House of Representatives
8 November 1977

30th Parliament · 2nd Session



Mr SPEAKER (Rt Hon. B. M. Snedden, Q.C.) took the chair at 10 a.m., and read prayers.

page 3019

PETITIONS

The Clerk:

– Petitions have been lodged for presentation as follows and copies will be referred to the appropriate Ministers:

Estate Duty

To the Right Honourable the Speaker and members of the House of Representatives of the Commonwealth in Parliament assembled. The humble petition of the undersigned citizens of Australia respectfully showeth:

That where whole or part of a deceased estate passes to the surviving spouse it should be free from Federal estate duty.

And your petitioners as in duty bound will ever pray. by Mr Hunt, Mr MacKenzie, Mr Ian Robinson and Antony Whitlam.

Petitions received.

Private Nursing Homes: Pensioner Patients

To the Honourable Speaker and members of the House of Representatives assembled. The petition of the undersigned citizens of Australia respectfully showeth:

That many pensioners who are holders of the Pensioners Health Benefit Card, have suffered undue hardship as inmates of private nursing homes, because the Federal Government subsidy was insufficient to meet the charges as laid down.

Many pensioners whose spouse was an inmate of the private nursing homes suffered poverty in an endeavour to sustain their partner while in the nursing home.

Only in rare cases was the statutory minimum patient contribution as laid down adhered to.

That the telephone was a matter of life and death to many pensioners, but because of the cost of installation of the telephone many are unable to afford the installation.

That those pensioners who have only their pension and very little else to live on and are forced to pay high rents, are in many cases living in extreme poverty.

The foregoing facts impel your petitioners to ask the Australian Government as a matter of urgency to-

  1. Make sure that subsidies paid to private nursing homes are such that each pensioner holding a Pensioners Health Benefit Card will pay the private nursing home no more than the statutory minimum patient contribuion, which will allow six dollars per week to be retained by the pensioner patient for their personal use.
  2. That a pensioner holding a Pensioner Health Benefit Card shall have a telephone installed free of charge, or at a very nominal charge.
  3. That those pensioners who have only their pension and very little else to live on, shall receive a subsidy to assist them. The subsidy to be governed by a means test.

And your petitioners as in duty bound will ever pray. byDr Klugman and Mr Morris.

Petitions received.

Lone Fathers

To the Honourable the Speaker and Members of the House of Representatives in Parliament assembled. The humble petition of the undersigned Lone Fathers Organisation of Australia respectfully showeth:

That the Lone Fathers of Australia petition the Prime Minister Mr Fraser, to have legislation passed giving assistance to fathers who have custody of and are sole supporters of their dependent children.

Assistance Sought:

  1. Pension for those supporting fathers who need it comparable to the Supporting Mothers Benefit.
  2. Government assisted paid housekeepers.
  3. More Government funded child care facilities.
  4. Tax concessions for child minding expenses.
  5. Equal rights with women when claiming custody of their children.

And your petitioners as in duty bound will ever pray. by Mr Malcolm Fraser.

Petition received.

Residential Development, Yarralumla, Australian Capital Territory

To the Honourable the Speaker and Members of the House of Representatives in Parliament assembled. The humble petition of undersigned electors of the Divisions of Canberra and Fraser respectfully showeth:

That they strongly oppose the proposed residential development of an area generally known as Section 22 Yarralumla, which includes the undeveloped area between Yarralumla Bay and Hopetoun Circuit, for environmental reasons and because the open areas of the foreshore, which could be required for future recreation purposes, could be seriously depleted in an area already showing the need for increased provision for picnic grounds.

Your petitioners therefore humbly pray that the Government proclaims that area bounded by Novar Street, Schlich Street, Hopetoun Circuit and the proposed Coronation Drive, Yarralumla, excluding that already developed, be proclaimed as a non-residential or non-building area set aside as an open space for recreational purposes.

And your petitioners as in duty bound will ever pray. by Mr Fry.

Petition received.

East Timor: Australian Policy

To the Honourable the Speaker and Members of the House of Representatives in Parliament assembled. The humble petition of undersigned citizens of Australia respectfully showeth:

That we are deeply concerned by the mounting evidence that as many as100,000 East Timorese may have been killed since the invasion of East Timor by Indonesian forces,

That we recall Mr Peacock’s speech to the House of Representatives on 4 March1976, wherein the Minister for Foreign Affairs stated that Australia’s policy on East Timor was ‘clear’ and had been made known ‘through diplomaticchannels and atgovernment-to-government level,

That we are mindful of Mr Peacock’s definition of the said policy, viz. that it called for ‘the withdrawal of Indonesian troops … a cessation of hostilities … the implementation of an act of self-determination … a resumption of humanitarian aid through the International Committee of Red Cross’.

Your petitioners therefore humbly pray that Australian policy on East Timor be publicly and unequivocally re-stated and be implemented as forcefully as possible.

And your petitioners as in duty bound will ever pray. by Mr Fry.

Petition received.

English Classes for Migrants

To the Honourable the Speaker of the House of Representative in Parliament assembled. We, the undersigned citizens and /or taxpayers of Australia, speaking for ourselves and on behalf of the many who cannot become citizens because of their inability to speak English, request the House of Representatives to give immediate attention to the totally inadequate provision of English classes for migrants by the Australian Government.

Our intention is to impress upon the House that inability to speak English means discrimination-discrimination in the field of employment, in education and in social and political life.

And your petitioners as in duty bound will ever pray. by Mr Graham.

Petition received.

Whaling

To the Honourable Speaker and Members of the House of Representatives assembled. The humble petition of the undersigned citizens of Australia respectfully shows us; that due to the new information on whale communication, behaviour and intelligence, and to the depleted state of most of the great whale stocks and the uncertainty associated with whale population estimates, that commercial whaling is no longer acceptable to the vast majority of Australians. It is urged that immediate steps be taken to end this activity.

And your petitioners as in duty bound will ever pray. by Mr Hodgman.

Petition received.

Australian Film Commission

To the Honourable Speaker and Members of the House of Representatives in Parliament assembled. The humble petition of the undersigned citizens of Australia respectfully showeth that:

We support the aims and objectives of the Australian Film Institute and wish to see it continue to work towards the development of an Australian film culture throught its exhibition services at the Longford Cinema (Melbourne) and State Cinema (Hobart); its unique distribution service through the Vincent Library; the organisation of the Australian Film Awards thereby drawing public attention to the latest achievements of the nation’s film industry; the maintenance and development of specialised information resource facilities for supporting research into film; and its invaluable programme for the publication of books and monographs on Australian film.

Furthermore, we regret the decision of the Australian Film Commission to reduce its financial support for the Institute in 1977-78 by 20 per cent, and request reconsideration of that decision;

And your petitioners as in duty bound will ever pray. byMrlnnes.

Petition received.

Replacement Constitution

To the Honourable the Speaker and Members of the House of Representatives in Parliament assembled. The humble petition of the undersigned citizens of Australia respectfully showeth-

That we believe that Australia’s constitution is undemocratic and should be replaced by a democratic constitution. This new constitution should be drafted at a representative directly elected people’s convention following extensive public debate, and then put to a referendum of the people.

The petitioners therefore humbly pray that the Parliament, as a matter of urgency, will help to promote such public debate and will arrange for the holding of such a people’s convention and referendum.

And your petitioners as in duty bound will ever pray. by Mr Les Johnson.

Petition received.

Handicapped Children’s Allowance

To the Honourable the Speaker and Members of the House of Representatives in Parliament assembled. We, the undersigned citizens of the Commonwealth do humbly pray:

  1. That the Minister for Social Security be discouraged from proceeding with her stated intention to subject the Handicapped Children’s Allowance to a means test the effect of which is to disallow the allowance where family income exceeds the adult minimum wage (six capital cities) at present $ 1 10.60 per week plus $6 for each child;
  2. That the Government should take into account the fact that this action will deprive many families of financial support for provision of special needs for the care of a handicapped child such as clothing, footwear, diet supplements, medical treatment and equipment.

And your petitioners as in duty bound will ever pray. by Mr Les Johnson.

Petition received.

Aboriginal Land Rights

To the Honourable the Speaker and Members of the House of Representatives in Parliament assembled. The petition of the undersigned citizens of Australia do humbly pray that the Australian Government:

  1. . Extend the freeze on alienation of vacant Crown land in the Northern Territory.
  2. Give urgent consideration to amendments to the Northern Territory (Land Rights) Bill 1 976 to give effect to:

    1. The restoration of the role of land councils and the Land Commissioner.
    2. The removal of distinction between ‘needs’ and traditional claims.
    3. The re-introduction of the 1975 Land Rights Bill’s provisions regarding mining.
    4. The withdrawal of power from the Northern Territory Assembly to make laws over sacred sites, permits and entry to pastoral properties.
    5. The control of all roads through Aboriginal land being held by the Aboriginal people themselves.

And your petitioners as in duty bound will ever pray. by Mr Les Johnson.

Petition received.

Pensions

To the Honourable the President and Members of the Senate, and the Speaker and Members of the House of Representatives assembled. The petition of the undersigned citizens of Australia respectfully showeth:

That the delays between announcements of each quarterly movement in the Consumer Price Index and their application as a percentage increase in age and invalid pensions is excessive, unnecessary, discriminatory and a cause of economic distress to pensioners.

That proposals to amend the Consumer Price Index by eliminating particular items from the Index could adversely affect the value of future increases in age and invalid pensions and thus be a cause of additional economic hardship to pensioners.

The foregoing facts impel your petitioners to ask the Australian Government as a matter of urgency to:

  1. Require each quarterly percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index to be applied to age and invalid and similar pensions as from the pension pay day nearest following the date of announcement of the CPI movement.
  2. Give an open assurance to all aged and invalid pensioners that any revision of the items comprising the Consumer Price Index will in no way result in reductions in the value of any future entitlements to pensioners.

And your petitioners as in duty bound will ever pray. by Dr Klugman.

Petition received.

Education

To the Honourable the Speaker and Members of the House of Representatives in Parliament assembled. The petition of the undersigned citizens of Australia respectfully showeth:

That the freeze in expenditure on schools, universities and colleges of higher education will severely hinder the progress of education in Australia; more specifically in our state of New South Wales and the region of the Lower Blue Mountains. This step has caused the shelving of many building and maintenance programs in schools; inadequate equipping of schools; and a pool of unemployed teachers who could be used to reduce class sizes in our schools.

Your petitioners call on the Australian Government as a matter of urgency to restore education funding to the level advocated in the 1975 Schools Commission report.

And your petitioners as in duty bound will ever pray. by Dr Klugman.

Petition received.

Taxation

To the Honourable the Speaker and Members of the House of Representatives in Parliament assembled. The humble petition of undersigned citizens of Australia respectfully showeth:

That the existence of a system of double taxation of personal incomes whereby both the Australian Government and State Governments had the power to vary personal income taxes would mean that taxpayers who worked in more than one State in any year would-

  1. be faced with complicated variations in his or her personal income taxes between States; and
  2. find that real after-tax wages for the same job would vary from State to State even when gross wages were advertised as being the same; and
  3. require citizens to maintain records of income earned in each State.

Your petitioners therefore humbly pray that a system of double income tax on personal incomes be not introduced.

And your petitioners as in duty bound will ever pray. by Mr Morris.

Petition received.

Taxation: Volunteer Firemen

To the Honourable the Speaker and Members of the House of Representatives in Parliament assembled. The humble petition of undersigned Volunteer Firemen attached to the New South Wales Fire Brigade Service respectfully showeth:

That the Volunteer Firemen of the New South Wales Fire Brigades are performing an essential community service in suburban and country towns by providing low cost fire protection and in sacrificing their leisure and rest hours to perform this essential service, are being subjected to severe financial loss by having to pay income tax on two incomes which under the present taxation system discourages most individuals from having two jobs.

That the present situation has resulted in the resignation of a large number of volunteer firemen because of the effects of taxation, leaving a number of fire brigades under strength and a reluctance of potential recruits to pay excessive taxation.

That this growing problem could be effectively dealt with by granting taxation concessions to volunteer firemen in the State of New South Wales similar to those being received by members of the Citizens Military Forces.

Your petitioners therefore humbly pray that the House of Representatives will urge the Government to review the Taxation Act to exempt the earnings of volunteer firemen in the State of New South Wales from income tax, or give consideration to separate assessment of earnings and so protect the future of the volunteer fire service in New South Wales.

And your petitioners as in duty bound will ever pray. by Mr Ian Robinson.

Petition received.

Broadcasting and Television Programs

To the Honourable the Speaker and Members of the House of Representatives in Parliament assembled. The humble petition of the undersigned citizens of Australia respectfully showeth:

That because television and radio:

  1. a) affect our social and moral environment,
  2. are family media watched and heard by many children at all times, and
  3. present too much explicit violence and sex, they therefore need stronger control than other media and the existing standards need stricter enforcement in both national ABC, and commercial sectors.

Your petitioners therefore humbly pray that:

The Australian Government will amend the Broadcasting and Television Act, in relation to both national and commercial broadcasters, to legislate:

  1. for adequate and comprehensive programs in the best interests of the general public,
  2. b) for a ‘dual system of regulation’ enforced by the Australian Broadcasting Tribunal by internal regulation and external control,
  3. for an independent consumer body to represent the best interests of the general public, and
  4. for immediate and effective penalties to be imposed for breaches of program and advertising standards.

And your petitioners as in duty bound will ever pray. by Mr Ian Robinson.

Petition received.

Aged Persons Hostels Act

To the Honourable the Speaker and Members of the House of Representatives in Parliament assembled. The humble petition of the undersigned citizens of Australia respectfully showeth:

That whereas the aged persons accommodation applications have been programmed on a three year basis; and

Whereas there is an outstanding application which qualifies for funds under the Aged Persons Hostels Act, from the Committee of the Mitchell House Board of Management;

Your petitioners therefore humbly pray that the Commonwealth Government add a further year to the existing triennium to enable the Mitchell House application to be included in that program.

And your petitioners as in duty bound will ever pray. by Mr Simon.

Petition received.

Commonwealth Grants to New South Wales

To the Honourable the Speaker and Members of the House of Representatives in Parliament assembled. The humble petition of the undersigned electors of the Commonwealth respectfully showeth:

  1. That over the past 10 years the payments made by the Commonwealth to the State of New South Wales have been consistently less than the payments made to most other States.
  2. That the arrangements made by the Commonwealth in regard to off-shore oil have been inequitable to the people of New South Wales.
  3. That New South Wales no longer possesses such predominance in natural advantages as would enable it to bear without complaint the consequences of such adverse discrimination.

Your petitioners therefore pray your Honourable House to consider ways in which these inequities can be corrected, and to initiate action for this purpose.

And your petitioners as in duty bound will ever pray by Mr Wentworth.

Petition received.

Pensions: Means Test

To the Honourable the Speaker and Members of the House of Representatives in Parliament assembled. The humble petition of the undersigned electors of the Commonwealth respectfully showeth:

  1. That in his Policy Speech prior to the last elections the Rt Hon. the Prime Minister said, ‘We stand by our commitment to abolish the means test on pensions’.
  2. That at the time it was generally considered that this statement of the Prime Minister’s was something more than an empty form of words.
  3. That since the last election, there has been no action by the Government towards the abolition of the means test.

Your petitioners therefore humbly pray that your Honourable House, prior to its dissolution, will ask the Prime Minister to make a definite statement as to what action he proposes to take, and when he proposes to take it, towards the abolition of the means test

And your petitioners as in duty bound will ever pray. by Mr Wentworth.

Petition received.

Non-State Tertiary Institutions

To the Speaker and Members of the House of Representatives assembled. The humble petition of the undersigned citizens (students, parents, teachers) of Australia respectfully showeth:

That the decision by the Government to withdraw all forms of financial assistance to students of Non-state Tertiary Institutions is in total conflict with stated Government education policy.

The decision will result in a shortage of places for training secretarial and clerical students and an inordinate demand upon the State Government education systems.

At a time of severe economic disruption, this action must lead to a serious worsening of the current employment situation, particularly school leavers.

Your petitioners, therefore, humbly pray that the Federal Government will act immediately to reverse its decision.

And your petitioners as in duty bound will ever pray by Mr Antony Whitlam.

Petition received.

Unemployment Benefits

The Honourable, the Speaker and Members of the House of Representatives in Parliament assembled. The petition of the undersigned citizens of Australia respectfully showeth.

The Department of Social Security current means test allows those over21 years of age to earn$6.00 per week, in addition to unemployment benefits, and those under 21, $3.00 per week. Amounts earned in excess of these levels resultin a loss in benefit of $ 1 . 00 for every additional dollar earned.

This policy discourages the unemployed from engaging in part time or casual work. Also this may mean that existing or potential opportunities for part-time work will not be taken up at a time when unemployment is a major social problem.

We believe that this policy is having a particularly unfortunate effect on young school leavers who are being denied valuable work experience and training so important for their entry into the work force.

Your petitioners humbly pray that this House request the Honourable Minister of Social Security to give effect to the recommendation of the recent Myers report on unemployment benefits and allow those receiving unemployment benefits to earn up to $20.00 per week, before their unemployment benefit is reduced.

And your petitioners as in duty bound will ever pray. by Mr Yates.

Petition received.

page 3022

PENSIONS: MEANS TEST

Mr WENTWORTH:
Mackellar

-I move:

That the petition relating to the statement by the Prime Minister on the means test be printed.

