PRIME MINISTER 17 OCTOBER 1979
from the Press Office SUMMARY OF
The Federal Government's amendments to the Conciliation and
Arbitration Commission will go into the Senate this afternoon
with the Government determined not to make any alterations to
the legislation. That is despite the concern expressed by one
deputy president and 25 commissioners. Representatives of the
commission will. be meeting with the President of the Commission,
Sir John Moore and representatives of the deputy presidents to
discuss their opposition to the Bill. Later today the
amendments will go before the Senate, traditionally the chamber
where Government backbenchers have been able to force changes
to legislation,-howeverp, while some Senators are likely to be
critical of the amendments, it is unlikely that any will go
as far as crossing the floor. The weekly joint Party will be
held this morning and backbench dissatisfaction is expected
to be delt with there. Potentiall more damaging for the
Government is the meeting in Sydney today of represenatives
of the Commissioners Association with the President of the
Association and some of the 8 deputy Presidents. Should any
of the other deputy Presidents support the 25 Commissioners,
the Government could be face with what Mr Hayden described
yesterday as a full scale revolt. In other developments, the
matter of Justice Staples' letter was raised at a council
meeting of the New South Wales Bar Association yesterday.
It is understood that there are plans for a motion to be
moved calling on the Association to express its support for
Justice Staples. In the committee stages of the ASIO
debate in the House of Representatives last night, former
Labor Minister for Industrial Relations, Mr Cameron, alleged
that ASIO had tapped' the private telephone of r'Ir Justice Staples.
Mr Cameron who appointed Mr Staples to the Commission said that
he had been informed that the tap had been taking place for
nearly three weeks with the Government's knowledge. The
Attorney-General's office had no comment to make on the allegations.
The sharpest, most . immediate reaction to Western Australia's
new industrial legislation has come from the moderate unions
who claim that their very survival is at stake. According to
the assistant secretary of the Clerks' Union the legislation
will merely polarise all of the union movement. However, the
Minister for Labour and Industry, Mr Ray O'Connor, says the
public will agree with the State Industrial Commission having
more power to intervene in disputes.
In London, the Zimbabwe-Rhodesia conference has concluded its
first full session without the Patriotic Front. Lord Carrington
had earlier issued an ultimatum that the Front could only rejoin
the Lancaster House talks if they agree to Britain's draft
constitution proposals. In calling for a summit of the
' front line African states', President Nyerere has played
down the Lancaster House deadlock, but'-in London, ambassadors
of the front line states have endorsed the statement by the.
Commonwealth Secretary General, Mr Ramphal, that any settlement
of Zimbabwe can only be reached with the agreement of the
Patriotic Front. Mr Ramphal said that when the* Commonwealthi
leaders met in Lusaka, they did not envisage an agreeement that
was not endorsed by all sides. Mr Fraser played a leading role
in organising the Lancaster House talks, though when asked to commen ./ 2
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on Mr Ramphal's statement, he declined, saying he * was not yet
briefed by the Foreign Affairs Department.
President Nyerere has called an emergency meeting with the
front line states and it is clear that he is doing everything
possible to avoid a complete breakdown of the London talks with
the inevitable result that the guerilla war being waged by the
Patriotic Front could drag on possibly for more years than
anyone would like to anticipate. Inspite of this obvious concern
for the successful outcome of the London talks, it is not really
clear what President Nyerere hopes to achieve by calling the
emergency meeting, particularly since he believes the dead lock
is the result of a simple misunderstanding over the question of
payment of compensation of white Rhodesian farmers who might
have their land taken from them by a black majority government.
Nyerere says the Patriotic Front objects to paying this
compensation if the British government expects the new black
majority to provide the money, but he says, the Patriotic Front
accepts the principal if Britain is prepared to put up the money
in the same way as it provided money for white farmers in
Kenya to be compensated for a loss of their land after
independence.
The decision by Libya and Iran to boost oil prices has caused
dismay in the United States. The influential Saudi Oil Minister
feels that Iran and Libya, by their unilateral action, had
created a chaotic situation, and did not know what the
consequences would be. He implied that the other oil
exporters could well be forced into joining the price rise
move when they held their next meeting in December.
State Department spokesman, Mr Hodding Carter, says each
time there is another turn in oil prices, world inflation
is fed, and that.-market conditions at this time do not
justify such an increase.
New York: It is now a week since the Mayor threatened to
broadcast the nam es of men convicted of using prostitutes
but it is felt that prostitution is intimately connected
with organised crime and that it is the far more dangerous
associated evils and violence that are really the target.
The fishing agreement between Australia and Japan is to be
signed in Canberra today. One puzzling aspect of this
controversial agreement has been the sudden'change of heart
by the Queensland government, where Premier Petersen now says
he is in full agreement with'-the signing. However, David Thomson,
Federal National Country Party member, has expressed
reservations. Says the agreement does not go far enough to protect
the marlin and that we need a much bigger buffer zone in which
the longliners will not be able to fish.
Premier Doug Lowe has promised a full public debate before
any final decision is made to flood part of Tasmania's last
remaining wilderness areas for a hydro electric scheme, but
as far as the director of the Wilderness Association is concerned,
the public has already made up its mind.
The President of Pakistan has announced the indefinite postponement
of the general elections scheduled for November 17, saying that
martial law will be enforced in its true sense. ./ 3
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A meeting of senior Western lawyers and politicans in London
has concluded that the plight of Soviet Jews has remained
unchanged, and even worsened in the past five years.
Australia's representative at the meeting was Senator John Wieldon.
Interviewed. oOo---