PRIME MINISTER MONDAY 10 MARCH 1980
From the Press Office SUMMARY OF CHANNEL 3 NEWS
The petrol strfieke: 09domestic f lights have been interrupted and delays
occured.. of. up'to five hours .1
As expected the freeze on petrol supplies in Sydney, Newcastle and
Wollongong will remain indefinitely. The countries areas will
escape restrictions for the time being. Mr. Hills says arrangements
are now being made to keep essential services on the road. Publi& f
transport. has:-. at present ' abouti ten . days.-. supplybof fueybut trains
and.--buses have -slightly . less-. ithahthat. 7
Tasmania's Premier Mr. Lowe-: today predicted-major . i3iduitial
disputes and political:: ipheal-for-the:-. 1980sY Mr. Lowe told a
gathering of businessmen in Sydney that inequalities and conflict
in business, such as the reporting of massive profits and rapidly
increasing rate of bankruptcies. He said the challenge of the
for the trade union movement should be a critical self examination
to ensure that unions went into the next century with a new spirit
of rationality. . ool. growtehresm selves voted:-today :: to.-. start-: moving. unsold wool from
woolstores unless. the Storemen and Packers dispute is. settle' in
a few days. The President of the Wool Council of Australia, Mr.
Dick O'Brien said in Canberra a special committee had been formed
to examine ways of moving the wool. ( newsconference reported in
full in Newsvoice).
Mr. Wran today-told. a conference of health and research employees
in Sydney there should be a cooling off period in the NSW petrol
dispute. He thought the tanker drivers strike was unjustified but
at the same time he said section 45D of the Trade Practices Act
dealing with secondary boycotts was a recipe for industrial chaos.
Mr. 4WranLt
Increasingly there is immediate resort to the extreme course.
Employers, particularly, if the employer is the Federal Government,
or a federal agency, are turning to sanctions and penalties, unions
are turning to industrial action as a first resort rather than the
last resort often for quite trifling claims which any decent
industrial advocate or barely competent leadership could get through
by negotiation. Somel: Pplje may think this -proves their: toughness-.
It!. s. more often a demonstration of bankruptcy. of leadership,; . Where ! s
6l. l1t he -so-called. toughness by the: Fraser : Government . and Telecom
gotiafa ar. as.: industrial-sanity in the communications-industry is:,:
concerned: Or where inithe long run -are frequent stoppages going to
get-tha. public -transport-. wor ers except gradually, to throttle.
system on which. their livelihood depends. And where's the common
sense or the faintest chance of establishing common ground or common
purpose in the use* of the civil law to settle industrial disputes.
Only: somehe hellbentjon.. industrial.. confrontation could imagine that
a-fundamental : hard won : principle could suddenly be set aside without
a . disastrous reaction. Equally disastrous is the new philosophy
expressed by Mr. Fraser as recently as last Friday that the wayv to
settle a dispute is to widen it. -On. -Friday Mr.-Fraser-: urged thewool,;.
brokers to:: sack the . non-strikif gembers6 o the Storemen and
Packers Union . in0. the States:-so that:. strike funds would not. be sent
to-V ictoriaadNS-Winik .-aasi sg ood. as anod and yesterday the.
WoolCounci. l took Mr. Fraser athis-word _ The., result. is that a
dispute ' which was possibly-nearing settlement-would almost certainly
2
be:-prolonged.. with-more and more unions -becoming involved. Is this
toughness T call it madness. But it's a classic illustration of
how far this nation under its present leadership is moving away
from common sense a sharing of common interests, common standards,
common goals and a common purpose.
As the stalemate continues over the American hostages in Teheran
Iran's Revolutionary ' Council.--has met: to discuss the situation.:
A spokesman for the Council said it would make its views known in
a few hours time.
In the seige in the Dominican Republic's Embassy in Colombia there
has been little development. There have been three rounds of talks
but as yet no details have been released.
* Harvesting this years opium.: crop. in-.. rthe' Golden Triangle is about
' to begin'. The opium crop is expected to be smuggled out of
northern Thailand. Peter Moncton reports that all five member
countries of the ASEAN group have stepped up surveillance at border
checkpoints.
Mr. Mugabesays he.' s almost comrpleted fobrming his coalitiongovernment.
He says it will include members . of" Mr. Nkomo's party
and representatives-of the -country's.-white minority. Mr. Mugabe
said there would be one of twowhites in his Cabinet, not, necessarily
members of Mr ". Smith's party. Rhodesian security forces meanwhile
are joining in what is being called Operation Merger with former
Patriotic Front guerrillas.
Papua -New Guinea has : given ' a'consortium of ' Australian,: American -and
West. German companies" the go-ahead to mine the rich. gold and copper
deposit in the country's remote western province. Geoff Robertson
in Melbourne says BHP leads the consortium into a $ 700 million
development.
Mr. Hunt has approved TAA's application to have Apex fares extended
year round.
The National Executive of the -ALP-: isi . expected to consider -a:
compromise proposal:--in. the-row over federal -intervention in the
Queensland Branch when it meets on Friday week. The compromise
was suggested at a meeting in Canberra at the weekend. It allows
for the Administrative Committee of 29, nominated by the National
Executive to be expanded by 10. However Dr. Dennis Murphy says
the increase is unacceptable.
Murphy I don't think it's acceptable-at all. The Interim Administrative
Committee is already ' at 29 which is quite a large committee if
you remember the . Whitlam Cabinet was 27 and it became somewhat
unwieldy. To increase it from 29 to 39 really makes almost a
mass meeting. If you had 39 people then you'd have to get back
to having an inner executive and really we'd be back to the whole
problem that started this off in 1978.
Question Well are you concerned that there is some compromise on the part
of federal leaders?
Murphy Look this is a decision of the National Executive of the Party.
It's not a decision of the federal leaders or of the Federal
President or of the Federal Secretary. Any change in that
National Executive decision would have to be made by the National
Executive itself. And I know several of the National Executive
members who will-be arguing quite strongly against that, myself
included. I'm now a delegate on the National Executive of the
Party. I would certainly be arguing against increase from 29 to
39.
The AMi-todaycalTed-' on:. the'NSWyPrices-. Commission to wind-.: up its'
enquiry.' intoQ-doctors fees. The AMA says the enquiry should be
wound up on the grounds that no evidence has been produced that
doctors' charges were excessive.
The condition of an apprentice jockey injured in a fall at Rose Hill
on Saturday continues to deteriorate.
Cricket: Victoria has retained the Sheffield Shield.
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