The petition reads as follows:

The humble petition of the undersigned electors of the Commonwealth respectfully showeth-

That in his Policy Speech prior to the last elections the Right Honourable the Prime Minister said, ‘We stand by our commitment to abolish the means test on pensions’.

That at the time it was generally considered that this statement of the Prime Minister’s was something more than an empty form of words.

That since the last election, there has been no action by the Government towards the abolition of the means test

Your petitioners therefore humbly pray that your Honourable House, prior to its dissolution, will ask the Prime Minister to make a definite statement as to what action he proposes to take, and when he proposes to take it, towards the abolition of the means test.

And your petitioners, as in duty bound, will forever pray.

It is obvious that many people voted -

Mr SPEAKER:

– Order ! The honourable gentleman will not speak to a motion other than the motion that the petition be printed. He must indicate to the House what form it takes.

Mr WENTWORTH:

-I am giving reasons why it should be printed. The reason is -

Mr SPEAKER:

-The honourable gentleman will have to indicate the form of action he intends to take.

Mr WENTWORTH:

-I intend to do that.

Mr SPEAKER:

– He had better do it now.

Mr WENTWORTH:

-Very well Sir, I will do that and speak to the motion afterwards. The form of action I intend to take is this: I intend to move in the House that, under the provisions of Standing Order 86, the Prime Minister or, in his absence, the Deputy Prime Minister be heard. I shall do that at a convenient time. I shall discuss the timing with the Prime Minister or the Deputy Prime Minister. I believe it is essential that before this House rises there should be a definite statement as to what is to be done about the means test and when, because it is quite clear -

Mr SPEAKER:

-Order! The honourable gentleman must cease talking and listen for a moment. Standing Order 61, referred to in Standing Order 86, is not a form of action available to the honourable gentleman. It would require the Deputy Prime Minister, or whomever else the honourable gentleman wants to be heard, to stand at the same time as some other honourable member. The likelihood of that is unreal.

Mr WENTWORTH:

– In that case the action I shall take will be to ask . . .

Mr SPEAKER:

-The honourable gentleman will . . .

Mr WENTWORTH:

– … the Prime Minister or the Deputy Prime Minister to tell the House in all honesty before it rises . . .

Mr SPEAKER:

-I warn the honourable member for Mackellar.

Mr WENTWORTH:

– . . . what they intend to do about this.

Mr SPEAKER:

-The honourable member for Mackellar will apologise to the Chair for continuing to speak over the Speaker.

Mr WENTWORTH:

-I am sorry, Sir. My natural indignation on behalf of the pensioners carried me away.

Mr Martin:

- Mr Speaker, I seek your guidance in respect of the last point.

Mr SPEAKER:

-The honourable member for Banks will resume his seat. He has not been called.

page 3023

EAST TIMOR: GOVERNMENT POLICY

Mr BRYANT:
Wills

-I give notice that at the next day of sitting I shall move:

That this House is of the opinion that the Government should support the resolution presently before the United Nations calling for self determination for the people of East Timor and the withdrawal of Indonesian troops.

page 3023

PENSIONS: MEANS TEST

Petition

Mr SPEAKER:

– It can be. The Clerk has certified the petition. The honourable member for Mackellar knows half of the Standing Orders, that is, how to get a petition in, but does not know the other half, that is, how to get it printed.

Mr Wentworth:

- Mr Speaker, on a point of order -

Mr SPEAKER:

– I will not hear the honourable member for Mackellar any further. Are there any other notices?

Mr Wentworth:

– You will later on.

page 3023

PUBLIC SERVANTS: STATEMENT BY PRIME MINISTER

Mr SCHOLES:
Corio

-I give notice that at the next sitting I shall move:

That this House disagrees with the statement by the Prime Minister made during a television interview that under some circumstances it is in order for public servants to steal documents and pass them on to other persons.

page 3024

QUESTION

QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE

page 3024

QUESTION

NATIONAL TRACHOMA PROGRAM

Mr E G Whitlam:
WERRIWA, NEW SOUTH WALES · ALP

– I ask the Minister for Health a question concerning his statement last night that on the advice of the Federal Government the Royal Australian College of Ophthalmologists will tomorrow cease its field work in Queensland under the National Trachoma and Eye Health Program on the ground that some employees of the field teams are unacceptable to Queensland authorities. I ask the Minister Who were the Queensland authorities? On what grounds did they find the employees unacceptable? When were their views conveyed to the Federal Government? At what level was the Federal decision made? Is it a fact, as reported in the Press, that it was the Premier of Queensland himself who requested the Minister and the Prime Minister to stop the program because two Aboriginal liaison officers with the field teams had encouraged Aboriginals to enrol for the State election? If so, why could not the program continue uninterrupted since the rolls for the State election closed several days ago?

Mr HUNT:
Minister for Health · GWYDIR, NEW SOUTH WALES · NCP/NP

-For the benefit of the Leader of the Opposition I would like to make it clear that the national trachoma program has not been concluded. That is the first point that I want to make. Only the field eye screening team part of the program has been deferred in that area- it has been deferred, not ceased- for a period of one month.

Mr E G Whitlam:
WERRIWA, NEW SOUTH WALES · ALP

– And only in Queensland?

Mr HUNT:

– The ongoing aspects of the program will continue in Queensland as they are continuing elsewhere. Mass treatment for trachoma is being arranged for some 9,000 persons in the Pilbara and the Kimberley region of Western Australia. Surgery is continuing in Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia and in the Northern Territory. For the information of honourable members, over 60,000 people have been screened. The Queensland screening program has been temporarily deferred because of complaints from Queensland authorities.

Who are the authorities? I have had a number of complaints, telegrams and telephone calls from individuals and also from the Premier and Premier’s Office and also some concern expressed through his office and indirectly to me from the Department of Aboriginal and Islanders Advancement and Fisheries. I have also been informed that some Queensland Aboriginal communities have objected to some of the people engaged on the program. It has been a matter of great concern to the Royal Australian College of Ophthalmogists, to the Commonwealth Government and to me as the Minister because the only real role that we have in the program is that we provide funds under health program grants to the Royal College and certainly the College does not wish to become embroiled in any political controversy. Since there were alleged political overtones associated with the screening program, the College decided, after discussion with me to defer any further screening for at least one month unless other more satisfactory arrangements could be made.

The President of the College went to north Queensland and to the Torres Strait Islands and discussed the matter with Professor Hollows, who was very reluctant to dismiss the people concerned; in fact, he refused to do so. The College felt that it had little alternative at present but to defer that aspect of the program. I am continuing my discussions with the Royal Australian College of Ophthalmologists in the hope that a more satisfactory alternative solution can be found to ensure that the screening program can go ahead as planned. In the meantine all other aspects of the program are going ahead.

page 3024

QUESTION

ECONOMIC GROWTH

Mr DRUMMOND:
FORREST, WESTERN AUSTRALIA

-Has the Treasurer noted recent assessments that 1978 will reflect stronger growth in the economy than 1977? Will the Treasurer provide the House with the Government’s assessment of Australia’s growth prospects?

Mr LYNCH:
Treasurer · FLINDERS, VICTORIA · LP

– I welcome very much the question posed by the honourable gentleman. Recent history shows that non-farm product increased by only 0.3 per cent in 1975, the last year of office of the Labor Government. In 1976, the first year of office of the present Government, the average rate of growth was 4.2 per cent. On present estimates non-farm product grew by 3.5 per cent in 1976-77. In the June quarter of this year nonfarm product was 4.9 per cent higher than in the December quarter of 1 975. As the Budget Papers indicate, non-farm product is expected to increase in real terms by 2 per cent in 1977-78 as a whole, which represents an increase of more than 4 per cent over the course of the year. The increase in non-farm product in 1978, as thePrime Minister emphasised yesterday, is expected to be some 5 per cent. Moderate growth of this order is certainly consistent with sustainable recovery, and the figures clearly indicate the very encouraging signs that 1978 will be the best year of economic performance out of the past five years.

page 3025

QUESTION

TRADE UNION BALLOT

Mr Clyde Cameron:
HINDMARSH, SOUTH AUSTRALIA · ALP

– I preface my question to the Minister for Employment and Industrial Relations by reminding him and the House that among the provisions of the Conciliation and Arbitration Act which take great care to ensure that members of unions are able to participate effectively in the affairs of their unions are three sections: Section 133, which gives to all financial members of the union the right to vote; section 152, which requires that union secretaries keep a correct account of union ticket butts; and section 170 A, which requires union secretaries to supply to the Commonwealth Electoral Office full particulars of all butts which they have in their possession. Having regard to those conditions or requirements of the Act, I refer to a very serious example of union balloting malpractice which is occurring right now in relation to the Australian Workers Union. At Mt Isa in Queensland more than 1,000 financial members of the union have been refused the right to vote. Does the Minister know that when complaints were made to the electoral officer the electoral officer told the members that he cannot get from the union secretary concerned a list of the members who are entitled to vote and that the union secretary is in breach of the Act and nothing is being done about it? Does the Minister know that the union secretary, on the other hand, when complaints are levelled against him accuses the electoral officer or not sending out the ballot papers? I want to know from the honourable gentleman now what action he proposes to take to ensure that all members of the Australian Workers Union who want to vote for or against the present office holders shall be given the right to vote, providing they are financial.

Mr STREET:
Minister Assisting the Prime Minister in Public Service Matters · CORANGAMITE, VICTORIA · LP

-The ballot for the Australian Workers Union election in the State of Queensland is currently proceeding, as the honourable gentleman has said, and I am informed that it will close in early December. I am further informed that as at 3 1 July of this year the audited membership of the northern district of the AWU, which is the district of the union that is concerning the honourable member, was 10,313 members. I have made inquiries of the electoral officer responsible for the ballot in Queensland and those inquiries indicate that at this stage 6,419 ballot papers have been posted to members. I am advised that on previous experience this discrepancy is not an unusual proportion. But inquiries have revealed that there were no butts of membership tickets at the State AWU office for collection by the electoral office as at 7 November. However, it is understood that an additional number of butts are being posted from the Townsville office of the union and should reach Brisbane today.

I have confirmed that the electoral officer, in accordance with section 1 70a of the Conciliation and Arbitration Act mentioned by the honourable member, has required that all butts be made available to him. The electoral office in fact has received no complaints at this stage from AWU members about the non-receipt of ballot papers. But any financial member of the AWU who feels that he is entitled to receive a ballot paper should immediately contact the electoral office in Brisbane. There is still time for him to do that and for his membership to be checked and papers issued before the closing of the ballot. If people feel that they have an entitlement to vote and have not yet received the opportunity to do so I advise them to contact the Brisbane electoral office immediately.

page 3025

QUESTION

PETROLEUM AND MINERALS AUTHORITY

Mr CHAPMAN:
KINGSTON, SOUTH AUSTRALIA

-Does the Minister for National Resources recall that it was one of the Government’s 1975 pre-election policy undertakings that the Petroleum and Minerals Authority established by the previous Labor Government should be abolished and that assets acquired by it should be divested? Can the Minister advise on the position reached in respect of these undertakings?

Mr ANTHONY:
Deputy Prime Minister · RICHMOND, NEW SOUTH WALES · NCP/NP

– I recall very well the High Court proceedings which made invalid and null the Petroleum and Minerals Authority created under the Whitlam Labor Government. That organisation was intruding into mineral activities which could well have been carried out by private enterprise or under State authorities. I am pleased to be able to say that in the case of the Wambo Mining Corporation $3m was repaid to the Commonwealth on 29 June 1977. In relation to Mareeba Mining N.L., its loan will be repaid by 1980. In the case of the Cooper Basin natural gas project which also has interests in petroleum exploration licence areas in South Australia, over a period of discussion with the South Australian Government we have been able to make arrangements to divest the Commonwealth’s interest in this. We have been holding an 18 per cent interest in it. Whilst these negotiations have been somewhat protracted we have now reached a satisfactory conclusion. I hope to have the agreement signed by South Australia today and to be in a position later today to put out a statement giving the details.

page 3026

QUESTION

NATIONAL TRACHOMA PROGRAM

Mr E G Whitlam:
WERRIWA, NEW SOUTH WALES · ALP

– I ask another question of the Minister for Health. He has identified the complaint about employees of the field teams under the trachoma survey in Queensland as having come from the Premier, the Premier’s Department and the State Department of Aboriginal and Islanders Advancement. I ask: Was their complaint, as reported, that the field workers had encouraged Aboriginals to enrol for the State election? If not, what was the complaint? I also ask the Minister whether he has noted the remarks of Professor Hollows, quoted in today’s Age, to the effect that ‘they are the best two field workers we have ever had’; that they ‘have been too busy working their arses off to help save sight to have time to get into politics’ and ‘that the team could not function efficiently without the two men’. I ask finally whether the Minister has discussed the issue with Professor Hollows to whom, on earlier occasions, he has very properly paid the highest tributes?

Mr HUNT:
NCP/NP

– I have not received any specific complaints. The complaint to which the honourable gentleman referred was seen by me for the first tune in the Press this morning. The broad complaint that has come to my notice is that the people involved with the program are unacceptable to Queensland authorities because they are political activists and are unacceptable when an election campaign is being conducted. The Royal Australian College of Ophthalmologists does not wish to become embroiled in a political situation. The complaint is a general one and I have not had the opportunity of discussing the matter with Professor Hollows. I would like to discuss it with him ultimately. He has been out of contact because he has been operating on Thursday Island. I have a very high regard for the work that he has done. I do not want to detract in any way from his work or the work of the Royal College. If the Leader of the Opposition is agreeable I shall seek to have incorporated in Hansard the Press statement that was cleared by the Royal College and me.

Mr E G Whitlam:
WERRIWA, NEW SOUTH WALES · ALP

– The one you issued last night?

Mr HUNT:

– Yes. I seek leave to have that statement incorporated in Hansard.

Mr SPEAKER:

-Is leave granted? There being no objection, leave is granted.

The statement read as follows-

page 3026

JOINT PRESS STATEMENT BY THE MINISTER FOR HEALTH, MR RALPH HUNT, AND THE ROYAL AUSTRALIAN COLLEGE OF OPHTHALMOLOGISTS

National Trachoma and Eye Health Program

The Minister for Health, Mr Ralph Hunt, has advised the Royal Australian College of Ophthalmologists that some employees of the field teams of the National Trachoma and Eye Health Program ( at present working in Queensland ) are unacceptable to Queensland authorities.

Because of the importance of this medical program obtaining complete co-operation from both Commonwealth and State Governments the College has accepted the advice of the Federal Government that the screening and diagnosis program be deferred. Accordingly, the field team workers are to cease work from Wednesday, 9 November.

The field Director, Professor Fred Hollows, is to discuss the timing of resumption of the Program with the Executive Committee of the College.

Last week the College President, Dr James Rogers of Hobart, went to Thursday Island to explore alternatives to deferring the Program with Professor Hollows. However, Professor Hollows considered that the field teams could not function efficiently with other than the present arrangements.

The trachoma program is conducted by the Royal Australian College or Ophthalmologists and is funded by the Commonwealth Government. The Commonwealth Government has responsibility for obtaining the co-operation of the State authorities.

So far, there have been excellent results from the Program and the Government is most grateful to the Royal Australian College of Ophthalmologists for their efforts and for the very good work done by Professor Hollows.

The Minister and the College consider that this important Program, which to the present has examined more than 60,000 persons, must not be jeopardised in this way and that a delay of one month in completion of the Program will allay any concern.

Meantime, the on-going aspects of the Program will continue: mass treatment for trachoma is being arranged for some 9,000 persons in the Pilbara and Kimberley regions of Western Australia, and surgery is continuing in Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory.

Canberra, 7 November 1977

page 3026

QUESTION

BALTIC STATES

Mr McLEAN:
PERTH, WESTERN AUSTRALIA

– I direct my question to the Minister for Foreign Affairs. Has the Government any intention of according de jure recognition to the incorporation of the Baltic States into the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics? Is the Minister aware of concern being expressed by members of the Baltic communities in Australia that the Labor Party has not changed its attitude in regard to de jure recognition?

Mr PEACOCK:
Minister for Foreign Affairs · KOOYONG, VICTORIA · LP

-I am aware of the concern of many members of the Baltic community about the attitude of the Labor Party on this matter. I have to say that there is in writing considerable justification for that concern. I think that one of the most profligate purveyors of policy the Labor Party has ever had is Mr David Combe. In a letter dated 22 August of this year he wrote to a prominent member of the Baltic community in a manner which shows that the Labor Party has learnt nothing from its irresponsible action in recognising incorporation in 1974. Indeed, Mr Combe’s letter, in offensive and even abusive terms, casts a slur on the people of the Baltic States. In the letter he describes as ‘a stupid deception’ the attitude that Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania are not legally part of the Soviet Union. In 1974 his leader- the present Leader of the Opposition- described it as a cruel deception. What was a cruel deception in 1974 becomes a stupid deception in the words of Mr Combe. The particular interest of this letter is that Mr Combe seeks to excuse his leader and lay the blame for the grievous error at the door of a senior public servant, Sir James Plimsoll. In his letter Mr Combe states:

It was of course Sir James, not Mr Whitlam, who initiated the proposal to recognise reality.

That tactic, frankly, is contemptible. Members of the Baltic community know who was responsible for the decision of the then Government. The Leader of the Opposition knows who was responsible. Indeed the Foreign Minister in the previous Government, Senator Willesee, knows who was responsible and knew at the time. Senator Willesee was, at best, only a reluctant defender of the Prime Minister, as he had reason to be, as the decision was taken during his absence overseas. It was only by dint of continued and consistent effort by members of the then Opposition, the present Liberal-National Country Party Government, that the facts were dragged out of the then Prime Minister.

