PRIME From the Press Office SUMMARY OF 12.30 NEWS
A series of bombs in Rhodesia's-capital, Salisbury, has killed at least
2 people and damaged a church and a luxury hotel.
In the elections so far the Rhodesian Front.-Party, led by Mr Smith,
appears headed for a clean sweep for the 20 seats reserved for white
voters. The rest of the 100 seats in the new Parliament will be contested
by black candidates at the end of this month.
The Australian Broadcasting Tribunal is to be given power to conduct a
much wider range of inquiries than the present radio and television
license renewal hearings. The Minister for Post and Telecommunications,
Mr Staley, said today the Broadcasting and Television. Act would be
amended-to enable the Tribunal to conduct general public enquiries.
Mr Staley said this was a direct result from the previous round of license
renewal hearings which did not satisfy anyone.
Mr Staley
Most people felt that they weren ' t getting a fair crack of the whip,
and we believe that this new sort of inquiry will enable all the issues
which are general issues as far as the public and the industry are
concerned to be properly and fully canvassed and taken into account before
the Tribunal makes final decisions on policies.
Mr Staley said that in future people attending the inquiries would be able
to comment on whether services were adequate, in a particular region. He
said the new inquiry is to be more informal than license renewal hearings,
could explore the broadcasting needs of particular communities. Where
possible the general inquiries would preceed license hearings.
The Federal Government has approved substantial increases in overseas
airfares and freight charges for airlines flying out of Australia to the
United States and Canada. The increases announced by Federal transport
Minister, Mr Hunt, will come into effect on March 1. Mr Hunt said the
Government approved the increases to counter rises in-. aviation fuel costs.
More from Pat Macquire in Canberra. Under the new charges, the first
class and economy fare from Australia to the United States will increase
by 12.5%, while promotional fares such as Apex and Budget will rise by
Between Australia and Canada, the first class and economy fare will
go up by 11% and promotional fares On both routes freight rates will
increase by Mr Hunt . said the increases would not affect passengers
who purchase their tickets before midnight tonight, meaning people who
bought tickets under the advanced purchase apex system would not be
required to pay the extra charges. The increase is the fourth price over
the Pacific route since the introduction of the Apex and Budget fares
12 months ago. Bob Macquire, Canberra.
The President of the United. States Olympic Committee says it will probably
support President Carter's call for a boycott of the Moscow Olympics.
Mr Robert Caines said the.-Committee's decision will be made at a meeting
in April, 3 months before the Games are scheduled to begin.
President Carter has repeated that unless the Soviet Union withdraws its
troops from Afghanistan by February 20, neither he nor the American
Congress nor the American people would support sending an Olympic team to
Moscow. In other moves the Malaysian Government has reaffirmed that
/-/& Ropy
it will not send a team to Moscow and the city of London has officially
abandoned its plan to stage the 1988 Games. Meanwhile, a spokesma4 for
British athletes has criticised Mrs Thatcher's advice that the athletes
should boycott the Olympics. The Secretary of the International Athletes
Club, Derek Johnson, who won a silver medal in the 1956 Melbourne
Olympics, said he would advise his Committee to support participation in
the Olympics.
Passengers booked on Russian cruise ships after 31 May, will have to
cancel their bookings as a result of the Federal Governments ban on
Russian crew ships entering Australian Ports. The Federal Minister for
Transport, Mr Hunt, announced the ban on the Soviet cruise ships last
night. A director of Russian CTC line said today in Sydney that about
100 people were booked on cruises after 31 May.
The Federal Treasurer, Mr Howard, has declined to comment on higher
interest rates announced today by the ANZ Banking Group.. The Treasurer
told a Liberal Party function in Brisbane it was not realistic or helpful
for him to generalise or speculate on the future of interest rates in
Australia. The ANZ Bank says interest from overdrafts of less than
100,000 dollars will rise by from the beginning of next month.
Storemen and Packers employed by Melbourne Wool brokers today voted to
continue their strike in protest against thereduction of their pay rise
from $ 15.90 to $ 8.
A cyclone watch is now in effect ' in-the North-west of Western Australia
for tropical cyclone Enid which developed early today.
The 11 people accused of complicity in a murder thats become known as the
case of the Handlers Corpse will appear in an English court on May 19.
Three dutchmen who operated a secret laboratory in a Scottish village
to produce millions of amphetemin tablets have been jailed for 12 years.
The report of the inquiry into the viability of the Christmas Island
Phosphate Industry is expected to be tabled in Federal Parliament next
week.