Mulrennan an MCP?

As a strong supporter of the Vic Women's Choice Club and of the slogan, "a woman's right to choose", I personally resent the letter written by Patrick Mulrennan. What a condescending male chauvinist prick e.g. "The fight for the right to abortion teaches women (and those who support their fight) . . . ." I'm sick of people like Patrick forcing their arrogant so-called socialist ideas down my and other women's throats. Stick to selling socialist Action.

The Voice of the new right

I believe I represent the great majority of students but unlike them I have decided to waste some time to express a few truths about the state of student politics. Unfortunately it is a great nasty vocal minority of namby pambies who get publicity around this University. They are usually members of horrible trendy-lefty groups, extremist lesbian feminists and other naive socialista and socialogists.

It is indeed a great misfortune that this very newspaper had been infoltrated by such misguided and [unclear: n aively] idealistic students.

On page 1 of Salient last week there was an article about Hunter. What a waste of time. We don't want to save Hunter and furthermore we don't! You know as well as everybody it will be pulled down and good riddence to it I say. I'd like a nice new skyscraper on the site anyway—I'm sure many other students feel the same way.

Turning the page I come across what may only be described as out and out wanking. Don't get me wrong. I'm not referring to the reporting on SRC last week but rather the views expressed there. I mean whats all this garbage about trying to stop the passing of the SIS Bill. I along with many students and good NZ citizens feel this is an excellent piece of legislation. Nothing these nasty namby pambies and trendy lefties say in SRC is going to make any difference at all. Of course the Bill will go through and so it should. As for the despicible character who has found it necessary to spray his perverted protests on the various buildings around the campus I fee) he should be biched. When I get into power it will be one of my policies to see that such vandalism attracts the strongest punitive measures.

So they held a mass rally for Women's Sufferage Day last week! All of approximately 100 people turned up—a great mass rally. I mean what the hell were they trying to acheive I know exactly what they achieved—Absolutely nothing. Oh yes. I'm sure a few feminists have gone home feeling warm Inside doing their thing for the cause they believe. Dont they understand they are Just wasting their time if they have such energy and desire to help society how about working to ensure that Rob Muldoon's government gets into power at the next election. Not that he needs our help but I feel sure that a little bit of effort on their part to see what Robert is really saying will go a long way to open their eyes to the real political reality of this country.

Democracy threatened—what a Joke. We don't have a democracy in this country and god help us if we ever do. What we need is a benevolent dictatorship. The first fundamental fact about any political reality is that most people don't know what's good for them. There are a few of us that do. We are presently working to acheive BCAs, LLBs and other 'useful' degrees in order that we may put out policies into effect.

Finally, I have the greatest confidence in fact I know that my views and opinions will represent the political reality of this country when I'm forty. In order to appreciate the true reality of politics all one needs to do is to look at human nature. I personally have the greatest faith in mankind, he has survived thousands of years already and I'm sure he will continue to survive in some form or other.

The Con-man who beat the SIS

In 1940 our powerful allies (British) "required" New Zealand to set up a security intelligence bureau. The British as part of their "requirement", "especially recommended" a Lieutenant Folkes to control the SIB for New Zealand. He was a pom, lent specially to NZ for the purpose.

So Folkes was Jumped to major and appointed director of the security intelligence bureau, controlling civil and military security in NZ reporting directly to the Prime Minister.

In Professor F.L.W. Wood's official war history 'The New Zealand People at War', the author states, "The bureau never seems to have functioned satisfactorily .... Folkes himself seems to have been unsuited to his responsibilities many of his subordinates lacked at least the training necessary for them .... The bureau was in fact received with general uneasiness and distrust .... the suspicion that it was accumulating lurid reports without the inclination to check or the capacity to evaluate them was confirmed in the most startling fashion in mid-1942. On 28 March 1942, the day following his release from Waikeria reformatory, an individual with an extensive criminal history, including convictions for false pretences obtained an interview with the Minister of Works, Mr Semple with a story of having been approached by enemy agents. Semple took him to Prime Minister Fraser, who passed him on to Major Folkes.

Over the ensuing three months he seems to have convinced Folkes and, it would appear, some members of war cabinet, that four Nazi agents had arrived by submarine and were living in Rotorua, that contacts had been made with fifth columnists throughout the country and plans made for extensive sabotage and the assassination of leading Cabinet Ministers prior to the landing of an invasion force at New Plymouth. Meanwhile, in pursuit of the conspirators, Folkes' informant, supplied with ample funds by the SIB and accompanied by its agents, toured the North Island. The police were not informed, though from their observation of the individual concerned they began to discover what was happening; nor were the chiefs of staff until, in the closing stages Folkes asked them for a large body of military personnel in order to round up the conspirators. He also asked the Prime Minister, unsuccessfully for special powers, apparently to arrest and detain the considerable number of completely innocent people who had been accused of complicity in the affair. Kraser's suspicions were growing and, some time in July he requested the police to investigate. They had little difficulty in exposing the affair as a hoax.

Despite a devastating report on the case and on the general work of the bureau by the Attorney-General, dated 18 September, and a chiefs of staff paper dated 22 December recommending the immediate dismissal of its head, it was not until 19 February that the Prime Minister wrote directing Folkes to hand over control of his organisation to the superintendent of police!!

I do not....know to what extent it is true that the con-man who'd fooled a whole government had in fact been given military rank and made deputy director of the SIB, or whether he was taken to Court, nor what happened to Folkes and the other SIB staffers. Mind you I think comment could be made about the many interesting parallels between the operations of the SIS 1974, and the SIB 1944, following the Sutch case.

But as we now know following the Sinclair at fair, the SIS will not allow even acdemics acess to even the most paltry records and therefore knowledge of this interesting little segment of New Zealand history will be kept away from prying eyes, and as a result form people who may want to tell a tale of what happens when a secret service gets out of hand.

—Graeme Christie.

Women in Nazi Society (cont.)

This week I went on a Botany field trip so was able to peruse a few more pages of Salient (Sept 12) than usual, at my leisure.

Lindy Cassidy's history lesson entitled "Women in Nazi Society" held my attention to the end. A quick-march through a forest of statistics on women's education revealed Lindy's "stinging nettle"—the current legislation based on the findings of the Royal Commission on Contraception. Sterilization, and Abortion.

Ms Cassidy then utilized scare tactics i.e. referred to the Economic Crisis, before making the ludicrous statement that "In NZ . . . women are losing the right to control their reproductive lives". But we all know that contraceptives have never been more freely available or widely used in this country.

Lindy then intimates that in Nazi Germany morality and personal happiness were secondary to children. It seems that Lindy thinks that children i.e. young people, should be second to Lindy's brand of morality and personal happiness.

Lindy, I use the one civil liberty left to me as a woman in New Zealand, to protest, and suggest that NZers are putting morality to the fore (Royal Commission) by advocating a respect for young human life.

Warning! Do not use

With regard to your advertisement last week for comfortable and safe contraceptives. I feel I must warn your readers that the items "with collar" are likely to give the user a rash. This is because the collars are made of felt.

You placed an advertisement last week for contraceptives, "Normal" or "With collar". I should like to know why the Association refuses to sell the very popular "attachable balaclava" variety.