The decision to recognise the incorporation of the Baltic states became public knowledge only when a Press report out of Moscow- not an official Government statement to the Parliament, not a Government Press release- disclosed the fact one month after the decision by the Prime Minister in Canberra and nearly three weeks after the Australian Embassy in Moscow had been informed. The Australian people had no reason to suspect that such a decision would be taken. The members of the Baltic community in Australia were treated rudely and with utter contempt. Mr Combe’s letter shows that nothing has changed.

I turn now to the first part of the question which seeks in a comparitive form the action that the present Government took. On 17 December 1975, just four days after the present Government was elected to office, it instructed the Australian Ambassador in Moscow that he and members of his staff should not in future make official visits to Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Mr McComas the Honorary Consul for Latvia in Australia prior to the Labor Government’s decision, was informed that he could resume his functions as Honorary Consul. We executed our duty to move away from de jure recognition. That was done within a matter of days of election to government. In short, the Government said very quickly and very effectively that it did not accept the legality of the Soviet annexation of the Baltic states. This remains the situation. The Government’s policy will not change after 10 December.

page 3027

QUESTION

OVERSEAS BORROWINGS

Mr UREN:
REID, NEW SOUTH WALES

-I direct a question to the Treasurer. I refer him to a statement which he made yesterday regarding borrowings of $200m in New York. Are these borrowings in addition to the $ 1,700m announced by the Acting Treasurer on 27 September, since they were not specifically referred to in that announcement? If so, were the borrowings prompted by the further run down of $7m to $8m in the level of Australia’s reserves in the week ending 2 November? Why has the Treasurer found it necessary to devalue the dollar by 1.2 per cent since the Acting Treasurer announced the borrowing of $ 1,700m on 27 September? Does this mean that the Government is following a policy of devaluing the Australian dollar as well as, in the words of the Prime Minister last year, a policy ‘of putting Australia into hock*?

Mr LYNCH:
LP

– The honourable gentleman is again, as is his characteristic custom in this House, seeking to play a destructive game in relation to Australia’s balance of payments position.

Mr Hayden:

– It would not be your incompetence contributing in any way, would it?

Mr LYNCH:

-The shrill parrot interjects again. He has a lot to answer for to the Australian people. I wish he would not get so nervous during Question Time. The Deputy Leader of the Opposition has sought certain information. The statement in relation to our negotiations in the New York market was part of the original borrowing program announced by the Acting Treasurer during my absence overseas.

I say to the honourable gentleman in general terms about the balance of payments position that since the devaluation in 1976 the balance of payments position has, of course, strengthened. Export revenue in seasonally adjusted terms for the recent September quarter was 12 per cent higher than for the December quarter 1976. The value of imports has fallen by 7 per cent between the March and September quarters. The volume of imports is now almost certainly below the immediate pre-devaluation level. The honourable gentleman knows that the current account deficit fell appreciably in the September quarter. The Government’s expanded overseas borrowing program has reinforced the capital account and now is encouraging a more favourable flow of private capital. The honourable gentleman would know that as at the end of October the reserves figure stood at the comfortable level of about $3 billion- slightly higher than a year ago. The external position is sound. I just ask the honourable gentleman to have a modicum of responsibility and to cease his persistent and destructive attacks on the exchange rate.

page 3028

QUESTION

NATIONAL TRACHOMA CAMPAIGN

Mr BEAZLEY:
FREMANTLE, WESTERN AUSTRALIA

– I ask the Minister for Health a question concerning the Commonwealth’s national campaign against trachoma and eye disease as applied in Queensland. Has the Government of Queensland threatened at any time to deny government hospital services to this campaign or to suspend such services? Would any political action by any employee be allowed by the Commonwealth to impede a vital health program for whites, as it apparently has allowed a program for Aborigines to be impeded? Is it because blacks in Queensland -

Mr SPEAKER:

– Order! The honourable gentleman is now arguing his question. I ask him to put the question directly.

Mr BEAZLEY:

– If Queensland , government hospitals and their nurses’ services are refused by the the Government of Queensland, even only temporarily, has consideration been given to the Commonwealth sponsored team using private hospitals in Queensland and nurses and other medical personnel from private hospitals so that the scheme can continue without interruption ? Were the employees objected to Aborigines employed as interpreters, and was one a master of five Aboriginal languages?

Mr HUNT:
NCP/NP

– The answer to the first question, which is the key question, is: Not to my knowledge. I am not aware of any threat by the Queensland Government to withhold any of its facilities. The central issue is whether the Royal College of Ophthalmologists, which is conducting the program, wishes to become involved or embroiled in the political climate over the next three or four weeks. As I said earlier, discussions are still going on with the College to see whether an alternative method can be found to ensure that the screening goes on. The rest of the program is going on. The surgery and the other follow-up requirements are being met by the Queensland authorities. There is no problem whatsoever in that area.

There is some difficulty with the two field officers who presently are assisting Professor Hollows. I do not know their names. I do not know whether they are full blood Aborigines or half blood Aborigines, but they are regarded by some Queensland people as being political activists in north Queensland.

page 3028

QUESTION

TELECOM AUSTRALIA

Mr KING:
WIMMERA, VICTORIA

– As this is the last opportunity that an honourable member for Wimmera will have to ask a question, because of the disappearance of the seat of Wimmera which has been in existence since 1901, 1 should like to direct a question to the Minister for Post and Telecommunications. Has the Minister noticed an advertisement in the daily newspapers indicating the achievements of Telecom Australia? Is the Minister in a position to indicate whether the information in the advertisement is correct? If so, does this mean that the actual trading surplus- interpreted as profit in some areas- will assist in the development of improved telephone services, particularly in country areas where the present service is anything but average?

Mr Eric Robinson:
MCPHERSON, QUEENSLAND · LP

– The advertisements do demonstrate the contribution that the Australian Telecommunications Commission is making to communications generally throughout Australia. What has not been recognised by members of this House and indeed by the community at large is the substantial number of initiatives which Telecom Australia is taking to improve services throughout the country. When loose comments are made as to the so-called profit or surplus of Telecom, people lose sight of the fact that under an Act of this Parliament there is a need for the Commission to find at least 50 per cent of capital works, long service leave and depreciation allowances out of revenue. That is a decision of this Parliament. The capital requirement for Telecom Australia this year alone is over $900m. If we talk of the capital involvement in Telecom we are talking of the order of $6,000m. So the surplus has to be seen in relation to that.

Generally speaking, I think that the Parliament and certainly the Government are very pleased with the relationship with the Telecommunications Commission. I know from my discussions with the Commission that it is seeking and will continue to seek ways and means of improving communications, particularly in the rural areas of Australia. We have a vast island continent. Regrettably in some parts of it the population is shrinking and it is terribly difficult to maintain the services that Telecom would wish. I believe that a greater acknowledgment by members of this Parliament and by the community as a whole of the immense contribution Telecom makes would be helpful. After all, all surplus is ploughed back for the benefit of the system. The Australian community owns Telecom and any surplus that is made is of course used for the benefit of increased communications.

In this growth market members of the Opposition would do well to seek to use whatever influence they have to get people in the trade union movement to co-operate in the use of the technology that is available. Regrettably at the moment some members of the trade union movement want to set their face against technology. If we are to have the best possible communications in Australia we have to use technology and we have to pursue development. I hope that each and every one of us will make a contribution in that way.

page 3029

QUESTION

REMARKS BY QUEENSLAND PREMIER

Mr UREN:

-Has the attention of the Deputy Prime Minister been drawn to threats in the last week by the Queensland Premier, first to the residents of Mount Isa and later repeated to the electors and residents of Mackay and Rockhampton, that their areas would be deprived of State funds if they did not vote for the National Party next Saturday? Can the Deputy Prime Minister assure those people that he will not allow Federal funding to Queensland to be interfered with by a Premier who intends to carry out those threats?

Mr ANTHONY:
NCP/NP

-My attention has not been drawn to these so-called threats by the Premier of Queensland; but I can well imagine the threats there would be to the people of these outlying areas if there were a change of government in Queensland, just as there would be if there were a change of government in the National Parliament. The whole performance of the Australian Labor Party over the years has been to concentrate expenditure in the public sector, and very much against the rural sector. One classic example was water resources. Under Labor Party policy we saw the tapering off of water resources programs over a number of years. Money for local government was contained to a very low level. When we came to office we ensured that more money would be made available for local government, and more money is being provided for local government. We ensured that there would be a return of many of the incentives and benefits to the rural community, and they have been returned. Under the Labor Administration they were taken away. The interpretation which the Labor Party is putting on the things which the Premier of Queensland has been saying is prompted by its own conscience.

Mr Hayden:

– I raise a point of order. The Deputy Prime Minister implies support for the Queensland Premier by his evasion.

Mr SPEAKER:

-There is no substance in the point of order. The honourable member knows that.

page 3029

QUESTION

ELECTION ADVERTISMENT

Mr HASLEM:

– I direct my question to the Minister for Employment and Industrial Relations. Is the Minister aware of an advertisement which appeared in the Canberra Times last Saturday seeking support for the Australian Labor Party candidate for the seat of Canberra, Dr Lawrence? I ask the Minister whether he is aware that that advertisement states:

Canberra’s unemployment is seven times greater than it was before Fraser.

What is the true position with respect to the increase in unemployment in Canberra, and is that advertisement a he?

Mr STREET:
LP

– Yes, I am aware of the recent misleading advertisement to which the honourable gentleman refers. I consider it a most serious matter that the Labor Party should so mislead the people of the Australian Capital Territory. The facts are that in the period from December 1972 to December 1975-the years of the Labor Administration- the level of unemployment in the Australian Capital Territory and Queanbeyan rose by approximately 224 per cent. Since December 1975 the level of unemployment in the Australian Capital Territory has risen by a further 83 per cent. These figures are publicly available and they give the lie to the claim made in the advertisement of the Labor Party candidate. I think it is not good enough that the Labor Party should mislead the people of the Australian Capital Territory in this way. I am pleased to take the opportunity to set the record straight. In addition let me say that unemployment in the Australian Capital Territory is still well below the national average.

page 3030

QUESTION

WHALING

Dr J F Cairns:
LALOR, VICTORIA · ALP

-I ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs whether he is aware that in North America there is legislation protecting whales as endangered species and that whale oil exported from Australia was thereby prevented from being imported into North America labelled fish oil. Will he say whether in his view, these events embarrass Australia in international relations and will he discuss with his colleagues who are directly responsible for this matter ways of introducing legislation in Australia to protect whales as endangered species and at the same time to provide alternative employment for those few people in Albany in Western Australia who are employed in this industry?

Mr PEACOCK:
LP

-Australia conducts only minimal whaling activities compared with Russia and Japan. I recall that we were participants in the International Whaling Commission meeting which was held in Canberra during this year. I was overseas at the time of the meeting. It is my firm recollection that we comply with the conservation policies of the Commission. In regard to specific elements that the honourable member has raised I will be pleased to take them up with those of my colleagues who are also associated with the matter-for example, the Minister for Primary Industry- and I will reply to him further.

page 3030

QUESTION

ELECTORAL CANDIDATES: PARTY REPRESENTATION

Mr Donald Cameron:
GRIFFITH, QUEENSLAND · LP

– I direct my question to the Minister representing the Minister for Administrative Services, who is in charge of the Electoral Act. Is the Minister aware that a candidate of another party for the new Federal seat of Fadden is masquerading by newspaper advertisements as if he has the endorsement of another party as well as his own party. Will the Minister ensure that when the Electoral Act is amended, it is so amended that we extend the principle embodied in the alteration to the Constitution last May in relation to casual Senate vacancies when political parties were recognised for the first time and thus prevent, by law, candidates indulging in delusions of grandeur or just plain false pretences?

Mr STREET:
LP

– Until the honourable gentleman raised the matter I was not aware of the precise circumstances he has outlined. I shall bring this matter to the attention of the Minister for Administrative Services for urgent action, if such action is possible. I think that the distinguished service of the honourable member for Griffith to this Parliament over many years will enable him to be recognised amongst any crowd of candidates.

page 3030

QUESTION

ECONOMIC FORECASTS

Mr HURFORD:
ADELAIDE, SOUTH AUSTRALIA

-My question is directed to the Treasurer. Did he and the Prime Minister forecast in the last national election campaign two years ago a growth rate in the following year of 6 per cent to 7 per cent and ‘jobs for all who want to work’, to mention just two economic indicators and two broken promises? Is it not a fact that he and his party were wrong in every economic forecast they made during that election campaign? Why should we take any notice of the economic forecasts of unkown origin mentioned by the Prime Minister yesterday and by the Treasurer today in Question Time in the light of the abysmal record and the depressing information . . .

Mr SPEAKER:

-Order! The honourable gentleman will ask his question.

Mr HURFORD:

– . . . in the light of the forecasts made and the information given by the prestigious Australian and New Zealand Bank index of economic activity and other such organisations which are prepared to put their names to the forecasts?

Mr LYNCH:
LP

– One does not need to rely on the forecasts brought down by this Government to recognise that recovery is taking place and that inflation has been subject to a very significant fall. If the honourable gentleman doubts that let me quote but one of the many authoritative spokesmen in the economic area throughout the Australian community. I quote from a section of the Syntec review from which the Prime Minister quoted yesterday. Syntec said this:

We expect the medium to long term bond rate structure to move gradually towards 8 per cent through 1 978. We expect the rate of inflation to move sustainably below 8 per cent on a year-on-year basis from mid- 1978 onwards.

Having said that, Syntec went on to express two sharp qualifications to those forecasts. I think the people would be interested in the qualifications. Syntec said:

Only two things would upset this prospect: (i) defeat of the Fraser Government; or (ii) reversion to pump priming fiscal expansion.

I am sure there is no chance whatsoever of this Government being defeated in the polls that lie ahead. The people recognise that the honourable ! gentleman who has just posed the question is a lonely voice when speaking about the economy. What he has put forward represents a direct reversion to the pump priming policies which put the Labor Government out of office in 1975. This Government can say without any shadow of doubt that 1978 will be the best year of economic performance in the course of the past five years.

Honourable members interjecting-

Mr LYNCH:

– If the honourable member for Adelaide wants to trade growth figures, I remind him in the gentlest possible way, because I have no reason to offend someone who is rather quiet in the economic area, that in 1975, the last year of the Labor Administration, non-farm product increased by only 0.3 per cent. In 1976 under this Government the average rate of growth was 4.2 per cent. If we look forward to 1 978, as the Prime Minister said yesterday, the increase in non-farm product is expected to be 5 per cent. The honourable gentleman’s policies are discredited on the record and on that record the party that he represents will again be rejected on 10 December.

page 3031

FRUIT INDUSTRY SUGAR CONCESSION COMMITTEE

Mr SINCLAIR:
Minister for Primary Industry · New England · NCP/NP

– Pursuant to clause 1 1 of the Sugar Agreement 1975 I present the annual report of the Fruit Industry Sugar Concession Committee for the year ended 30 June 1977. Copies of the report will be sent to all honourable members as soon as the bulk supplies become available. In the meantime, copies of the report have been placed in the Parliamentary Library and in the Tables Office.

page 3031

DRIED FRUITS RESEARCH COMMITTEE

Mr SINCLAIR:
Minister for Primary Industry · New England · NCP/NP

– Pursuant to section 18 of the Dried Fruits Research Act 1971 I present the annual report of the Dried Fruits Research Committee for the year ended 30 June 1 977.

Mr WILLIAM FREDERICK TOOMER

Mr STREET:
Minister for Employment and Industrial Relations · Corangamite · LP

– On 1 June 1977 I tabled in Parliament a statement concerning a proposed inquiry into the case of Mr W. F. Toomer, an officer of the Department of Health in Western Australia. The statement indicated that two senior officers of the Public Service, Mr R. J. Perriman and Mr G. P. Temme, would, as delegates of the Public Service Board, undertake a full inquiry into Mr Toomer ‘s case and report thereon to the Board.

Messrs Perriman and Temme have now reported to the Board and, for the information of honourable members, I table a copy of that report. The Public Service Board has indicated that it is currently urgently examining the report and, on the resumption of Parliament after the election, I will table a further statement giving details of action taken.

Mr SINCLAIR:
Leader of the House · New England · NCP/NP

-At the request of the Opposition, I move:

That the House take note of the paper.

Mr SCHOLES:
Corio

– I briefly want to make some remarks about the report. Unfortunately we have not had time to read the contents of the report, but my understanding is that the recommendation of the committee of inquiry is that Mr Toomer be transferred to Tullamarine as a quarantine officer. This in effect would mean that he has been demoted from a senior quarantine officer to a quarantine officer. It also, I think, means that the bureaucracy of the Department of Health has been upheld in its earlier decision to demote him and place him at Port Hedland. I do not want to enter into the merits of the case further because it is very difficult to comment on the findings contained in a report which has just been tabled and which at this stage I have not seen.

The case itself, I think, is one which is of historic importance and one of which the Parliament ought to take note. Firstly, the inquiry was set up- I should say that it spans a period of two governments, not only the period of the present Government; I want that clearly understoodonly after a royal commission into the Public Service recommended that a judicial inquiry should be held and it was found that because of some deficiencies in the law such an inquiry should not be held. Therefore an internal Public Service inquiry was held.

