Federal Minister Dubbed An "Unmitigated Liar"

Chronicle (Levin), 11 March 1948, Page 6

Federal Minister Dubbed An "Unmitigated Liar"

Received Wednesday, 7.40 p.m. t ' SYDNEY, Mareh 10. Allegations that the Minister of External Territdries (Mr. E. J. Ward) was " an unmitigat.ed liar" and. that "no one would hah^ a. dog on anything he said," \yere rnade by Mx.» Simon Isaacs, barrister, In a scatMng address in the special^ Federal . Court today. John Sniit'h Garden, his son Harcourt Garden, Edward Farrell and Raymond Parer, were later committed . for trial hy the Magistrate ,Qn cliarges of having -conspired to. defraud a Brisbane timher firrn of.large suhis of money. Challenging the jurisdiction of the special Federal Court to deal with ■ what he descrihed, as a common law conspiracy, Mr. Isaacs, who was defending Garden, said: "The inevitable and inescapable . conclusion is that this ih not a genuine and hona iide prosecution but a political smokescreen devised to protect Ward. It deceives nohody and there is no rhyme or reason why this Court should he selected as a, forum for these proceedings. The Conunonwealth Crown is sticking its nose into the prosecution which does not concern it one scrap. ' ' The whole case stripped of its veneer and frills • is reduced ' to a simple proposition and depends wholly •and solely on Ward's veracity. Ward gets no special consideration because he is a Cabinet Minister. It is not the first tiihe that a person without credence has heen found to ohtain a high position in a Government office. We judge Ward not on any myth of sanctity hut on his evidence in the box."