as refugees during the war. The government was not only accused of cruelty towards the Gamboas, but also of endangering the White Australia policy through an overly heavy-handed approach that was likely to antagonise Asian countries. Opposition Leader Robert Menzies attacked the immigration department's "singularly unpleasant process of victimisation", but reaffirmed the basic principles of the White Australia policy. In March 1949, two Filipino golfers arrived in Australia to play in a tournament in Sydney. Harold Holt, the opposition spokesman for immigration, accused the government of hypocrisy, observing in parliament that "it is incredible that Filipino golfers are on a golfing tour of Australia while Minister for Immigration Mr. Calwell is keeping out one of their own countrymen who wants to discuss the future with his wife". He accused Calwell of adopting a "pig-headed and inhuman stand". At the election, Calwell's Labor Party was defeated by Holt's Liberal Party. Holt was subsequently appointed as the new Minister for Immigration in the Menzies Government. Two days after the election, in December 1949, he cabled Joyce Gamboa and told her that her husband would be allowed to settle in Australia; an official announcement was made in February 1950. As he was still on a tour of duty with the U.S. Army, he did not actually return to Australia until December 1951, and did not permanently return until early 1952. Reaction in the Philippines Australia and the Philippines were on friendly terms after the end of World War II, and President Elpidio Quirino sought out Australia as a potential regional partner, hoping to lessen his country's dependence on the United States. However, the relationship between the two countries was severely damaged when the Australian government's treatment of Gamboa was made public. In April 1949, President Quirino expressed his disappointment "that our neighbour, to whom we looked for friendship, should exclude us because of our colour", and stated that "we, the people of the Philippines, have been deeply humiliated". The Department of Foreign Affairs revoked its Australian consulate's authority to issue visas, forcing potential Australian visitors to seek a visa on arrival. Author Hal Porter was subjected to a six-hour visa interview, in which he was asked his opinions of the Gamboa case and the White Australia policy. Keith Waller, the Australian Consul-General in Manila, received death threats. In March 1949, Congressman Hermenegildo Atienza introduced House Bill No. 2613 (the "Reciprocity Immigration Bill") into