My concern about this whole episode is that basically it commenced over disagreements between public servants with little or no experience in quarantine matters and a quarantine officer who I believe was conscientiously seeking to cany out his duties, whether or not over conscientiously, and I find it difficult to say that any quarantine officer could ever overreact in the area of quarantine because of the substantial importance of quarantine within Australia. I think it is unfortunate that the judicial inquiry could not have been held because of the circumstances, some of which have been the subject of questions, and one question to which I received a reply yesterday, about the inspection in Sydney of M.V. Vishna Kalyan, in which a member of the first inquiry into this area, the Director of the Department of Health in New South Wales, was in fact present. Whilst it may be that only inquiries were taking place on the methods of quarantine operations, there are other circumstances surrounding that inspection, one of which is still the subject of questions on the Notice Paper, regarding the captain being given a clearance by a non-quarantine officer, which have to lay as matters which could have influenced the course of the inquiry. I imagine- I think the experience of us all would suggest this- that where a member of a former committee which has in fact brought in a decision fully upholding the decisions of the Western Australian branch of the Department of Health, and an associated director of the Department of Health in another State is present at the time of such inquiry, he would be seeking to place the best possible interpretation on the decisions which were taken by the committee of which he himself was a member.

I hope, irrespective of the findings of this committee of inquiry, that it does not close inquiries into the total quarantine service. I do not believe that the quarantine service should be judged on the sins, omissions or successes of one quarantine officer or the disputes which he may have had on personality or other grounds with officers of his department. I make that point quite clearly. I believe that there are very substantial pounds for some degree of inquiry into whether the quarantine service should be an independent service operating similar to the Bureau of Customs, if not in association with it, so that it is not subject to any departmental direction even though departmental umbrella structures may support it. I think it is important that inquiries m that area should take place and continue. The service is too important for any hint of interference, other than for purely quarantine or administrative reasons.

The situation in Western Australia may or may not have improved. Certainly, from the early history of the Toomer case, it was less than satisfactory. I think that the persons who carried out the original inquiry did not get the full facts. I am certain that personality clashes in Western Australia acted to the detriment of the service and most likely created a far greater problem in the Toomer case than would have existed otherwise. I took this opportunity to speak without having studied the report. I will study the report with some interest. This is the last occasion on which we will be able to comment on it in this Parliament. This matter will be rather old news by the start of the next Parliament. I hope that this report will not preclude further inquiries into the structure and operations of Australia’s quarantine service, which will become increasingly important as the number of persons and the types of transport coming into and going out of Australia increase.

Mr BUNGEY:
Canning

– I, too, want to speak very briefly on the report. I have taken a keen interest in the Toomer case. I speak as the honourable member for Corio (Mr Scholes) spoke, in that I am not fully aware of the contents of, or the recommendations in, the report. It is very clear that lessons can be learned from this case in a number of areas. Firstly, the honourable member for Corio referred to deficiencies in quarantine. I am sure that the airing of this case to a large degree has allowed a number of those deficiencies in quarantine to be plugged or at least reviewed. I note that the Government, through the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has made a review of the whole administrative arrangements of the quarantine service. I think that this is a very good start.

I ask the Minister for Employment and Industrial Relations and Minister Assisting the Prime Minister in Public Service Matters (Mr Street) to follow the recommendation of the Royal Commission on Australian Government Administration that its case study of the Toomer case be published. I note that the Minister has tabled the report of the inquiry by Temme and Perriman, but in no way has any effort been made to summarise the very substantial case study- it occupies more than 100 pages- which was made by Mr Munro who was a member of that Royal Commission. I ask the Government to look at the possibility of following that recommendation. I think this whole case has indicated a degree of secrecy which is quite undesirable. I think frankness breeds confidence. One cannot have confidence in a quarantine service or a department of health which is very keen on hiding things. This whole case has been very secretive. It is essential that we have confidence in the quarantine service. That is the only way in which we will get full support from the public to ensure that there is proper quarantine enforcement.

I am worried also about several aspects of the current inquiry by Mr Temme and Mr Perriman. One of them has been referred to as the Vishna Kalyan episode. The episode has not been explained by the Department. The honourable member for Corio and I have questions on notice on this matter directed to the Minister for Health (Mr Hunt). I think it is desirable that they be answered. I note that a reply was received to question No. 1461 which deals with this matter. The Minister Assisting the Prime Minister in Public Service Matters stated:

I am satisfied that the conduct of Messrs Perriman and Temme while visiting the MV Vishna Kalyan was quite proper, and has not in any way compromised the independence of the inquiry.

Without receiving a full report and answers from the Minister for Health, I have not quite the confidence that the Minister displayed in answering that question. I welcome the fact that a further report will be made to the Parliament on what has happened in this case. It is very clear that there has been a number of areas of administrative immorality. I hope that if these areas have been revealed in the report methods will be adopted to change the Public Service Act and Regulations to ensure that similar administrative immorality and personal vendettas cannot be exercised through the Public Service Act or under the guise of the Public Service Act.

Question resolved in the affirmative.

page 3033

LAW REFORM COMMISSION

Mr HOWARD:
Minister for Special Trade Negotiations · Bennelong · LP

– Pursuant to section 35 of the Law Reform Commission Act 1973, I present the annual report of the Law Reform Commission for the year ended 30 June 1977.

page 3033

AUSTRALIAN HERITAGE COMMISSION

Mr NEWMAN:
Minister for Environment, Housing and Community Development · Bass · LP

Pursuant to section 43 of the Australian Heritage Commission Act 1975, 1 present the final report of the Australian Heritage Commission 1976-77, together with the Auditor-General’s report on the Commission’s accounts.

page 3033

QUESTION

COMMONWEALTH PARLIAMENTARY CONFERENCE

Mr SCHOLES:
Corio

-by leave-I present the report of the Commonwealth of Australia Branch Delegation to the 23rd Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference held in Canada. A limited number of copies are available from the Table Office. Copies have been placed in the Parliamentary Library. Personal copies will be distributed to all members of the Branch. Additional copies will be made available for general distribution in the near future.

Ordered that the report be printed.

Mr SCHOLES:

-by leave-In the absence of the leader of the Australian Branch Delegation, the Honourable Bert Kelly, I make a brief report on the Delegation to the Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference held in Ottawa in October this year. One matter which received considerable publicity in Australia related to one of the Australian delegates, Senator Bonner, and to alleged criticisms by him of the Canadian hosts. I think that in fairness to Senator Bonner it is important that I report to the House on what I see as the circumstances surrounding that. Senator Bonner was asked by a sensational newspaper whether he had seen any indigenous minority groups on his tours of Canada prior to the conference. He informed the journalist, who rang him late at night, that he had not. Subsequently the journalist said: ‘Isn’t that a pity’. Senator Bonner said: ‘I suppose it is a shame’. A headline which appeared the next day in the newspaper which would be akin to some of our more sensational rags, intimated that Senator Bonner had said: ‘Shame on the Canadian Government for not allowing visits to minority groups’.

The Speaker of the Parliament, who was the President of the Conference, indicated at the Conference that the Canadians had done everything they possibly could to meet the requests of delegates. I think that was a quite proper statement. I think Senator Bonner and everyone else agreed with it. Mr Kelly indicated that the Australian Delegation was happy with the treatment it had received. There were some misunderstandings surrounding this case. I think they were unfortunate. I think it is important that the House be informed that Senator Bonner, in my opinion, was the victim of a beat-up story by a journalist. I think most honourable members in this House will understand what that is all about.

The Conference adopted a new constitution for the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association which changes the arrangements with regard to the Executive General Council and other matters. These are set out in the report. I shall not go into them here. The one matter of substance that I think I ought to report on arising from the Conference was the organised manner in which delegates from the Malaysian area carried out a concerted attack on Australia relating to trade and other matters. All their speeches, I suggest, were prepared in advance before being delivered at the Conference. The honourable member for Indi, Mr Holten, who was a member of the committee concerned, replied on behalf of Australia. But in the face of such an attack I think it will be necessary at future conferences for at least some members of delegations to international conferences from the parliamentary area to be provided with briefs from departments setting out exactly what the Australian Government s position has been, even if this information is provided only to the leader of the delegation. This Conference was used for the purpose of pursuing a line to the disadvantage of Australia. The information which was available to delegates was generally on the public record and I suggest, not sufficient to rebut the type of attack which was obviously derived from government departments, the delegation being led by a Minister.

I think all delegates to the Conference would say that it was very successful and one at which discussions were on a far more intense and real level than some conferences one attends where there is piety and argument is avoided. This Conference I think discussed real questions well. I think the incident of the Press reports relating to one of the members of our delegation- I personally think he was blameless- was unfortunate. I think the delegation was well received in Canada and that the Canadians did a great job in presenting the Conference.

Mr SPEAKER:

– When delegations go overseas from the Parliament the members are drawn from both sides of the House. It is pleasing to hear the deputy leader of the delegation from one side of the House coming to the defence of a member of the delegation coming from the other side of the House. I shall take up with Ministers the matters about briefing members of the delegation raised by the honourable gentleman so that all members of delegations can be briefed in advance.

page 3034

UNEMPLOYMENT

Discussion of Matter of Public Importance

Mr SPEAKER:

– I have received letters from both the honourable member for Gellibrand (Mr Willis) and the honourable member for Bradfield (Mr Connolly) proposing that definite matters of public importance be submitted to the House for discussion today. As required by Standing Order 107 I have selected one matter, that is, that proposed by the honourable member for Gellibrand, namely:

The Fraser Government’s refusal to accept responsibility for unemployment.

I call upon those members who approve of the proposed discussion to rise in their places.

More than the number of members required by Standing Orders having risen in their placesMr WILLIS (Gellibrand) (11.14)-Mr Speaker-

Motion (by Mr Sinclair) put: That business of the day be called on. The House divided.

AYES: 0

NOES: 0

AYES

NOES

That business of the day be called on. The House divided. (Mr Speaker-Rt Hon. B. M. Snedden, Q.C.)

AYES: 65

NOES: 26

Majority……. 39

In divisionMr E. G. Whitlam- Mr Speaker, I seek leave to withdraw from the chamber.

AYES

NOES

Question resolved in the affirmative.

page 3034

MINISTER FOR TRANSPORT

Suspension of Standing Orders Mr MORRIS (Shortland) ( 1 1.20)- I move:

That so much of the Standing Orders be suspended as would prevent the honourable member for Shortland moving:

That the Prime Minister should ask for the resignation of the Minister for Transport in accordance with long standing parliamentary practice because-

1 ) The Minister has misled the House as to his activities in the purchase by the Australian Government-

That the honourable member for Shortland be not further heard.

Mr MORRIS:
SHORTLAND, NEW SOUTH WALES

-I have not finished putting the motion yet, Mr Deputy Speaker.

Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER (Mr Lucock:
LYNE, NEW SOUTH WALES

-I call the honourable member for Shortland.

Mr MORRIS:

– The motion continues: . . . of (a) 14.44 hectares of land from a Mr J. W. McDonald, (b) 334.8 hectares of land from Great Gippsland Farms Pty Ltd and (c) 4.228 hectares of land from the State of Victoria near Darriman in his electorate of Gippsland;

  1. In relation to the purchase of the land the Minister told the House on 3 November 1977 that he had no knowledge of the activities of the Department of Administrative Services, that that Department was totally independent of his Department, that the vendor was personally known to him;
  2. On 7 November 1977 he then told the House he had spoken to the Secretary of the Department of Administrative Services about the matter in December 1 976;
  3. In relation to the purchase of the land he had asked that a local stock and station agent be appointed, contrary to a statement he made in the House on 4 November 1977;
  4. 5 ) As Minister for Transport after the change of government in 1975, he suggested that the Omega base be located in east Gippsland whereas, as Minister for Transport in 1972, he had stated that a choice would be made for the base between sites near Nerang or near Deniliquin;
  5. On 3 November 1977 he told the House that $190 an acre was paid for the land at Darriman when at that date the land in question had not been purchased but only an option had been bought.

It is clear from an examination of the relevant files on this matter that the Minister for Transport (Mr Nixon) has misled the House on several counts. If one looks back over the history of the whole series of events-

Motion (by Mr Sinclair) agreed to:

That the honourable member for Shortland be not further heard.

Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER (Mr Lucock:

-Is the motion seconded?

Mr SCHOLES:
Corio

– I second the motion. The application of the gag to this motion is in line with gags moved in relation to other motions which have disclosed that Ministers are in some difficulties. A former Opposition in this House would have used the word ‘corrupt’, but we do not use that type of language.

Motion (by Mr Sinclair) agreed to:

That the honourable member for Corio be not further heard.

Question put:

That the motion (Mr Morris’s) be agreed to.

The House divided. (Mr Deputy Speaker -Mr P. E. Lucock)

AYES: 23

NOES: 67

Majority……. 44

AYES

NOES

Question so resolved in the negative.

page 3036

JOINT COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND DEFENCE

Notice of Motion

The Clerk:

– Notice has been received from the honourable member for Chifley (Mr Armitage) that at the next sitting he will move:

That this House is of the opinion that the Government should implement the recommendations of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence on defence industry.

page 3036

TRADE PRACTICES AMENDMENT BILL (No. 2) 1977

Second Reading

Debate resumed from 4 November, on motion by Mr Fife:

That the Bill be now read a second time.

Mr LIONEL BOWEN:
Smith · Kingsford

– This amendment to the Trade Practices Act virtually covers three segments of that Act. The first part relates to the definition of price, and uses more exact terms. The second part relates to the question of the Minister having the ability to declare safety standards. The third part relates to the limitation of liability in respect of appliances or goods that have been sold. At the outset let me make it clear that the Opposition at this time will not be opposing the Bill but in fact will be opposing in principle clause 5 which relates to the ability of a supplier to mitigate liability for damages by having the opportunity, as a result of this clause, to exclude liability in a contract. The Opposition is saying that subject to that proviso we are not opposing the Bill but we have a very serious reservation about that clause. I think that on election to government we would restore that clause, in the interests of consumers.

The first clause to which I wish to refer is clause 3 which defines the question of what would be deemed to be the price. The House will recall a previous amendment to the Trade Practices Act by which section 4B gave a definition of a certain higher standard of warranty on goods supplied which cost less than $15,000. This method, which is contained in the earlier parts of the definition, is redefined to give a definition of prices. There is no objection to that.

Clause 4 is an interesting clause. The reason given for its insertion is that it is a much more efficient and expedient way for the Minister to notify standards than to have to do so by proclamation. One wants at all times to praise expediency and efficiency, particularly where one is dealing with business and consumer affairs. However, one must look at the matter from the point of view of what would be called parliamentary procedures. The normal method would be for regulations to be prescribed. They, of course, can be subject to the review of Parliament. Parliament does not exercise its review role simply because of some peculiar quirk of any member of the Government or the Opposition. It is usually as a result of representations made by people in the commercial and business life, or even in the ordinary consumer life, who are anxious to say that the standards which have been proclaimed are wrong. So we get that surveillance.

I think the Minister for Business and Consumer Affairs (Mr Fife) is now saying that the Government wants to do that by notice in the Gazette. The only qualification he has relates to the standards specified. The clause refers to standards prepared by the Standards Association of Australia or by a prescribed association or body. So the Minister is recognising the fact that there ought to be some other independent advice. The one qualification that the Opposition has in that respect is that consumers are not represented adequately or at all on the Standards Association or similar bodies. Consumers find it very difficult, because of a lack of funds, to participate in all discussions of bodies of this nature. They have no independent means of support. They have some limited government means of support which in no way enables them to be present or even members of various associations. So there is a weakness there.

If the Minister wants to satisfy public opinion in this area he would need to guarantee that the appropriate representations of consumers or, to put it m another fashion, the recognised organisations of consumers, are represented on all associations at all times in respect of all products. Then there would be some guarantee that the standard set was in accordance with a determination properly and fairly made at which the consumers were fairly represented. I understand that this is not the position at present.

We have some rather unhappy remarks to make about standards. I understand that there is a lot of discrepancy and disparity about standards which should have been applied in Australia and which are not being applied at present. I understand, for example, we have ailed to apply a national standard for children’s clothing, particularly flammable clothing which could result in youngsters being burnt to death because of certain material used in the manufacture of their garments. I understand that such garments cannot be sold in New South Wales because, quite properly, the vigilant Government and Ministers in that State have taken action to see that those garments are not sold in New South Wales. They could be sold elsewhere in Australia. I understand that we have failed to set a safety standard in relation to safety helmets for motor cyclists. So people are suffering injury and are losing their lives, perhaps because of the lack of interest at the national level. Certain electronic slimming equipment is apparently a health hazard. There has been no proper national standard.

These things should have been done. The Government cannot let things run along on the basis that it cannot interfere with somebody’s profit motive or on the basis of some doubt about whether interference would affect a person’s business. The issue is the safety of the consumer and the welfare of the community. Not the least, and probably the most serious, aspect is the amount of eye injuries caused by certain toys. Some States have taken adequate action to protect the consumer. At the national level we have weakened rather badly in this area. I would like the Minister to look at that matter, even in the dying stages of this Parliament. He could authorise his Department to see why something has not been done to protect the consumers in those fields.

I turn to the most important aspect of the Bill, in the legal sense. It is clause S which states that there will be a limitation of liability in respect of goods supplied. We are really saying that the services relating to personal, domestic or household use will not be affected, but if there is any other use the question of damage or consequential damage which a person may suffer will have to be borne by that person. The clause flows no doubt from strong and violent representations by the multi-national computer company, IBM Australia Limited. It is not good enough for this country to have legislation that might suit some overseas combine which, having interpreted the new legislation, feels that it represents an openended commitment for it because it removes provisions which allow a consumer who buys one of its computers for less than $15,000 to recover a substantial amount of damages.

