Mr. Calwell Charges Dutch Officials

Chronicle (Levin), 10 February 1949, Page 5

Mr. Calwell Charges Dutch Officials

(N.Z.P.A.-

-Reuter.

CozwriQht)

Received Thursday, 10.55 a.m. CANBERRA, Feb. 10. "Dutch officials, in . this eountry have been'playihg a tricky game about the repatriation of their nationais • and the repayment of their debts," charged the Minister of Immigration, Mr. Calwell in the House of Representatives. Following up his previous allegation that the Dutch planned to embarrass the Australian Government because Australia had sent representatives to the Asian con(ference at New Delhi, he added: "They owe us £2000 for the repatriation of their citizens, but they claim that this is a sort of lend-lease. They even came to Au'stralia and said we owed them money, but eventually agreed to .pay us £8,000,000 for debts incurred lin Australia during the war. I "You can have a White Australia or a Black Australia, but a mongrel Australia is impossible. I am • not going to take the flrst steps to ■establish preced'ents which will open the floodgates." He was referring to' the departmental order .that Mrs. O'Keefe, the Indonesian married to the Australian, must leave the eountry or be deported. Charges have been made that the Dutch Government bore the experts e and was responsible for the eirculation of the report that Sultan Hamid threatened to expel Australians from West Borneo if Mrs. O'Keefe was deported from Australia. Correspondents allegv that Sultan Hamid's threat was released in Singapore from The Hague, and constituted a Dutch attempt to embarrass the Australian Government.