Fed: Government rejects vote on war with Iraq
By Don Woolford
CANBERRA, Feb 17 AAP - The federal government today ruled out allowing the Australianpeople to vote on whether the nation should go to war against Iraq.
Foreign Minister Alexander Downer rejected a call by Greens leader Bob Brown for aplebiscite on war.
Buoyed by the massive anti-war demonstrations around Australia on the weekend, SenatorBrown said Prime Minister John Howard should seek the view of the Australian public.
A plebiscite -- similar to ones held over conscription during World War I -- wouldshow how far out of touch Mr Howard was with the Australian people, Senator Brown said.
"He needs to put down the phone from the White House and take up the phone from theAustralian people," Senator Brown said.
Mr Downer said the government was elected by the Australian people to make decisionsin their best interest.
"The government will keep in place arrangements that have existed throughout Australianhistory," he said.
Cabinet would decide if Australia would join a war, with parliament then debating the decision.
Mr Downer and deputy Prime Minister John Anderson today downplayed the significanceof the demonstrations.
The Foreign Minister said that a wide spectrum of views was held by the more than halfa million people at the protests and many were not absolutely anti-war.
He said the government was accused of populism if it made decisions in line with publicopinion and of not listening if it did not.
Mr Anderson said the protests showed some people had very deep concerns about the government'sposition.
But they also showed many people were undecided and many wanted to see how things unfolded.
"I don't believe that it's an open and shut case so far as most Australians are concerned,"
he told radio 2SM.
Mr Anderson criticised protesters for concentrating on Mr Howard and President GeorgeW Bush rather than Saddam Hussein.
By hiding their heads in the sand over the frightful Iraqi regime, protesters weremaking the same mistakes as the British pacifists did with Nazi Germany in the 1930s,he said.
Organisers of Sydney's 200,000 strong protest ridiculed the government's response andwarned of still bigger demonstrations.
Convener Hannah Middleton said Mr Howard's claim that the size of the protests didnot reflect public opinion was clearly rubbish.
Co-convener Nick Everett said the largest protests in Australian history showed manypeople had made up their minds about the war.
"Quite feasibly hundreds of thousands more will come out to further protest if thegovernment's policy remains as it is," he said.
Former defence chief Peter Gration said the demonstrations would disturb Australiancommanders in the Gulf.
General Gration, who headed Australia's forces during the 1991 Gulf war, said he wasstill smarting from the Vietnam experience when Australians were fighting and dying asbig demonstrations were occurring at home.
He said it was disturbing that even before war with Iraq started, the Australian peoplewere making a very strong statement against it.
"As a military commander, that would worry me a lot," he said.
AAP dw/sb/gjr/de l
KEYWORD: IRAQ AUST NIGHTLEAD
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