Let us look at the legal principles involved. It is quite clear that, under the Act as it is, the consumer would have to show that he indicated that he intended to use the appliance for a specified purpose. In other words, he would have to show that he did not just buy the computer off the shelf without saying anything about what he intended to use it for. If he had done that and then used the appliance wrongly, he would not be able to recover damages. He would have to provide evidence that at the time of purchase he specified the purpose for which he wanted the appliance

Plenty of English decisions made under the Supply of Goods Act clearly show that suppliers are not expected to know the idiosyncrasies of the people who buy from them. A person who buys an appliance and misuses it or does not use it properly may not recover damages as a matter of course. Far from it. Evidence as to the specified purpose has to be considered. The purpose could have been specified by the supplier and it would have had to be specified by the consumer. Damages are not given automatically to someone who has bought an appliance. The purchaser has to follow the normal procedures of law and show that he has suffered damage because of a breach of warranty- an imPlied warranty or a specific warranty- relating to the purpose for which the goods may be used.

IBM has ignored aU that. The British Government weakened its stand on what it thought was an appropriate Supply of Goods Act and eventually amended its legislation in 1973 to exclude liability in these cases. The British legislation set out the reasons for exclusion. The first referred to the strength of the bargaining position. An exact quotation from that provision is now proposed to be inserted in our legislation. The second concerns whether the buyer received an inducement. Again an exact quotation is proposed to be inserted in our legislation. The third consideration is whether the buyer knew or ought reasonably to have known. An exact quotation of that also is to be inserted in our legislation. What has happened is that, because an international combine has asked the Government to use the British Act as a model to protect it, the British Act is becoming the Australian law.

We were pioneering the law on trade practices. Our legislation protected the consumer by providing that appliances costing less than $15,000 ought to have an implied warranty that they would meet the test of a specified purpose. This is to be thrown overboard because the Minister has succumbed to the pressures of an international group. I do not think manufacturers in Australia were very worried about the existing provision, but IBM engaged in a strong campaign against it. In fact, it wrote to me about a speech I had made. I had said that IBM had gone on strike against supplying the normal consumer in Australia. It was determined to stand over consumers in Australia. It said that it was going to have its way and that the legislation should be framed in the way the British had framed their legislation. It said that without such legislation a consumer might be able to sustain a case against it.

Let us put the criteria in the right place. No consumer can recover anything unless he suffers damage. The result of the action of the Minister and the Government is that the consumer will suffer damage. He will have to bear the cost, and that is the end of the story. Is that fair and reasonable? All that the law normally asks is that a product which is bought should meet the purpose for which it is specified. That is the implied meaning of this division of the Trade Practices Act. It does not say that there is a complete and absolute liability in any sense of the word. It relates to the evidence about the nature of the transaction. Section 71 states:

Where a corporation supplies . . . and the consumer, expressly or by implication, makes known to the corporation . . . any particular purpose there is an implied condition that the goods are reasonably fit for that purpose . . .

Section 74 states:

Where a corporation supplies . . . and the consumer, expressly or by implication, makes known to the corporation any particular purpose . . .

That is the overriding test. We just cannot say that IBM is responsible for all its appliances if a consumer misuses them. It is not. The natural result of this amendment is that, if a consumer buys an appliance which he says he wants for a specified purpose and it fails to do the job and he suffers consequential damages, he may not be able to recover because conditions presently required by the Act may be excluded from the contract.

There was a stampede by a particular group to indicate to the Australian legislators that they had better not continue with what they had done. Because the Act was amended earlier this year to protect consumers, IBM decided to wage a campaign to get it altered. Unfortunately, and wrongly in my view, the Government has succumbed. Mr Moyes of IBM is no slouch at lobbying. He wrote to me about what he felt were unfair remarks I had made. I stand by those remarks. He wrote to me on 8 September, but I did not receive the letter until about 1 1 October. I do not know what happened to it. The background is that I understand that there was correspondence in the newspapers, particularly the Age in which Mr Moyes said that he really was not certain what the Government was going to do. I very much doubt that. It appeared very clearly from the word go that IBM was determined that the Government had better do something. It should be noticed that this amendment is before us on the last day of the Parliament.

We want the Government to look at the law on this point. When I replied to Mr Moyes I pointed out that the legislation did not mean that automatically IBM was responsible. The test of whether there had been a specified purpose had to be satisfied. It was known that the idosyncrasies of a consumer would be taken into account. There was much difficulty with the law concerning whether clauses of contracts were excludable. When the Suisse Atlantique case was discussed in the House of Lords, Lord Reid talked about this very problem. He said that we had to look at what was fair and reasonable and that we could not really expect the courts to do it. He said: . . . in the recent cases that the courts are to consider whether the exemption is fair in all the circumstances or is harsh and unconscionable or whether it was freely agreed by the customer. And it does not seem to me to be satisfactory that the decision must always go one way if, e.g., defects in a car or other goods are just sufficient to make the breach of contract a fundamental breach, but must always go the other way if the defects fall just short of that.

This is the particular point:

This is a complex problem which intimately affects millions of people and it appears to me that its solution should be left to Parliament. If your Lordships reject this new rule there will certainly be a need for urgent legislative action but that is not beyond reasonable expectation.

The British ran away from taking appropriate legislative action. The Australian Government has succumbed to international pressure to do just what the British have done. The point I am making is that damage will be sustained by people who purchase goods under a contract with a clause that states they will not be able to recover damages because such contracts are excluded from the Trade Practices Act by this Bill. Under the existing Act it is appropriate for a person to say that he bought the goods for a specified purpose, that the supplier knew the purpose and that therefore he is entitled to recover damages- not penalty damages but actual damages.

The Swanson Committee was very interested in this matter. It was a committee to which the Australian Labor Party did not give much praise in every respect. It recommended this protection for consumers and was strongly of the view that the definition of ‘consumer’ ought to be broadened to protect a number of business transactions, in particular those involving the small businessman. He is the man who will be most affected by this negation of liability. Is it not fair and reasonable that any small businessman who buys one of these appliances from IBM or the like should be entitled to recover damages, if he suffers damages, and should not have to face the issue, particularly in a monopoly field where, perhaps he needs this sort of hardware and has to buy it under a contract which says: ‘If there is a problem in the sense that that machine does not stand up to what you will think it will do, it will not be our responsibility. You can take no action against us’.? He legally meets the defence that he had to sign a document which provided that he could not take action.

The parties are not on equal terms- far from it. We have a massive international group with a monopoly on appliances selling those appliances to a customer who has nothing but a small business and who is not able to say: ‘Well, I am on equal terms’. It is a take it or leave it proposition. I notice this same international group was also encouraging people in the elevator business to do the same sort of thing. They were working a little club amongst themselves to indicate clearly to the poor unfortunate customer ‘Well, you are not always going to recover damages because we have a sort of monopoly on appliances that you must have. We will now persuade this Government to alter the Act so that you will not recover damages in certain circumstances’.

It is not good enough just to talk about the question of replacing the machine or repairing le goods. What about the damage the person suffers as a consequence of the failure of the machine or the failure to maintain the warranty? A consequential damage is involved. That person could go broke because of this sort of liability We do not see that happening in the international sphere. These people are unlikely to go broke. They have a multi-million dollar asset backing. I do not know of any outrageous claims having been made against them in recent months because of the amendments we passed. We do not see small businessmen running off to court, issuing writs on the basis that they are going to recover damages. In every case they have to substantiate the claim.

It is quite wrong that the small business community in Australia has been so deprived of normal protection. The Swanson Committee was anxious to give them that protection. It was because of the Swanson Committee that this particular amendment was introduced. Now it is to be removed. Why? It is because of IBM and a few others who say that they do not like it; that they do not want Australia to be a pioneer in this field, that they had better sink back to where they are in Britain and other places. So the big man is always protected and the Utile man always suffers.

We would have no objection if this were an equal footing proposition, but this is in no way an equal footing proposition. We are concerned to think that the Government has caved in, particularly in the dying minutes of a parliament, and is passing a law that will affect a number of people.

For that reason we oppose clause S. It is too late to talk about a redefinition of it. I have clearly outlined to the Minister the concern of the small business community. I am not at aU impressed with the representations made by IBM or the way in which it made them. Nor am I impressed with the other people IBM tried to inveigle into putting pressure on this Government. The law can certainly stand a much better amendment than that proposed here. It could clearly say: ‘You cannot exclude the provisions in the contracts where it is clearly spelt out that the customer indicated the specified purpose’. Yet we have this weakness now that if there is to be a contest about it, perhaps a court can determine what is fair and reasonable. As was said by Lord Reid in the Suisse Atlantique case: ‘There can be no such thing. It cannot be done. It is a matter for Parliament: What about the Government looking at that situation? It is for those reasons that whilst we do not oppose the Bill in the overall context, for the reasons I have mentioned, we certainly object strongly to the provisions of clause 5.

Mr Ian Robinson:
COWPER, NEW SOUTH WALES · CP; NCP from May 1975

-The attack by the honourable member for KingsfordSmith (Mr Lionel Bowen) on the amendments is certainly something that could be regarded as predictable. His case falls to the ground and has no substantiation. It will be recalled that amendments to the Trade Practices Act have occurred on a number of occasions in the life of this Parliament. It is all directly related to an undertaking given. That was that imperfections, serious anomalies, would be reviewed and appropriate action taken when it was found reasonable so to do. That is exactly why these current amendments have been introduced. I do not propose to traverse them aU because they are clearly understood by those who want to apply themselves on a basis of fair judgment of the Government’s action.

Unfortunately the Opposition feels some disappoinment because its extreme approach in this matter a few years ago was designed quite clearly as a socialist approach. It was an approach which was summed up in the words of the honourable member for Kingsford-Smith when he said that there had been pressure from an international combine, as he described it. He referred to multinationals and the like but failed to recognise the importance of balance between this and the field of commercial operation in this country. This was particularly so when he said that we should be taking action that differs from that taken in the United Kingdom and other places where greater experience has occurred and where, of course, there is a greater appreciation of the involvements. He suggested that we should be the pacesetters in some of these matters. How ridiculous! It astounds me to think that we could approach matters of this kind on the basis that the more limited business scope in this country is sufficient upon which to base judgment. But still that is the proposition that has been put.

Quite clearly there is a lack of understanding, particularly of the import of clause 5. The difficulties that arose as a consequence of the provisions of clause 5 are very clear. What is proposed is to bring about a fairer situation, not just for large companies- the honourable member named IBM-but for the whole spectrum of those commercial operations that supply equipment up to a certain value. The assertion that it should be fair that damage should be entertained in the matter of losses that might occur is a very one-sided view. I say to the House that if that is the view in this matter, what about industrial disruption? What about damage that occurs then to the success of a commercial operation? It is a very different argument when that kind of thing is raised in this forum or in any other place by the Opposition. Therefore I repeat that the expressions by the honourable member for Kingsford-Smith in this matter are predictable. Obviously a political judgment rather than a factual one has been made by the Opposition in looking at this particular issue.

I said that I did not propose to traverse all the details. That is for the reason that there is a time limitation and also that it is not really necessary. What we want to be clear on is that the Government is honouring an undertaking to amend where there is justification so to do, when proper cases have been put as to the effect of the legislation in its original form. No doubt there will be further instances where there is a need to take action of this kind. It is very clear that the Government is seeking to free Australian commerce from unnecessary straitjackets imposed by the legislation and where there is unnecessary restrictiveness. Small business will be assisted to a very great extent by the amendments. In fact the interpretations that have sometimes been placed on the present legislation have been shown to be quite wrong. That is particularly evident in the attitude that was displayed by people commenting in financial columns and the like as to the effect of the amendments. This caused some real worry and concern for retailers when they were not going to be involved at all in the way that was described. It is a pity, when we want to have an effective trade practices measure, that there is distortion and that that distortion is so often strongly expressed on wrong premises. For that reason I commend the amendments contained in the Bill. Very clearly, they are aimed at assisting the consumer, and the supplier- indeed the whole spectrum of straight forward business in this country.

Mr FIFE:
Minister for Business and Consumer Affairs · Farrer · LP

-in reply-The honourable member for Cowper (Mr Ian Robinson) has answered very clearly, very well and in a complete way the concern that has been expressed by the honourable member for Kingsford-Smith (Mr Lionel Bowen), on behalf of the Opposition, in regard to clause 5 of the Bill. I think I am right in saying that the honourable member for Kingsford-Smith has indicated general support for the rest of the measure that is before the House. However, because it is several days since I made my second reading speech on this subject, I think I should remind honourable members on both sides of the House that the Government, in arriving at its decision as expressed in clause 5 of this Bill, concluded that in the context of commercial dealings in commercial goods or services it is reasonable to allow, and I emphasise the word ‘allow’- not to forceparties to a contract to negotiate their own arrangements regarding liability for consequential damages flowing from a breach of the contract.

Let me make it clear that the Trade Practices Act will continue to maintain a basic philosophy .that suppliers of goods or services should stand behind the quality and title of those goods or services in their dealings with business as well as with the public. Accordingly, the Bill does not allow liability for repair or replacement of faulty goods or services of for a breach of the undertakings in section 69 relating to title to be excluded. Further, the Bill does not allow relevant liability to be limited with total disregard to equity between the parties. The Government believes that the recent amendments to the law in the United Kingdom in this regard are appropriate to the Australian situation. Because of this a limitation of liability in a contract governed by the Trade Practices Act may be challenged on the ground that the limitation was not fair and reasonable between the parties.

The only other point that I wish to make is in regard to the fact that the honourable member for Kingsford-Smith singled out IBM Australia Ltd for criticism for the representations it made to the Government and, indeed, to the Opposition. I want to make it perfectly clear that representations were received from a large number of business organisations- not only from IBM- in regard to this matter and concern was expressed. It was because of this concern that the Government reviewed the definition of ‘consumer’ in the Trade Practices Act. Some time ago I made a public statement indicating that consideration was being given to amending the legislation in this regard. A large number of submissions were received not only from industry groups and commercial organisations but also from consumer groups. I am bound to say that, apart from the criticism levelled here today, I am not aware of any substantial criticism having been contained in the submissions I have received. In fact, I took the opportunity of discussing the matter with the Government’s advisory group and, again, on that occasion there was general acceptance of the proposal that is now before the House.

Question resolved in the affirmative.

Bill read a second time.

In Committee

The Bill.

Mr LIONEL BOWEN:
Smith · KINGSFORD-SMITH, NEW SOUTH WALES · ALP

– The Opposition objects to clause S. But firstly I want to refer to what the Minister for Business and Consumer Affairs (Mr Fife) said. He created the impression that the Government’s decision had not been made as a result of the representations of one particular group, but that a number of other people had made representations. I accept that, but it is quite clear that the only organisations that seemed to be making all the noise- certainly to the Opposition and certainly to the Press- were IBM Australia Ltd and some of its affiliates. Whilst the Minister is entitled to refer to his Press statement I would like to refer to the last paragraph of his second reading speech where, talking about the intention of the Government in the future, he said that the Government intends to amend the Trade Practices Act with respect to manufacturers’ warranties. He said that the Government will be dealing with that matter upon its return to office. Let me say that my parry will be dealing with it, because it expects to be in office. One wonders why the matter of manufacturers’ warranties could not have been dealt with, with the same expertise and speed. That is not the case.

The honourable member for Cowper (Mr Ian Robinson) made a rather strong attack on me on the basis that I had some peculiar problem in dealing with overseas international combines. I have no such problem. I would like the honourable member for Cowper to understand bis own

Government’s position. It was that Government- - not the Labor Government of which I was a member- that introduced the amendments to the Act which this Bill seeks to delete. Let me refresh the memory of the honourable member for Cowper. The amendments to the Trade Practices Act were foreshadowed a long time before they were introduced. Plenty of submissions could have been made- they were not made at that time- by IBM. I am aware that the Committee to review the Trade Practices Act, the Swanson Committee, stated that one of the amendments should be in relation to the definition of ‘consumer’ which adopted the basic notion of goods or services ‘ordinarily acquired for private use or consumption’ and then excluded certain transactions of a commercial nature. The Committee considered that the best approach to the definition would be by reference to the price paid by the consumer for the goods or services. The Committee recommended that the appropriate test should be a limit of $15,000 on the value of the goods or services.

The honourable member for Cowper has forgotten that it was the Swanson Committee that brought in this recommendation which forms part of the Government’s recommendations. Why did the Swanson Committee do that? It was strongly of the view that the definition of a ‘consumer’ should be sufficiently broad to provide protection to a range of business transactions, particularly purchases by small businesses. The Committee considered that one important function of the consumer protection provisions of the Act is to redress, between supplier and customer, inequalities in the technical expertise required to recognise, and the bargaining power to negotiate, a fair bargain. These inequalities are not necessarily limited to ‘traditional’ consumers or to transactions involving what might be termed ‘consumer’ goods in a narrow sense. The Committee went on to talk about the possibility of an insurance company purchasing a wrong chair, or something of that nature.

Again, the honourable member for Cowper seemed to overlook the fact that some Government Ministers were concerned that IBM was becoming upset. It first appeared in the Australian Financial Review, which at that time seemed to be the appropriate mouthpiece for IBM, that the industry was grinding to a halt because the com- ( niter group was upset. The managing director of BM informed all its clients by telex:

I regret to have to inform you that until further notice we will be unable to accept new contracts . . .

