Australian cricket tour of Zimbabwe cancelled
<noinclude>
{{date|May 14, 2007}}
{{Australian news}}

[[Image:Cricket ball on grass.jpg|left|thumb|Cricket ball on grass. {{Image source|Matthew Bowden}}]]
[[Australia]]n Prime Minister [[John Howard]] said his government has decided to not let the national cricket team go to [[Zimbabwe]].

"We don't do this lightly, but we are convinced that for the tour to go ahead there would be an enormous propaganda boost for the Mugabe regime," Howard told [[w:ABC TV|ABC television]]. "The [Robert] Mugabe regime at present is behaving like the Gestapo towards its political opponents, the living standards of the country are probably the lowest of any in the world and you have an unbelievable rate of inflation."

Reactions from [[Robert Mugabe]]'s Zimbabwe came quickly.

"The Australians are mixing politics with sport and the decision shows how desperate the Howard government is to isolate Zimbabwe," junior information minister Bright Matonga told ''[[w:Agence France-Presse|Agence France-Presse]]''.

"Australia is one of the worst human rights violators in this whole world. Look what they have done to the aborigines and yet they have the audacity to stand up and claim to have the moral authority to condemn us. This is also a racist ploy to kill our local cricket since our cricket team is now dominated by black players as we slowly transform cricket from being an elite sport."

==Sources==
*{{source|url=http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070513/wl_asia_afp/cricketauszimpolitics_070513133650
|title=Australian government scraps Zimbabwe cricket tour
|author=Robert Smith, AFP
|pub=Yahoo! News
|date=May 14, 2007}}
*{{source|url=http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,21725974-421,00.html
|title=Australia ban 'desperate' and 'racist'
|author=
|pub=News Limited
|date=May 14, 2007}}

{{publish}}

{{Archived}}

</noinclude>

[[Category:Politics and conflicts]]
[[Category:Sports]]
[[Category:Cricket]]
[[Category:Africa]]
[[Category:Zimbabwe]]
[[Category:Oceania]]
[[Category:Australia]]
[[Category:Robert Mugabe]]
Cricket ball on grass. 
Australian Prime Minister John Howard said his government has decided to not let the national cricket team go to Zimbabwe.

"We don't do this lightly, but we are convinced that for the tour to go ahead there would be an enormous propaganda boost for the Mugabe regime," Howard told ABC television. "The Robert Mugabe regime at present is behaving like the Gestapo towards its political opponents, the living standards of the country are probably the lowest of any in the world and you have an unbelievable rate of inflation."

Reactions from Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe came quickly.

"The Australians are mixing politics with sport and the decision shows how desperate the Howard government is to isolate Zimbabwe," junior information minister Bright Matonga told Agence France-Presse.

"Australia is one of the worst human rights violators in this whole world. Look what they have done to the aborigines and yet they have the audacity to stand up and claim to have the moral authority to condemn us. This is also a racist ploy to kill our local cricket since our cricket team is now dominated by black players as we slowly transform cricket from being an elite sport."
Politics and conflicts Sports Cricket Africa Zimbabwe Oceania Australia Robert Mugabe