the the ‘deal’ left aside “nearly every key question about Zimbabwe's future.”
In another article on E.U. sanctions against Zimbabwe, The Age newspaper claimed that Zimbabwe’s First Lady, Grace Mugabe was on the sanctions list. The list availed to the Zimbabwe Guardian does not show her name on that new list.
Labels: AUSTRALIA, CHINA, COLOUR REVOLUTIONS, SANCTIONS, ZIMBABWE
Read more...
Media must tell Britain to resolve land impasse
EDITOR — Going through news items on Zimbabwe, one cannot help but feel very sad, especially when one realises that a pottage of soup can easily erode the gains of our struggle for independence. Twenty-eight years down the line, I actually wonder where all the revolutionaries have gone. As Zimbabwe consolidates the gains of the liberation struggle, where are the revolutionaries who will carry the mantra of the struggle to infinity?
Has revolution been made a dirty word by the Western mindset with their claims of creating a circle of freedom, even among diametrically opposed people? Will Zimbabwe be traded for buzzwords such as "new", "change", "democracy", "rule of law", "transparency"?
As the battle for Zimbabwe continues, a battle which started in 1890 when British colonialists set foot on our soil, and not only claimed our land as their own, but went on to pillage and plunder it, it is interesting to note that it is in the
media especially that this battle is being fought.
However, it is also saddening to note that some of the media have not only succeeded in polarising our society, but they have also managed to divert attention to the heart of the Zimbabwean matter: the reclamation of or land which the Zimbabwean Government did through the land reform programme.
The Bible says: "My people perish for lack of knowledge". Australian-born A.B. Facey’s book "A Fortunate Life" is an eye-opener on land reform in Australia in the early 20th century, something that many, especially Zimbabweans in Australia should know about.
It is, therefore, folly that the only people the media always call upon to talk to the Zimbabwean Government is either President Mbeki, the Sadc or the African Union.
The same media were, however, only too happy in March to celebrate Heidi Holland’s just published book, "Dinner with Mugabe", when, in fact, Holland makes reference to the land issue and Clare Short’s damning letter where the Blair government reneged on its responsibility on the land issue.
This same media are not only willing to condemn the illegal sanctions that are strangling people’s lives, and they do not seem to be in a hurry to call for dialogue between Harare and London to resolve this impasse.
It is common knowledge that the media is a trendsetter and it can influence policy for the betterment of the Zimbabwean people.
It is at a time like this that it should rise to the occasion and start telling London that it has some unfinished business in Zimbabwe.
For, we can say it in whatever way we say it, even belittling it, but LAND is central issue in this saga.
Tirondi Tambwera.
Harare.
Labels: AUSTRALIA, LAND REFORM, NEOCOLONIALISM, ZIMBABWE
Read more...