They were the only people mentioned in the Press. There was no suggestion by the Opposition that the Government had done the wrong thing. In fact, the Opposition was applauding the Government in this area. I am astounded by the ignorance of the honourable member for Cowper in this area. Then, on 7 July 1977 the Acting Minister for Business and Consumer Affairs, Mr Macphee, was moved to comment that he found it surprising that industry had taken so long to examine the proposed new definition of ‘consumer’. Mr Macphee stated that it was surprising that in view of the long period over which the proposed definition of ‘consumer’ had been made public and in the light of the specific invitations which had been issued on a number of occasions by his colleague, Mr Howard, for interested persons to examine the Swanson Committee’s recommendations, it had taken so long for somebody to talk about this matter. Senior Government officials were reported as saying: ‘The principle is that if it is reasonable to protect the ordinary consumer, then is it not reasonable to protect the business man who is not expert in what he is buying for his own use- that is, not trading stock or raw materials’. Then we find The Australian saying that there was confusion. It reported:

After a week of investigation I feel that it is just old fashioned stupidity by our supposedly most intelligent industry.

I wish the honourable member for Cowper would talk to his colleagues. They are the words of the Government and other Ministers. What are they talking about? This is a high pressure campaign and whilst the Minister for Business and Consumer Affairs has said that there are other people who have been complaining, the real issue came from IBM and a few of its subsidiaries. I think the other one is the Otis Elevator Company. Neither are Australian owned in this sense. Let us not be hoodwinked by an attack on me. I can take it but the consumer cannot. That is the point the Opposition is making. I wish the honourable member for Cowper would understand also that the Government has amended the Act so that a trade union can be liable for damages if it causes a secondary boycott. He must have forgotten that legislation. It is good to see the honourable member for Cowper in the chair listening to this speech because I know he will learn from what I am saying. The point I want to make is that this -

The DEPUTY CHAIRMAN (Mr Ian Robinson)- The Chair restrains itself. It cannot interject.

Mr LIONEL BOWEN:

-I am glad of that, Mr Deputy Chairman. I appreciate your position. I wish you would convey to the honourable member for Cowper that what I have said is in accordance with the proper principles of what should apply. The Opposition opposes clause 5 of the

Mr FIFE:
Minister for Business and Consumer Affairs · Fairer · LP

– I do not want to go over all that I said in my second reading speech or in response at the end of the second reading debate but I want to reiterate one thing and that is that there have been representations made by groups other than the IBM company. Representations have been made by people other than those engaged in the computer industry. The other point I want to make very clear to the Committee is that the provision before the House to which the honourable member for KingsfordSmith (Mr Lionel Bowen) objects, provides only for the parties to limit liability. It does not make it encumbent upon anybody to enter into such an arrangement. I am sure the honourable member for Kingsford-Smith did not wish to imply that but he did give me the impression that that could have been in his mind.

Bill agreed to.

Bill reported without amendment; report adopted.

Third Reading

Bill (on motion by Mr Fife)- by leave- read a third time.

page 3042

CUSTOMS AMENDMENT BILL 1977

Second Reading

Debate resumed from 2 November, on motion by Mr Fife:

That the Bill be now read a second time.

Mr LIONEL BOWEN:
Smith · Kingsford

– The Opposition does not oppose this Bill. The Bill contains a number of clauses but the consequential clause relates to the adoption of the Brussels definition of commercial value and the Opposition accepts that proposition. The biggest problem in respect of the Brussels definition always has been to indicate that the value ought to be the value placed on the goods or appliances or whatever it may be in the country of origin. There have been some circumventions in the past with a country of origin moving goods into another country with discount, that then affecting the question of the documentation price here. Amendments are proposed also to give greater flexibility to regulations governing the granting, operation and transfer of licences.

Clause 7 provides a restructuring of provisions setting out the general requirements in relation to exports to provide a basis for eliminating the need for export licences under the Banking (Foreign Exchange) Regulations by upgrading the export entry as a sole control document The other important matters deal with drug trafficking offences and the maximum penalties which can be provided.

At the moment the issue of drug addiction is the most important issue in Australia. It is probably true, as the Senate Standing Committee on Social Welfare said recently, that it is not just limited to narcotics and amphetamines. It also includes alcohol and tobacco. We must put them in the right context. Nevertheless, the results are quite serious, no matter what drug we look at. They affect the health of people, particularly young people. Whilst we cannot pass laws to protect people from themselves, it is important to try to protect people from others. The purpose of this Bill is to impose very heavy penalties. The Opposition will not say any more about that aspect because the Government feels that that is the position. The Prime Minister (Mr Malcolm Fraser) has indicated that the national Parliament is interested, as it should be, in the question of drugs and their effect on Australia. Heroin, of course, is imported and therefore one would think that the Parliament, as a federal organisation, could prevent its importation. Of course, that is extremely difficult. In fact we are not preventing it because there are so many points of entry. It is well known, for example, that the use of heroin is prevented in Japan because the penalties are so great and the treatment is so harsh that people do not use it. They use other drugs, which is of great concern to the Japanese authorities. It follows I suppose, that because of the cessation of the hostilities in Vietnam, and certainly because Japan has prevented the importation of heroin, Australia has become the soft market, the easy market to penetrate. It is happening accordingly.

The Opposition was anxious, when the Prime Minister set out the terms of reference of the Royal Commission into drugs, to see those terms extended to include criminal conduct arising from the use of narcotics and amphetaminesthat would include people peddling those drugs and making enormous amounts of money- and, most particularly, the treatment of offenders. The Opposition suggested at the time that those matters be considered because in many cases the unfortunate offender also is a peddler. He lives off the proceeds of peddling and keeps up the money supply for the person, in many cases an international criminal, who can provide the drugs and guarantee their penetration. Whilst we cannot get to all these people, the world is concerned because so many young people are affected. In this nation at the present time we have a false sense of security, believing that we are doing all we can to make penalties severe. We are punishing people with gaol sentences and big monetary penalties. Up to a point this applies to people who are not really affected or addicted but who are just interested in the money. They are the people who are preying on the system. They are the ones whom we would not mind going to gaol and being dealt with rather severely but for the unfortunate addict it is no solution; that is the other point. This has to be looked at as a problem in society in the same way as alcoholism and other problems are regarded. There has to be some understanding of how best we can help these people. They need support and they need treatment. Incarceration is not the solution.

I am not going to delay the House, but every member who has a penitentiary in his electorate knows that imprisonment does not solve many of the problems of mankind. It does have some value in the sense perhaps of being a deterrent but in the main it does not do anything like what the public thinks it can do. It does not protect the public against crime. It does not rehabilitate offenders. I am referring to offenders guilty of what one could call serious crime such as bodily injury, threatened violence and matters of that nature. Drug offences are a different type of offence. It is more a self-inflicted wound type of offence. We have to look at the minds of the people to ascertain the problems that are upsetting them, how best they can enjoy their life and what are the worries and pressures that have caused them to become so addicted. In every case it will be found that there is a reason. It is probably due to some personality problem, the home environment or some other reason. The drug problem affects young people particularly. It is interesting to note that most people who are affected are under 23 years of age, so there is this identifiable factor of immaturity, if I can put it that way.

The experience of living is a great thing and perhaps the older we get the more we are cushioned against the things that can destroy us. It is important now that we have legislation of this type not just to say: ‘Look, we have got it covered because the penalties are pretty substantial’. This legislation provides penalties of up to $100,000 or imprisonment up to 25 years or both. Those are really tremendous penalties, but will they solve anything? The answer is: ‘Not really’. It might be a great thing to catch some pedlar who has caused so much damage, but in supporting this Bui I would like the Minister for Business and Consumer Affairs (Mr Fife) to use his good offices with the Prime Minister (Mr Malcolm Fraser) in these dying moments of the Parliament, and the Government, to say that the Government will alter the terms of reference of the royal commission to guarantee that we do not get a really intelligent appraisal of the situation. I think the Senate Committee report was a very good one. It looked at the problem probably with some medical expertise as well. We have to treat the patient. We have to get a solution and it can be done but it does need involvement with the community. This means that people will have to take an interest in each other. There is too much isolation in Australia today. Australians are too divided. They are isolated against each other. We have to encourage a better atmosphere. Perhaps we should start in the schools where the teachers and children are so involved and so interested in the future. The high pressures of society, the difficulties of unemployment and all these sorts of matters go towards causing this problem and it cannot be solved merely with the sort of penalties that are set out in this legislation. We support the Bill.

Mr Ian Robinson:
COWPER, NEW SOUTH WALES · CP; NCP from May 1975

– This Bill is of tremendous importance to the nation. I commend the Government for introducing it. It is a consequence of deliberations between Ministers from the respective States and the Federal Minister. It has been a matter of grave concern to all thinking Australians that the involvement of people in this country in high-powered trafficking in drugs has drawn us into the net of a world wide problem, and we of course regard this as a very serious imposition particularly on young people. It is essential that the penalties that applied in 1971 be updated. The difference between $4,000 and $100,000 and the increase in the comparatively light maximum imprisonment deterrent to 25 years were designed following careful consideration by State and Federal Ministers to bring about the required deterrent against the pusher. It is essential that this be done and I am sure that the action of the Government will be endorsed by the vast majority of the Australian people.

The honourable member for Kingsford-Smith (Mr Lionel Bowen) did say that he doubted whether it would solve anything and he said that it would not really stop the problem. I remind him that this has not been the experience in other countries and I am sure that it will not be the experience here. Certainly the ramifications of the problem of drugs are very wide and whatever can be done by research, inquiries, royal commissions and the like should be done, but notwithstanding that we need to be vigilant. It is vital that this legislation in the dying hours of this Parliament should get on to the statute book. It is important that the Government should give a lead in the matter of deterrent penalties and punishment. There is no alternative if we are to toughen up on the people who are the exploiters in this field. I strongly support the measure.

Mr FIFE:
Minister for Business and Consumer Affairs · Farrer · LP

– in reply- I thank the honourable member for Kingsford-Smith (Mr Lionel Bowen) and the honourable member for Cowper (Mr Ian Robinson) for the support they have given to this measure. Indeed, it is heartening to see a measure of this nature supported so strongly from both sides of the House. In relation to the question raised by the honourable member for Kingsford-Smith concerning the terms of reference of the National Royal Commission into Drugs, let me remind him and the House of the undertaking given by the Prime Minister (Mr Malcolm Fraser) at the time the terms of reference were announced. It was, as the honourable member for Kingsford-Smith had indicated, mentioned at the time that perhaps the terms of reference ought to be widened in one way or another, and the Prime Minister pointed out that in the interests of getting the commission started as quickly as possible he felt the best course was for the commission to proceed with the terms of reference as laid down and he gave a clear undertaking that if the royal commissioner felt inhibited in any way in relation to the terms of reference then the Government would very quickly and sympathetically consider any request from the royal commissioner.

I want to make it abundantly clear to this House and to the nation as a whole that the Government is determined to do everything possible in this field to reduce the menace of the drug problem in Australia and particularly to bring to justice those people who are trading off the health of other people, those people who are trafficking in drugs and as a result destroying the lives of many Australians.

Question resolved in the affirmative.

Bill read a second time.

Third Reading

Leave granted for third reading to be moved forthwith.

Bill (on motion by Mr Fife) read a third time.

page 3045

AUSTRALIAN SHIPPING COMMISSION AMENDMENT BILL 1977

Second Reading

Debate resumed from 2 November, on motion by Mr Nixon:

That the Bill be now read a second time.

Mr MORRIS:
Shortland

-The legislation now before the chamber is legislation that could and should have been brought before the Parliament many years ago, at least in 1 973, but for me political bloody-mindedness of the Premier of Queensland, and in this respect I have to include the Minister for Transport (Mr Nixon) in that reference to the Premier of Queensland because they are colleagues in the same Party.

The purpose of the Bill is to amend the Australian Shipping Commission Act so as to enable the Australian National Line to provide an intrastate service to ports along the Queensland coast- a much needed service- and to make certain other amendments to the Act that would bring the style of operations and the presentation of accounts of the ANL more in keeping with current commercial practice. I will have more to say about that at a later stage.

I just want to dwell for a moment on the many years that have passed in which the people of north Queensland have sought to have a service provided for their ports by the ANL. It is only in the current State election campaign in Queensland- and I suspect in the Federal election campaign that has now developed herethat there has been urgency finally to make a decision in response to the wishes of the people of north Queensland. In the current election campaign in Queensland a concerted effort has been mounted by candidates in the northern sections of Queensland to press the Queensland Parliament to legislate so that the ANL can operate into those Queensland ports on an intrastate basis. The present Minister, as I said, must share some responsibility for this, if only because he and the Premier of Queensland are members of the same party.

All sorts of spurious excuses were given by the Premier of Queensland during the period of opposition to this legislation to allow the ANL to move into Queensland. Honourable members will recall that one of the first acts of the Whitlam Government early in 1973 was to ask the Queensland Government to come to an agreement with the national Government for an amendment to the Australian Shipping Commission Act so that intrastate shipping services could be provided for Queensland. At the time, and in subsequent periods right up until a few weeks ago, the Queensland Government maintained that the provision of an intrastate Queensland shipping service by the ANL would disadvantage existing surface transport employees and certainly would mean a reduction in the potential income of the Queensland railways and the laying off of large numbers of Queensland railway employees. That claim by the Queensland Premier had been refuted consistently and persistently by officials of the Australian Railways Union in Queensland. At least the Opposition welcomes now the belated appearance of this legislation. It is long overdue. His earlier entry has been prevented -

Mr Shipton:

– Why did you not say so at the beginning instead of indulging in cheap political point scoring?

Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER (Mr Jarman)Order! I call the honourable member for Shortland.

Mr Shipton:

– The people of Queensland will not be fooled.

Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER:

– Order! Interjections are out of order. I call the honourable member for Shortland.

Mr MORRIS:

-Thank you for your protection, Mr Deputy Speaker. We welcome the introduction of this legislation. Although it is belated and overdue, at least now we can set about the business of not only improving the efficiency of the ANL operations but also, and more importantly, giving to the people of north Queensland a better, more frequent and more economical freight service than they have had in the past. The attitude of the Queensland Government has been in line with that of the present Government, as evidenced by a letter a copy of which I have here. It was dated February 1976 and was addressed to the Prime Minister (Mr Malcolm Fraser). A proposal was put that the Government should dispose of the four ANL bulk carriers. One determines from the letter that, when it was found that the loss that would be suffered would be greater than any capital investment that might be saved, the Government found that it had to proceed with the construction and purchase of the four bulk carriers from Sweden and Germany.

I cannot understand why those on the other side of the House, in this Parliament and outside it, make such consistent attacks upon the operations of the people’s own transport enterprises. Frequently we see from those opposite and from their party organisations at State and Federal levels attacks on the operations of TransAustralia Airlines, the Australian National Railways, our shipping line or Qantas Airways Ltd. More recently the attacks have been on Qantas and TAA. I would have thought that, since these are publicly owned enterprises and are making profits for the Australian people, those who sit opposite- who, after all, are supposed to constitute the Government and who are responsible in the first place for the operations of the statutory authorities- would be welcoming the results and trying to induce from those statutory authorities a better quality of service and a better performance still. Instead of that, we see consistently the opposite. We hear that TAA ought to be disbanded and amalgamated with Qantas. There is a fair risk that there will be a substantial change to the two-airline agreement after the election is over, if this Government unfortunately is returned. Obviously changes are in mind. I will come back to that later in my comments, in relation to the McNeill Committee.

We are told that, under the guise of creating a regime of equal opportunity, several amendments have been made to the principal Act to place the ANL on a similar footing to private shipping companies. I do not understand what a regime of equal opportunity is. Maybe the Minister’s speech writer one day will define it. I think it means all things to all men. I think it is true to say that the ANL has operated in the past in a generally competitive atmosphere in the market place. It has done its job well. It has a very good reputation both nationally and internationally. A minor amendment is being made to the principal Act to enable the General Manager of the Commission to also be a commissioner. I think that simply tidies up an arrangement for Mr Reg Robin who is presently in that position.

Clause 7 is a key clause which provides for intrastate operations. I think it is important that I mention a couple of the provisions in that clause. Proposed new section 16a provides: . . . powers relating to the provision of-

  1. shipping services for the carriage of goods between places in that State; or
  2. shipping services of the kind mentioned in paragraph (a) and services for the carriage of goods by land to the extent that such carriage is incident to the carriage of goods by sea in pursuance of shipping services of that kind.

    1. The regulations may provide that sub-section (1) does not extend to all or any of the functions and powers expressed to be conferred on the Commission by a State Act

I mentioned at the outset that complementary legislation went through the Queensland Parliament. As I said, it was brought on by the pressure of the Queensland elections. This Parliament at least has had a few days to look at this Bill. The complementary legislation was introduced into the Queensland Parliament and passed through all stages in the one afternoon, on the second last day of the life of that Parliament. The relevant clause of the Queensland complementary legislation, the Australian Shipping Commission Authorization Bill, is clause 5. 1 think that clause also ought to be mentioned because of the relationship it has to clause 7 of the Bill we are now debating. The clause provides:

Authorization of Commission. (1) The Commission is hereby authorized, subject to this Act, to establish, maintain and operate or to provide for the establishment, maintenance and operation of-

shipping services for the carriage of goods between places in the State; and

services for the carriage of goods by land to the extent that such carriage is incident to the carriage of goods by sea pursuant to this section.

