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8 Aust. & N.Z. J. Criminology 1 (1975)

handle is hein.journals/anzjc8 and id is 1 raw text is: AUST. & N.Z. JOURNAL OF CRIMINOLOGY (March, 1975): 8,1 EDITORIAL Look, I don't give a damn what you say WE ARE becoming used to politicians commentating on such matters as the quality of life and law and order and making promises to implement programs designed to promote such splendid aims. However, there is a powerful case to be argued that if government and the Parliament, that is the politicians, are to be increasingly engaged in various attempts at winning a trick at every opportunity by almost any means then the rest of society and, perhaps more importantly, the more youthful and sceptical strata of society, will look askance at the leaders and take no heed of the platitudes uttered by the politicians but rather follow their example. Political leadership would appear to be more and more suspect and one thinks of the scandals associated with the names of Profumo, Lords Lambton and Jellicoe, Steiner in West Germany and some others but these pale into in- significance when Watergate is considered. These matters must give rise to real anxiety, but again, of greater concern, is the more general run of the mill behav- iour of the legislators in the parliament. It would be hard to applaud the Federal Parliament for the standard of their debates, their juvenile interjections and their general behaviour, as interpreted through the medium of radio. More re- cently the alleged attempts at winning a marginal advantage by tricky ma- noeuvres (here one recalls the names of Gair, Murphy, Bunton) can only indicate to all and sundry that it is clever to be devious and cynical and that a person espousing the philosphy that the end is all important and the means to that end of little moment is an individual of outstanding ability. This type of attitude, trans- lated from a few politicians to the whole of society can only augur a reductiop in our quality of life and less order even if more law. The 27th February 1975 must be looked upon as a day for sorrow when one thinks in terms of political leaders really attempting to show qualities of lead- ership. The Australian' had a front page line reading, Parliament in chaos - in Canberra, Sydney, Adelaide, Washington and London. In Adelaide the Leader of the Opposition was suspended, and as he left the Chamber a colleague called to the Government benches, You are just a gang of thugs; in Sydney the police were called to eject a former Premier who refused the President's order to stop speaking and resume his seat (in the end the police were not called upon to act); and in Canberra a Minister replied to Mr. Speaker, who demanded Order, 'Look, I don't give a damn what you say. I.... When asked by Mr. Speaker if he would apologise the Prime Minister interjected No. This quite awful dialogue led to a division with the Prime Minister leading his.,Government against the motion which supported the Chair. As members crossed sides to vote the Prime Minister spoke to Mr. Speaker, and is alleged by some Opposition members to have said: You bloody idiot. You've stuffed it now. I Mr. Speaker was vir- tually forced to resign by his own party members. The Editorial in The Austra- lian reads, in part:3 I, The Australian, 28 February I15 2. Ibid p.5 3 IbId p.10

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