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GV EXT. State House
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GV INT. Senator Willessee seated
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SV Newsmen seated
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CU Willessee seated speaking
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GV Willessee with newsmen
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CU Willessee continues speaking
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WILLESSEE: "Now the things that we sad when we became a Government because we thought we ought to state or state very clearly where a Labour Party stood in the field of world affairs....and we said that we were going to aim to take a more independent stance in the world and we were going to throw off the stigma of racism which had descended on our country over a period of years; that we were going to uplift our own Aborigine population that had been neglected over the years; and that our attitude to countries both big and small were going to be a brother relationship and not a father and son relationship.



"We have been very definite on South Africa...We have condemned apartheid, we have condemned racialism we will not play sport against teams that are not selected on merit but selected on race, we will not let these teams transit through out country...if...unless they are selected on merit, and not on racist grounds. So we have displayed, you know, very clearly our attitude to apartheid in South Africa. We didn't believe there was something in Rhodesia, we believed there was a stretching of that paragraph of protocol or whatever the term is, end we cancelled that immediately. There was an Australian working for Rhodesia, we immediately cancelled his passport, while he works for an illegal regime. So we have tightened up and made very clear Australia's attitude since the second of December 1972, which is only six months ago. We immediately said that the United Nations sanctions had to be carried out. While we condemned these regimes and the things they're doing, we don't like to give our blessings to armed rebellions....and I think violence begets violence and I think it's always a cause for regret when arms are finally used."




Initials SGM/1719 SGM/1745



Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

Background: The Australian Special Minister of State, Senator Donald Willessee, said on Friday (15 June) that Australia would not support any armed struggle aimed at solving the problems of racism and apartheid in southern Africa. However, he said Australia's ruling Labour Party had promised to throw off the stigma of racism which had descended on Australia over a period of years.

He was speaking at a news conference at the State House in Ghana's capital, Accra. Senator Willessee was on a tour of six African countries and spent four days in Ghana.