Pointing Up The Foreign Devil

From a Noumea correspondent Ironically, both French and Australian political groups recently had or feature in common : during their May electoral campaigns members of eat country were pointing to the other to frighten voters with examples of w i they did not want to happen to them.

' The French were, of course, voting for a new president of the Kepubli while Australians were choosing a new national parliament. ... T/ , On the French side, Noumea supporters of right-wing candidate Valei Giscard d’Estaing warned islanders about the dangers of voting for sociali Francois Mitterand, leader of the left-wing coalition. Giscard a Estaing s loc election committee, headed by Caledonian Senator Henri Lafleur were poir ins to the Whitlam socialist government when they published the stateme “Look at our Australian neighbours, on the brink of disaster after only short experience with a regime which is very similar to the (rrenc ) e] wins coalition programme”. . ... At the same time, back in Australia, a small anti-socialist group seekii the preservation of constitutional monarchy sought to frighten local rad listeners against voting Whitlam-socialist, with the dread warning Do yc want a republic—as in France, or South America? , No doubt the French would be just as dismayed at this latter referee as Australians would be at the former.