The authority conferred on the Commission by subsection (1) shall continue until a date fixed pursuant to section 6 as the date on which this Act shall cease to be in force.

Naturally, section 6 relates to the termination of the agreement between the national Government and the State Government. Clause 8 of the Bill before the House is an important clause also. It provides that where a service is to be provided in the public interest an urgent public inquiry is to be conducted into the nature of the alternative shipping services or other modes of transport, including those which could be provided by private transport operators. In effect this means that, where it is felt that a shipping service ought to be provided and the Government wants to take a decision under section 17 of the principal Act, the Minister will be required to urgently order an inquiry into whether that service ought to be provided. If such a service ought to be provided, inquiries will be made into whether some other mode of transport, such as air, or whether a company other than the ANL or any other supplier of transport services could provide the service. I think, from the Minister’s second reading speech and from the explanatory notes, that an opportunity is given for the private sector to come into the market and to participate in providing a subsidised service where the Minister has deemed that a service ought to be provided. I think it is possible that in the long term that may operate to the advantage of the ANL, but an assessment of that would depend upon the return on the funds invested or the capital invested in providing that service and the kind of return that the Government would see fit to pay. It is simply a reimbursement of losses incurred by the Line in providing that service; there is no profit content for the Line and capital will be invested without any return. Even though it seems to me that in the short term that amendment is intended to open up access to those services to the private sector, I think it is possible that in the long term it will have the opposite result for ANL in that it will enable ANL to be more selective in those areas of operation that it decides are profitable.

Clause 9 of the Bill provides for the Minister to set the dividend target. This is in line with his power in respect of Trans-Australia Airlines. There is nothing untoward about that other than that one could possibly see that as a device by which the Minister in setting the dividend target could set it unreasonably high. That would require the Commission to set rates to try to achieve that dividend target. If there were only one or two other operators in that service that would enable those operators to bring their prices up to those levels. So indirectly it could be interpreted as a freight rate maintenance scheme. It remains to be seen whether that will work out. In the same clause provision has been made for the supply of estimates at least half yearly, and possibly more frequently. I think that is a good move. I understand that they used to be supplied in the past in normal accounting methods.

Clause 10 provides for separate accounts for coastal operations and overseas operations. This again is a reversion to past practice. Again the Opposition thinks this will be of use in determining the operations and success of the Commission and in helping the Parliament to fine down the areas of improvement that should be looked at by the Parliament or by the Minister. Clause 1 1 deals with the implementation of new freight rates. It provides the Minister with a power to disapprove proposed rates within 60 days of notice. It also provides that if he does not disapprove of them the rates apply automatically, as I understand that clause.

The purpose of that, it seems, will be to remove some of the political opprobrium from the Minister or the Government as being seen to be directly responsible for increasing freight rates. Because freight rates to Tasmania had not been increased in even and frequent steps prior to the election in 1972 there was a build up of pressure for a price increase to try to recover losses being incurred. As a result of that the Whitlam Government had to increase rates in the 1972-75 period by 40 per cent. I think clause 11 will prevent that happening in the future. Clause 12 is only a machinery clause covering superannuation. Clause 13 ensures that funds intended as capital will be so identified by Parliament. I think again that this is to the advantage of ANL. It will clarify its position. In moneys transmitted from the Parliament to the Commission where capital is properly identified the Commission will be in a position to relate its accounts more accurately in the performance of its operations and to remove some of the doubt that has been spread from time to time by opponents of publicly owned transport enterprises.

Clause 14 deals with the power of the Minister to determine the dividend to be paid to the Commonwealth. Clause 15 puts ANL borrowings on the same basis as those of the private sector and provides that approvals for loans to be raised be required only from the Treasurer and not from the Minister for Transport as at present. Clause 17 gives the Minister power to determine disposal of the balance of ANL profits for the financial year. Clause 1 8 deals with taxation liability. It puts the Commission in the same position as private shipping companies. I do not think there is much difference at all in actual practice in the tax rates that are paid by the Commission or other charges that are applicable. As I understand it, if statutory authorities are not required to pay a local rate or charge they usually make an ex gratia payment in respect of the cost anyway. But this provision puts the matter in a clear way. No doubt as a result of intrastate operations in Queensland following the passage of this legislation, State charges will become involved and that clause will clarify the position in that respect.

In the total multi-modal Australian transport system shipping has a major role to play in the future as in the past and the stronger emphasis on long distance bulk freight which has been developing recently is likely to continue. As sea transport is the most efficient of all forms of transport in energy terms, the rapid increase in energy costs means its importance will grow. The industry has seen rapid acceleration of technical change in the post-war years. New developments in ship designs have revolutionised the means of transporting cargoes by sea. Cargo trade has seen the arrival of bulk carriers and capital intensive unit cargo ships designed to carry general cargo in vehicular, container and barge loads. In addition, there have been roll-on roll-off ships, utilisation of cargo pallets, pre-slung loads, LASH ships and hybrid vessels.

These developments have meant that ships are no longer designed for one particular carriage function and consequently are no longer tied to its relative trading success. To meet these changes in shipping and cargo handling changes have to be made to modernise on-shore cargo handling. The planning of port development and re-development must increasingly respond to these changes in technology in shipping taking into account the movement of goods to other transport functions for movement on land. Whilst there have been rapid improvements in sea transport technology and rapid increases in the tonnage carried, improvements still need to be made in relation to the amounts carried in Australian ships.

The next Labor Government will expand the operations of the Australian Shipping Commission to ensure that an equitable share of our trade is carried in Australian-owned and manned vessels. To achieve this objective the Commission will be enabled to build, purchase or charter sufficient vessels to carry out that task. It will also seek to ensure that all coastal trade will be carried in Australian-owned and manned vessels.

Much has been said in recent times, particularly in relation to Utah, about the carriage of our bulk ores from Australia to their markets. I mentioned earlier the problems in delay of tins legislation because of the Queensland Government. I shall come back to that. I want to point out the kind of figures that we are dealing with when we are talking about bulk trades from Australia. In 1975-76 we shipped 62 million tonnes of ore to Japan and 6.5 million tonnes elsewhere. We shipped 25.5 million tonnes of coal to Japan and 5.7 million tonnes elsewhere. In total 87.5 million tonnes of ore and coal went to Japan and 12.2 million tonnes went elsewhere. A total of 99.7 million tonnes of ore and coal went from Australia. That was a decrease of 20.7 million tonnes on the previous year, 1974-75, due no doubt to the downturn in world steel production.

Currently the ANL vessels Australian Pioneer and Australian Prospector are engaged in bulk ore trade to Japan. jointly they have a capacity to transport 5 per cent of the 1975-76 ore trade or 2.85 per cent of total bulk trade in 1975-76. We know that ANL has two other carriers on order and that they are due for delivery later during this financial year and that negotiations with the Japanese steel mills for the utilisation of those vessels will commence in early 1978. Australian flag vessels have 26 per cent of the northbound general cargo trade to Japan and 24 per cent of southbound cargoes. Under an agreement between members of the Australia- Japan Shipping Conference 30 per cent of cargo each way is expected to be carried in Australian flag vessels by 1979. Article X of the recent basic treaty of friendly relations between Japan and Australia which was signed in August of this year deals with shipping arrangements between Japan and Australia but unfortunately it seems that the Government to date has done little to fill out the guidelines and the detailed objectives of that article. I base that comment on an answer to a question on notice on this subject I received from the Minister recently. Australia is a significant trading nation and it is important to establish its own flag carriers so that it is not wholly dependent on foreign shipping companies.

I refer to what is happening in the United States of America at the moment. As I said earlier, a dispute has occurred in Queensland with Utah. Naturally seamen are looking to the contracting employment opportunities in Australia which have been projected from all arts of the economic spectrum and the possibility that employment will reduce rather than increase in the coming years. It is perfectly natural to expect people employed in an industry to look for job security and for an increasing opportunity for employment in the future. That is apart from any other aspects that are involved. As recently as a few days ago I received a letter which pointed out to me a statement which had been credited to Utah. The statement reads:

Utah will not employ Australian crews on their overseas vessels, but are prepared to charter the two Australian National Line bulk carriers in the trade. But unfortunately if Utah go ahead with this proposal, the Premier will increase the tax levy on the coal.

The Premier referred to is the Premier of Queensland. I do not think there is any doubt about the veracity of the statement. In May of this year the Premier of Queensland told Utahthis is on record in a number of national journalsthat if Utah negotiated with the Seamen’s Union of Australia on the utilisation of Australian seamen in the bulk ore traffic out of Australia, royalties on the company’s coal production will be increased. That is a direct political threat. It is another example of what I have referred to on many occasions, both inside and outside this House- of attacks, by the National Country Party more particularly than by the Liberal Party, on the trade union movement, and particularly the unions involved in the transport industry, as a substitute for a political argument. It is the old story of bashing the unions. There may be some substance in some of the problems to which attention is drawn but that is not the way in which to go about it Bashing the transport unions costs the consumers of this country money; it costs the workers their wages, it costs companies a loss of profits, and it damages our trading reputation.

There is no doubt in my mind, having had discussions earlier in the year, that when this matter was raised originally the Seamen’s Union would have been quite happy to open negotiations. Negotiations could have proceeded on the ultimate involvement of Australian traffic. But, after all, is it not reasonable and natural that Australians would want a greater share in the wealth which is derived from Australian resources? Are we not Australians? Or are some of the people who sit opposite temporary dwellers from another country who are more interested in disposing of the wealth of this country as quickly and as cheaply as possible, and in taking thenpro fits and getting out as quickly as they possibly can?

I turn now to the American situation. I understand that President Carter has a Bill before the Congress or the Senate- I think it is before the Senate- at the moment requiring that 9.5 per cent of oil imported into America be transported in American tankers. There are two reasons for that and they are set out in an article which appeared in Newsweek of 17 October. One reason being advanced by the Assistant Sec- ‘retary of the United States Commerce Department, Robert J. Blackwell, is this:

US-flag tankers manned by US citizens are likely to be more reliable (in national emergencies) than foreign-flag tankers.

America is not an island, as is Australia. This brings us back to the importance and relevance of the Australian shipbuilding industry, as was recognised in the report of the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence on that industry. We are an island continent. I think it would be completely irresponsible for any government, any political party, to plan the future transport policy for this country on the basis of placing the transportation of our export products and the transportation of our imports completely in the hands of foreign-owned vessels. That would mean that we would have no control over who makes shipping available and who will not make it available.

At the present time we are enjoying a luxury period. There is a surplus of world shipping. World shipping rates have dropped and spot shipping rates out of Australia are very cheap. That situation will not continue because ultimately the world economy will experience an upturn. When that occurs the whole shipping scene will change and once again Australia will be at the mercy of overseas shipping companies. The United States has recognised that fact. The second reason advanced by the Assistant Secretary, Robert J. Blackwell is this:

The fundamental justification for a limited level of cargo preference is to provide assured employment . . .

He then went on to mention US-flag tankers. Again that situation is relevant to the Australian context. We have record unemployment. If a way can be found in which to provide greater job opportunities for Australians on Australiancontrolled vessels, we ought to be following that line. Instead of that, the Premier of Queensland is using the Seamen’s Union and the other five maritime unions to try to create a political issue out of this matter for the State election. The community is divided. Instead of reasonable and factual arguments being advanced, we have political union bashing and political bluster. The result is that we are disadvantaged. Australia ought to be ensuring that in the long term we have adequate transport capacity to ship our goods overseas and to bring in our imports.

What I am saying is that we should be looking at this time at those areas of shipping activity that can be identified as being a potential market. We should be identifying those areas, identifying the kinds of vessels that could be used, and men going on to determine the manner in which those vessels could be purchased and the method by which they could be manned. Manning scales is the argument that is put up over and over again by the Minister for Transport- he is not present at the table but he ought to be present- and his party. I am quite satisfied that the matter of manning scales is negotiable. I am satisfied also that there is a downward trend in that regard.

In speaking of crewing costs, I want to refer to the latest report of the Australian Shipping Commission which runs the Australian National Line. It is the 1977 report. First of all, I congratulate the Commission on achieving in most difficult times a profit of $3.9m after exchange movements have been taken into account. I will not go into the detail of the report, but I wish to mention that much of that profit was derived from overseas trading by Australian-owned and Australianmanned vessels. We hear much criticism about the use of Australian crews on bulk ore carriers, but the people who make that criticism do not say anything about the cartels, the conference lines, which operate. In those cartels in which the ANL operates- I mentioned earlier the Australia- Japan conference line- the rates charged are standard rates and the Australian ships do very well, thank you very much. I refer to page 19 of the Commission’s report which points out that crewing costs of the Line are down to 16 per cent. Those costs have decreased from about 21 per cent in 1974-75, 18.5 per cent in 1975-76, and 16 per cent in 1976-77. That shows that the reduction in crewing costs has been a continuing trend. There is no nice, simple way in which we can compare vessels. I have here a report prepared by the Parliamentary Library on stevedoring costs and shipping costs. It states:

There is a remarkable lack of published information on ship operating costs.

It goes on to mention public inquiries which have had difficulty in obtaining information, including the Rochdale Committee of Inquiry into shipping conducted in England in 1970. It noted as follows:

In contrast to the extensive data on labour costs which is publicly available for many other industries, little is available for shipping.

Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER (Mr Jarman)Order! The honourable member’s time has expired.

Sitting suspended from 12.58 to 2.15 p.m.

Mr CALDER:
Northern Territory

– I would like to reply to some of the remarks made by the honourable member for Shortland (Mr Morris) prior to the suspension of the sitting. He sought to blame politics for the Australian Shipping Commission Amendment Bill now going through the House. He said also that the matter had been handled recently in the Queensland Parliament. He did not give any credit to anyone in this Government for being sympathetic towards people who live in faraway places. We saw examples of this lack of thought during the term of office of the Labor Government. Since the shadow Minister for Transport took it upon himself to stress that this is a political measure, I think I would be quite entitled to speak similarly on the subject. If it is a political measure, the people who should receive the credit are the honourable member for Leichhardt (Mr Thomson) and the honourable member for Herbert (Mr Bonnett) for the work that they have done in convincing the Federal Government and, needless to say, the State Government to put through legislation to assist people in their part of Australia.

I noticed that the honourable member for Shortland seemed to assume that all members of the Government parties attack government transport instrumentalities, organisations or operations. I can assure him that people who live in faraway places get on well with the Australian National Line, Trans-Australia Airlines and the Australian National Railways. They are the vital links between our part of the country and the businesses in cities further to the south. In that regard I also mention Qantas Airways Ltd. There was a time in Darwin when it appeared that TAA would take over the operations of Qantas. That was just after the tragic cyclone in 1974. 1 was very much opposed to that move because I think Qantas is a very well organised and a very fine operator. I think all Australians should be proud of Qantas as our flag carrier.

The honourable member for Shortland also said that Labor would do certain things. He is assuming that Labor will win the election. I will not go into that matter because I know it will not. He said that Labor would provide help here and help there. This Bill provides assistance to north Queensland in that it allows the ANL to operate interstate. We must remember that the Labor Party when it was in office acted against places such as north Queensland and the Northern Territory by implementing the Coombs report, just to mention one thing. That report did more damage than any other document to enterprise, development, business and faith in the primary industries of our hinterland. So I feel that he was just politicking because of the Queensland election which is to be held at the end of this week.

The honourable member for Shortland accused members on our side of the Parliament of union bashing. He blithely overlooked the militant unionism in recent happenings which cost hundreds of millions of dollars and which put hundreds of thousands of people out of work. Because we in government do not take very lightly to this sort of behaviour by the militant unions we are accused of union bashing. It really should be called public or private citizen bashing.

While on the subject of the ANL, I remind the honourable member that it was a brainchild of the former great leader of this Party and Deputy Prime Minister, Sir John McEwen. He decided that Australia had to get into the business of overseas shipping. In those days we were at the mercy, to a great extent, of overseas shipping cartels. At that time the Australian Government considered that it should find out, from practical experience, the operations and management of shipping services. That is some of the background.

The main thrust of the Bill is to give the ANL the right to carry on interstate services and to enable it, in the interests of people in north Queensland, up and down the Queensland coast and the far north, to get into operation as soon as possible. Now that the Queensland Government has legislated in this direction the ANL can get in on this trade and can provide a service to people who live in remote areas, although they are on the coast. In this case, as in others, where the State considers it necessary, there shall be equal competition. The Bill provides that the ANL will not gain any advantage over the private shipping companies. There will be equal opportunity. The Bill seeks to expand section 17 of the Act to entitle the Australian Shipping Commission, if it is directed to operate a certain service for the public and if such a service is run at a loss, to have that loss made good. This privilege is not available to the private shipping services. The Minister is obliged to inquire into alternative services, whether they are other shipping services or air services. In many cases they could not be road services. The substitute form of service may need assistance.

In spite of that proviso being written into the Act, I am concerned that this operation could- I reservedly say ‘could’- be used to push private shipowners out of business. This opinion is in direct contrast with the opinion of the honourable member for Shortland who argued that the private shipowners could, under this Act, be used by the Minister to raise costs so that ANL would have to follow the private shipowners and would be hard put to run an economic service. That is the way he sees it, and this is the way I see it. I am a private enterprise supporter, and of course he is all for government ownership or socialism generally. I am concerned, and I would like someone to assure me on that point. No doubt the honourable member would like an assurance also.

