The adage that “when you point one finger at another, four other fingers point back to you” aptly describes the Australian prime minister’s statement after his country’s withdrawal from a cricket tour in Zimbabwe last month. “The Mugabe regime is behaving like the Gestapo towards its political opponents,” said John Howard(pic). The statement is not surprising coming from Howard, known for his strong support for any policies adapted by European and American leaders. The Howard government recently outdid its Western masters in the war on terror, announcing that it would begin banning and restricting materials that it deemed to be promoting ‘terrorism’.
Six Asia-Pacific countries – the US, China, India, Australia, Japan and South Korea – held a conference, the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate, in Sydney (Australia) on January 11. It was their reaction to the conference held in Montreal in December by the signatories of the original Kyoto Protocols in order to renew and extend those Protocols.
Like his British counterpart, Australian prime minister John Howard is finding that being hand in glove with Bush et. al. means having difficulty sleeping soundly at home.
Australian politicians and pundits are lining up to express their dismay at the return of racism to public life, urging the electorate not to vote for Ms Pauline Hanson’s One Nation Party in the snap October 3 election called partly to contain its growing threat to the main political parties.
