W. Burchett, "Passport, An Autobiography", Thomas Nelson (Australia), 1969.

Reviewed by Rob Campbell

A good autobiography is never autobiographical at all — it transcends itself to become a history of its time. The extent to which it does so is a measure of the greatness of its subject. Before he became a journalist, Burchett's story has himself as subject. From the time of his first press dispatch, his subject is the people he meets

"My concept of reporting is not just to record history but to help shape it in the right direction...I believe reporters should regard their responsibilities as being above contractual obligations to editors...(they) cannot remain coldly aloof and objective when basic human issues are involved."

Journalism often seems a vicarious sort of existence, and the stature of the journalist often seems to depend upon the people he interviews. To some extent this is true of Burchett, though he has achieved an identificalion with the struggles he describes which enables him to unify his practice with his writing.

"Passport" is divided into three sections. The first deals with Burchett's early life in Australia, mainly with his experience of the depression; the second, and longest section deals with his work in Southeast Asia as a foreign correspondent; and the short third section deals with his difficulties in travel etc. caused by the refusal of the Australian authorities to grant him a passport.

Burchett himself notes that it is in many ways too early for him to write his autobiography, and indeed much of the present volume has already been published elsewhere. Still there is great value in the book, especially as it was published while the controversy over the official Australian attitude to him still raged, Burchett has now been welcomed back into Australia, after many years as an exile. He was previously not even allowed back into the country to attend his father's funeral.

Why is it that a journalist has provoked so much controversy?

Part of the answer lies in Burchett's conception of reporting. "As members of the human race ! believe reporters should regard their responsibilities as being above contractual obligations to editors ... A reporter is not an electronic computer digesting dispassionately the facts with which it is confronted. He is endowed with reason and conscience bequeathed by many centuries of human experience. He cannot remain coldly aloof and objective when basic human issues are involved. My concept of reporting is not just to record history but to help shape it in the right direction". Hence Burchett's leading roles in the world campaigns for nuclear disarmament (he was the first allied journalist to visit Hiroshima) as well as the world movement in support of the Vietnamese struggle, he has travelled and lived for extended periods with the liberation forces in Vietnam, since the time of the French defeats.

The other part of the answer will be clear already, that is Burchett's tenacious insistence on going to the root of matters, to see for himself what is happening. He has done this in China, Japan and Indochina at great personal risk. Coupled to this is his refusal to accept the press handouts which dominate western news-making Indeed during the Korean settlement negotiations, Burchett was continually correcting United States press information through his contact with the Korean and Chinese diplomats us well as personal ventures into the war zones. The outstanding example is his chapter dealing with United States' use of germ warfare in Korea, which was denied at the time, thoroughly investigated by Burchett, and is now tacitly admitted by the Americans.

Indeed it was Burchett's activities during the Korean war which really put him offside with his home government, particularly the part he played in visiting prisoner of war camps and telling prisoners about the situation of the negotiations. Though reactions to his visits varied from the enthusiastic to the decidedly hostile (for example the Australian prisoners who told him they had come to kill 'commies' and would like to kill him) among the prisoners, he was officially denounced as having participated in 'brain-washing'! Burchett convincingly deals with these charges and his activities which gave rise to them.

The Committee on Vietnam is selling "Passport" for just $1.00 to coincide with Burchett's impending visit to this country. I thoroughly recommend it as 300 pages of excellent reading for anyone who wants to see what journalism can really be like. "Passport" is also available for the same price from the 'Salient' office.