PRIME MINISTER 19 OCTOBER 1979
from the Press Office Summary of
Rumours are rife in London and Washington claiming that the
Soviet leader is dead. There is no confirmation from Moscow
that Mr Brezhnev is either ill or dead, although many diplomats.
believe he has been either very over-tired or that his chronic
ill-health has suddenly worsened.
The Carter administration moved swiftly today following a Judge's
ruling that would block the United States from ending the mutual
defence treaty with Taiwan.
Report on the stories coming from Kampuchea of disease,
malnutrition and the deaths occurring from them.
What has been seen as a desperate effort to fix the Victorian
coalition rift occurred last night at the. Lodge. State and
Federal leaders of the Liberal and Country parties met last
night to prevent further animosity developing between the
two parties. Local branches of the Liberal Party in Gippsland
are still determined to press ahead with their plans to run
a candidate against Mr Peter Nixon. Interview with the
Leader of the National Party in Victoria, Mr Ross Edwards,
has suggested that yesterday's meeting has committed the
Liberal Party leadership at least into attempting to restrain
their branch members. Interview with Mr Ross Edwards who said
the meeting yesterday was very successful and a good deal of
progress was made.
There will be further discussion on Coalition unity when the
Prime Minister and Federal Liberal Party officials gather
with State Party leaders for their annual meeting. of particular
concern will be the separate Senate ticket issue in Victoria
and also Queensland, where one celebrated nomination has come
from the Premier' s wife.
There has been a breakthrough at the Zimbabwe-Rhodesia peace
talks. After a short meeting between Lord Carrington and the
leaders of the Patriotic Front it was announced that all parties
have now agreed to a draft constitution for the country.
South Africa is again stalling on the United Nations plan for
a peaceful transfer to independence in Namibia. There is now
great scepticism amongst the five Western nations supporting
the scheme as to whether the South African government has any
real interest in going ahead with it.
The Philippines defence minister has revealed for the first time
the existence of a new rebel group led by several priests.
The group is reported to be comprised mainly of Catholic laymen
and sympathisers.
The Nobel Prize for Literature has been awarded to a Greek poet.
The Federal Government has been attacked once again over its
amendments to the Conciliation and Arbitration Act, this time
by one of its own members. Senator Missen has described the / 2
L.
changes as provocative and counter-productive. Interviewed:
" Because of the very great powers in the de-registration area
obviously unions will be fearful of this, obviously they will
resist it very strongly, and one might have more trouble than
we would have without that part of the legislation".
Question: Do you think the Government has just simply overreacted.
Senator Missen: I think so. I think that I would have liked to have
seen more consultation about the legislation before hand, including
the lawyer members of the Law and Government Committee who of course
didn't see this before the Bill arrived in the Party, and who I think
could have contributed to it.
Question: Why do you think the Government has overreacted?
Senator Missen: Well, I don't know why because I'm a backbencher
and I am therefore not privy to the discussions that have gone on
in cabinet. There is a serious situation in regard to sfrikes at
the present time, and a lot of key areas where a lot of damage is
done to the community. I think they feel something has got to be
done about this, and there is a lot of pressure to do it, and I
suppose that makes for urgent action.
Question: But in that context, and given your reservations,
do you think the Government has been provocative?
Se nator Missen: I think the result of the Bill is provocative
and I think something about it the way in which the Bill has
actually been handled. It has been fairly secret and not taken
into consideration people both the Commissioners and lawyers
and so forth who might have, I think, been able to help overcome
some of the problems in the Bill,
Question: Why do you think there has been that element of secrecy
about it?
Senator Missen: To stop an enormous campaign developing before the
thing is even in the Parliament, and probably making it more difficult
to discuss it in any impartial sort of way. That might be the reason.
Question: Even apart from your very strong Views you decided not
to cross the floor. Why is that?
Senator Missen: Well, I have not announced this to the Party. I made
no intention known that I would, and I think I have pointed out the
dubious -' constit: utional position. It may be that the Bill will
be read down by the High Court, and it won't be so objectionable,
but I saw no reason myself to make some sort: of grand gesture by
what you call ' crossing the floor' that would have had no affect
on the Bill. / 3
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A few weeks ago, the EEC's executive commission was the subject
of a critical auditor's report over the amount of money its
13 members spent on expenses, air travel, drinks, flowers and
so on, so the last thing the commission president, Roy Jenkins
needed was the most. recent scandal involving the Dutch commissioner
whose peccadilloes led to the replacement of a $ 10,000 plate glass
in an exclusive hotel, broken by during a heated political debate.