-J PRIME MINISTER THURSDAY, 18 OCTOBER 1979
From the Press Office SUMMARY OF ABC'S
Mother . Theresa, who has working amongst the poor and sick in
India for 50 years, has won the Nobel Peace Prize.
The row over the controversial amendments to the Conciliation'
and Arbitration took a new turn in Sydney last night. when the
Minister for Industrial Relations, Mr. Street, met with the
President of the Arbitration commission, Sir John Moore, to
discuss the Commission's reservations about the changes.
Report
The hastily convened meeting last night was the result of an
earlier meeting between Sir John Moore and representatives of the
Commissioners and 8 Deputy Presidents. The meeting followed
revelations that the Association of Conciliation and Arbitration
Commissioners had voted unanimously to telex the minister,
Mr. Street, to inform him of their reservations about the
legislation. Late yesterday afternoon Sir John Moore in a brief
statement said that as a result of informal discussions about the
consultative provisions of the amendments it had been decided
that he, as President, should seek an opportunity to discuss
the matter with the Minister. Mr.* Street has made it quite clear
that the-. proper channels for any complaints go through Sir John,
and it is significant that he moved so quickly to meet with him.
Already Opposition Leader Bill Hayden has attacked the Government
for continuing with the legislation in the face of judicial
opposition. He said that Mr. Fraser can no longer ignore the
reality that his Government ' is in direct conflict with the
Conciliation and Arbitration Commission. He added that now that
the President, Sir John Moore, had intervened it was an u nprecedented
situation which the Prime Minister could not dismiss.
Last night Mr. Street's office refused to comment on the details
of the meeting with Sir John, but it is understood that Mr. Street
will report directly to the Prime Minister before reporting
to the Parliament.
While Mr. Street was meeting with Sir John in Sydney, the
Deputy Leader of the Opposition, Mr. Lionel Bowen, accused the
Minister of misleading the Parliament over circulation of the
controversial Staples' letter which was last night tabled in
Hansard by former Labor Minister Clyde Cameron. For the last
two days Mr. Street has been closely questioned by the Opposition
about the exact circumstances which led to his office selectively
distributing copies to members of the Press Gallery after the
existence of the letter had been revealed on our evening current
affairs programme The Opposition wanted to know if
Mr. Street as Minister had authorised the-release of the document
to discredit Mr. Justice Staples. Yesterday in the House
Mr. Street admitted that his staff had distributed copies, but he
said only after they checked with the staff of the " PM" programme
to confirm that they had a copy of the letter. Mr. Street said
that because of the " 1PM" story the Staples letter had then
become a matter of public record. As was stated on the " PM"
programme last night, at the time the story went to air " PM" did
not have a copy of that letter. However, they had sighted the
copy and been able to confirm its authenticity.
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Af ter the broadcast, our Canberra of fice was approached by
a member of Mr. Street's staff ana a member of the Canberra
Press Gallery for a copy of the letter. They were told that
we did not have a copy, but that we were seeking to obtain one
to enable us to quote directly from it for a report to be
broadcast the following morning on this programme.. At no stage
did our Canberra office inform Mr. Street's office that a copy
was in our possession, and no contact was made to our Melbourne'
office from where the broadcast eminated, to establish whether
a copy was being held there. Last night we approached Mr. Street's
office for a reaction but we were told he had no comment.
" AM" has learnt that a paper to be presented to the State Council
of. the Liberal Party in South Australia next week includes a
suggestion that candidates standing for office in union elections
should have their political party affiliations alongside their
name on the ballot paper.
There will be no public transport in Victoria for the next
48 hours. The State Transport Minister, Mr. McClelland,
has warned the unions involved that they needn't think of
returning to work at the weekend to pick up their penalty rates.
He has denied that this would mean a lock-out of employees, but
the situation is confused. There are no clear instructions from
VicRail or the Tramways Board about weekend work at the end of
the strike. Interview . with Jim Fraser of the Australian Railways'
Union. Concern over the worsening oil crisis around the world is
mounting in the United States. From Washington there are reports
of a series of co-ordinated nationwide protests. One demonstration
was on Capitol Hill where about 500 people gathered to condemn
the leap in the price of petroleum.
A survey conducted by the psychology department at Queensland
University has produced evidence linking constant traffic noise
in the home environment to ill health.
Britain today outlined proposals which would.-establish the first
British administration in Salisbury since Rhodesia unilaterally
declared independence 14 years ago. The British Foreign Secretary
proposed the appointment of a British Governor with civilian,
military and police advisers supervising elections and legal
independence when he met with the Prime Minister of Zimbabwe Rhodesia
at Lancaster House. -The Patriotic Front, which has refused to
acdept the first stage of the constitutional proposals was not
present. Even if Mr. Mugabe and Mr. Nkomo do rejoin the talks
it appears that white farmers in Rhodesia won't accept terms of
compensation fund for land reforms. Interview with Vice-President
of National Farmer's Union in Salisbury.
There is a lot of speculation in Moscow at the moment about a
shift in Russian policy towards the Middle East, following a visit
to*. the Soviet Union by the Syrian President. The Soviet President
has not met with the Syrian President leading to rumours that
his health has worsened.
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In 1951 the CIA was considering using foreigners for dangerous
drug and chemical experiments because of the hazardous side
affects suffered by Americans involved in the tests. Representative
of the American Citizens for Honesty in Government Group gained
access to a CIA document revealing this: interviewed.
Report on address by:. Australian Federal Police, Sir Colin Wood,
to the National Press Club in Canberra yesterday.
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