The attack last week on Jewish immigration to Australia by former Prime Minister Robert G. Menzies, who said that the number of Jewish refugees allowed to enter was disproportionate, has evoked vigorous criticism from Labor Party spokesmen.
The rise in anti-Semitism in the commonwealth is a result of the persistent propaganda being carried on by anti-Semitic groups and publications and not the entry of a small number of refugees, Minister of Immigration Arthur A. Calwell said. He condemned the Sydney Bulletin, which carries weekly cartoons reminiscent of those which appeared in Juliue Streicher’s Der Stuermer, and the Adelaide News, which he described as “a public instrument of anti-Semitism,”reflecting a sinister development in Australian journalism.
Replying to Ken Bolton, president of the Returned Servicemen’s League, who had questioned the accuracy of Calwell’s figures on the number of immigrants admitted, the Minister offered to open his files to inspection. He charged Bolton with adopting the attitude of a political Jew-baiter based on hysterical prejudice.
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