I notice that under proposed section 17a the Commission will be required to operate in a similar fashion to private shipping services in that it will be required to pay dividends, to pay interest on moneys borrowed and to pay taxes. Although the residents of north Queensland will benefit from this ANL service, I have a shadow of a doubt in my mind about whether it will operate to the detriment of the part of the world from which I come. The ANL vessel Darwin Trader serves the port of Darwin on a regular basis. I trust that the implementation of this legislation will not affect detrimentally the operations of that ship and that Line to that part of Australia.

Question resolved in the affirmative.

Bill read a second time.

Third Reading

Leave granted for third reading to be moved forthwith.

Bill (on motion by Mr Macphee) read a third time.

page 3051

TRANSPORT PLANNING AND RESEARCH (FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE) BILL 1977

Second Reading

Debate resumed from 27 October, on motion by Mr Nixon:

That the Bill be now read a second time.

Mr MORRIS:
Shortland

-The Transport Planning and Research (Financial Assistance) Bill 1977 is to cover the payment of financial assistance to the States for transport planning and research. The appropriation of 8m for disbursement to the States is provided by Appropriation Bill (No. 2) 1977-78. The Bill continues financial assistance to the States on a $2 for $ 1 basis for the current financial year only. The Minister for Transport (Mr Nixon) stated m his second reading speech that funding would be on a dollar for dollar basis in 1978-79 and 1979-80. No mention is made of this change in the Bill. Once again this represents a reduction in Federal assistance to the States, particularly in respect of planning and research.

The $8m provided in the 1976-77 Budget for transport planning and research represented a fall in cash terms of $700,000 on the amount provided in 1975-76- a fall in real terms of 16 per cent. The Fraser Government’s 1977-78 allocation of $8m is in effect a 12 per cent fall in real terms on the 1976-77 figure. So one can say that there has been a substantial reduction in real terms in the level of funding by the Federal Government for the purposes provided for under this legislation between 1975-76 and the current financial year. The Whitlam Government provided the States with $26m over the triennium from 1974-75 to 1976-77 for transport research. The Fraser Government has provided $24m for the next triennium, maybe. I will return to that a little later in my remarks, in the analysis of the level of funds that may be provided in 1978-79 and 1979-80. A comparison of the amounts provided in this triennium with the amount provided by the Whitlam Government in the first three years that the legislation operated shows a fall in real terms of the order of 50 per cent.

The Bill essentially continues the arrangements provided in the Transport (Planning and Research) Act 1974. It also is designed to refine certain administrative aspects of the Act to take account of minor alterations which needed to be made following the successful first triennium of the Act. In introducing the 1974 legislation the

Minister for Transport at the time, the honourable member for Newcastle (Mr Charles Jones), said:

There is a major need for more sophisticated planning and research in Australia in regard to all transport modes. The provision of assistance under this Act will be directed towards developing in the States more comprehensive processes than hitherto existed.

The Whitlam Government’s Transport (Planning and Research) Act was the first significant move by an Australian government towards assessing Australia’s transport research potential, towards collecting and exchanging information between the authorities undertaking research and organisations involved in transport planning, and towards improving the coordination and efficiency of Australia s transport research and planning capabilities. Consequently, the Act recognised the range of transport resources existing in Australia at both State and Federal levels in government departments and authorities and in tertiary institutions. It also recognised the need not only to achieve co-ordination between these sources of information but also to identify the many areas of common interest and to establish objectives for future transport research.

The research and planning program allows transport planners to draw on the skills of a range of associated disciplines such as sociology economics and environmental science. The Act was aimed at encouraging and ensuring that Australia’s transport is developed to take account of the technical and social changes taking place in the Australian community. The program’s continued success and effectiveness are dependent on continued co-operation and coordination between the States and the Australian Government. On 24 August 1976 the Minister for Transport tabled the report on the first 18 months of the operation of the 1974 Act. The report detailed 500 projects covering a broad range of items, including traffic management, cycle safety and planning, motor vehicle design, transport provisions for handicapped travellers, school bus safety, and public transport noise, freight and management.

Under the Whitlam Labor Government’s legislation, financial assistance was provided to the States for research into road safety. This allocation was in recognition of the important role the States had to play in this area. The Australian Labor Party Government established a road safety authority to foster research into this important area, to advance consumer protection in relation to motor vehicles, and to promote road safety issues. By contrast, in the first six months of the Fraser Government the authority was abolished and the Government undertook to establish an office of road safety. I understand that to the moment the office of road safety has not been established because of wrangling within the Department and wrangling between the Department and the Government over the manning of the office of road safety.

The substantial reduction in funds provided for in this legislation is a further indication of the low priority accorded to road safety issues by the present Government. One intention of the Labor Government’s legislation was to broaden the scope of transport research so as to consider each transport mode in relation to other modes as a part of the entire transport task. To obtain the optimum results we need to achieve an optimum inter-modal mix of all transport modes, and particularly roads and urban public transport. To this end, Labor’s transport research legislation ensured that urban public transport projects were considered in relation to road projects. The Bill before the House continues this approach and extends the provisions of the legislation so as to include planning and research into all land transport modes as well as the inter-relationship between land and other transport functions. In addition, the planning and research programs allows adequate consideration of options before a proposal requiring major public investment is undertaken. It also allows for reappraisal or modification of a program before its completion.

Research which will be funded under this Bill when it becomes an Act in areas such as urban public transport may produce projects which could be funded under the Urban Public Transport Agreement of 1974. It also may provide areas which could be funded under the Minor Traffic Engineering and Road Safety Improvements Program under a section of the States Grants (Roads) Act 1977. In assessing a program to be funded under this Act, continued emphasis needs to be given to projects which identify and assess the future allocation of transport resources in Australia and developments in policy that impinge on transport planning. This involves the continuing changes that are taking place in Australia’s population, the changes that are taking place in the way Australians want to live and also where they want to live, the interdependence of transport modes, the declining sources of fossil fuels, the increasing need to seek out alternative sources of energy and alternative forms of transport, and the resource requirements of time, space, loss of life and damage caused by pollution. The research and planning program needs to continue to assist in overcoming the problems associated with harmonising State and Federal transport undertakings to give proper consideration to the difficulties arising in transport issues and to help to make adequate plans for future transport policymaking.

As I said, the Bill is in essence a continuation of the original Act, the Transport and Planning Research Act 1974, introduced by the Whitlam Government and by the then Minister for Transport, Mr Charles Jones. The amendments to it in terms of simplification of administrative arrangements and expansion to take in research into all land transport modes the Opposition believes are desirable and it does not oppose the Bill.

I do, however, want to offer criticism of the level of funding provided under the Bill. I refer to the second reading speech of the Minister for Transport. Unless one reads closely the concluding sentence of that speech, one is very apt to misunderstand the real meaning of the sentence. It reads:

We recognise that continuity of funding is very important in a program like this and we have already told the States that for 1978-79 and 1979-80 we are prepared to contribute our share on a dollar for dollar basis of a total program -

I emphasise the words ‘total program’- maintained at the 1977-78 level in real terms.

One would think at first sight that that meant that since $8m has been provided this year, the subsequent vote under this Act, in each of the following two years, would be $8m in real terms at 1977 prices and expressed in whatever amount that equals in 1978-79 or 1979-80. But that is not the case. We need to remember that the Minister stated also that the funding for this year was on a $2 for $1 basis. So on a two for one basis this year, the Federal Government is providing $8m. The States ‘ share would be $4m. So the total program of funding for planning and research, State and Federal combined, in the current year is $12m. We recall that the Minister also mentioned in his speech- and it is mentioned in the Bill- that funding for the next two years will be on a dollar for dollar basis. This means then that since $ 12m is the total program for this year, the Federal Government’s share of that total program- the maximum limit to it- will be $6m in each of the years 1978-79 and 1979-80. If we take those two years together, the total maximum commitment of $6m for each of those two years is $12m. Adding to that amount the $8m for this year, the total amount is $20m. So the triennium funding expressed in 1977 prices is $20m compared with the sum of $26m provided in the triennium 1974-77 under the Whitlam program. Quite clearly this is further evidence of the phasing out of safety aspects, and more particularly of research and planning.

The Bill is a major step in a phasing out of Federal Government commitment to transport and planning research. In the first instance there is the reduction of funding from a $2 for $1 basis to a $1 for $1 basis.

Mr Shipton:

– Do you really believe that?

Mr MORRIS:

-I am quite sure that I am right but if the honourable member can prove that I am wrong I will be happy to listen to him.

Mr Shipton:

– You are wrong most of the time.

Mr MORRIS:

-That is why you are so impressed. Secondly, there has been a limit of $6m in the years 1978-79 and 1979-80. So the limit of $ 12m for each of those two successive years and the $8m this year, amounting to $20m in total contrasts with the $26m provided under the Whitlam Government.

I should like to mention at the same time another area of activity in the Department of Transport that in a way relates to that, that is, the Bureau of Roads. Here again is an organisation carrying out research activities in many ways into Australia’s road needs and recommending to government the level of financial assistance that ought to be given to the States for the construction, upgrading and maintenance of roads. Linked to that is the Government’s decision, which I mentioned earlier, to abolish the independent authority known as the Road Safety and Standards Authority. Activities under the Transport and Planning Research Act, the Bureau of Roads and the Road Safety and Standards Authority are all related in that they deal in the main with roads, the use of roads, and the use of associated transport facilities, particularly passenger transport. In each of those three areas there has been a substantial downgrading by the present Government in terms of funding and of priority. I take this opportunity to assure the House that the next Labor Government would be acting quite promptly to restore to road safety and to road transport planning and research the proper financial priority to which safety measures, particularly roads, are entitled. The Opposition does not oppose the Bill.

Debate interrupted.

page 3053

BRISBANE AIRPORT

Notice of Motion

The Clerk:

– Notice has been received from the honourable member for Lilley (Mr Kevin

Cairns) of his intention at the next sitting to move:

  1. That this House acknowledges the unanimous resolutions carried by both the Liberal Party of Queensland and the Federal Council of the Liberal Party of Australia that there should be adequate development of the Brisbane Airport runway and terminals and that they are totally opposed to any proposal to lengthen the existing runway as the answer to the Brisbane airport problem.
  2. That Brisbane Airport should not be the most inadequate with the shortest runways of any capital city airport on the Australian mainland.
  3. That promises made, to upgrade that airport since the early 1960s, should be undertaken.
  4. That the people of Queensland should not be satisfied with an airport and runways which would not be tolerated for a moment by the people of New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Perth, or the Northern Territory.
  5. 5 ) That the runway flight faculties should be upgraded to enable international flights to reach even Singapore or Hong Kong with fully loaded nights at temperatures liable to occur in a semi-tropical climate.
  6. That the advice given by the Lord Mayor of Brisbane that he was opposed to any proposal to merely lengthen the runway be heeded since it would cause increased flooding in north Brisbane.
  7. That the Capital City Airport Plan of 1971-72 is unnecessarily extravagant and hence should not be the only alternative plan promised for the airport.
  8. That this House acknowledges that instead of having a program to spend over $200m, all the needs of the Airport between 1977 and well into the 1990s can be accomplished by spending a third of the above amount mentioned publicly by Sir John Egerton, a member of the board of Qantas.
  9. That the editorial on Brisbane Airport published in the Courier-Mail of 4 November receive the total support of this House.

page 3054

AUSTRALIAN ARTISTS

Notice of Motion

The Clerk:

– Notice has also been received from the honourable member for Higgins (Mr Shipton) of his intention at the next sitting to move:

That in view of the vast numbers of Asian copies of Australian artists’ work which are being imported into Australia and which breach Australian Copyright laws, and as the Trade Practices Commission has so far been unsuccessful in stopping this practice, this House recommends that the Government make a reference to the Temporary Assistance Authority for assistance to Australian artists whose works are being forged. ( Quorum formed).

page 3054

TRANSPORT PLANNING AND RESEARCH (FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE) BILL 1977

Second Reading

Debate resumed.

Mr CHAPMAN:
Kingston

-Contrary to the remarks that we heard a few moments ago from the honourable member for Shortland (Mr

Morris), the Bill before the House- the Transport Planning and Research (Financial Assistance) Bill 1977- is a further clear demonstration of the Fraser Government’s commitment to provide an effective transport system for the Australian people, and particularly of its commitment to overcome the problems of urban transport in developing outer suburbs such as are found in the southern half of the Kingston electorate. This commitment to solving urban transport problems has been evident in the last two Budgets presented by the Fraser Government. Funds provided for urban public transport in those two Budgets give the lie to claims by the Australian Labor Party for partisan political purposes in a pamphlet which it circulated recently in the southern areas of the Kingston electorate.

This Bill is a further demonstration of the Fraser Government’s concern for urban transport. It continues and extends arrangements for section 96 grants to the States for land transport planning and research and provides $8m for the 1977-78 financial year for various projects undertaken by State governments. That funding is provided on a two for one basis, with $2 being provided by the Commonwealth for every $1 provided by the State government involved in such a project. The Bill broadens the scope of assistance to cover all forms of land transport and the relationship of land transport to other modes of transport. In accord with the Government’s commitment to federalism, the legislation gives the States greater flexibility in implementing and managing their planning and research projects. The Commonwealth Government will approve and provide funds for a total State program rather than for each individual project. The States will have the power to allocate funds between the various individual projects. Hence power and responsibility are being handed back to the level of government closest to the people.

The Commonwealth Government will continue to provide co-ordination to ensure the elimination of duplication of research and will establish a forum for discussion and comparison of programs. A key role of the Commonwealth Government will be the dissemination of information obtained under the program through annual progress reports and final project reports and combination of this information with information also provided by its own authorities and information gained from related international research programs. Programs of transport planning and research have thus far been a successful co-operative effort between Commonwealth and State governments. Advantages have accrued to both sides which would not have been possible otherwise. I refer to several projects conducted in South Australia which indicate the benefits flowing to the community from this allocation of Federal Government funds. A project of major significance, which has been given number one priority by the South Australian Government in its applications for funds and which draws the major proportion of funds, has been the joint North-east Area Public Transport Review and the Modbury Corridor Technology Evaluation. A primary objective of this study, which began some 18 months ago, is to determine the public transport investment required to form part of the total transport system for the north eastern suburbs of Adelaide to fulfil their needs in the next decade, and also to provide a planning basis for the next 20 to 30 years.

According to the South Australian Department of Transport, when it launched this project in March 1976 it had no preconceived notions of the correct answer to public transport investment in the north-eastern suburbs of Adelaide. The State Government promised the highest level of public participation in the decision-making process ever attempted by planners in Australia. According to this proposal, planners have been seeking active involvement of the people for whom the planning has been undertaken. This is regarded as a revolutionary approach to transport planning. NEAPTR has involved a whole range of detailed research projects. These include population trends, movement patterns and land use. Public meetings have been held to obtain the views of the public with regard to their own needs, explain alternative proposals and to seek the views of the public on them. Considerable publicity in the media has been engendered throughout the development of this project.

Part of the function of the project in determining the best way of fulfilling the transport needs of the people of the north-eastern suburbs has been to assess and balance the disadvantages caused to one group of residents by the benefits given to another group- for example, the effect of the extra noise in suburbs Uke Walkerville and St Peters caused by the extra and faster traffic flow needed by residents of the outerlying suburbs of Tea Tree Gully or the conflict between residents confronted with a new bus route redirected down their street and residents in the next street who benefit from that new service. This study is supposed to have been based on the principle that much of the information which is relevant to any decision is not held by experts but by ordinary people in the community. It is local people who understand local problems, their own specific needs and how their own community works.

Notwithstanding these claims, significant criticism has been made of the NEAPTR project. The State Government owns much of the land along the possible high speed Modbury Corridor, providing a compelling financial reason for the final decision concerning transport for the area to favour that route. The critics believe that the public outcry which accompanied the original acquisition program for this corridor would be repeated if a different route is chosen. Hence NEAPTR has been condemned as a mere public relations operations, with the results of the inquiry a foregone conclusion and private consultants having been engaged to present the inquiry to the community. Apparently public meetings called by NEAPTR, supposedly to engender public discussion, have been poorly advertised and cancelled at short notice. Critics have condemned the State Government and NEAPTR as dishonest in their investigations and presentation of material.

Personally, I do not have sufficiently detailed knowledge of the project to adjudicate these criticisms. However, some of the conclusions of the study which have recently received publicity may give some substance to them. Certainly it appears that the Modbury Corridor will be used to establish an express busway or tramway. Also of concern is the proposal to reserve a traffic lane on the Main North-east Road for buses in peak hour traffic. Even the State Minister of Transport, Mr Virgo, admits that this may have a detrimental effect on the traffic flow of motor vehicles. Whatever initiatives occur in the expansion of public transport faculties, the motor car will remain the preferred means of transport for the great bulk of the community. A squeezeoutthemotorist campaign through withdrawing access to traffic lanes will only compound rather than solve our current transport problems.

In view of the fact that two-thirds of the funds for this project-that is, some $356,462 out of a total cost of $534,754- since its inception have been provided by the Commonwealth Government, I believe that the Commonwealth Minister for Transport (Mr Nixon) should investigate these criticisms to ensure that these significant sums of Commonwealth money are being spent wisely for the benefit of the community. Despite these criticisms, I believe that the information gleaned by the NEAPTR research is of great value in planning effectively for the transport needs of the north-eastern suburbs of Adelaide. This is particularly so with regard to the need for cross-suburban transport routes in Adelaide, an issue which I have raised previously in this House.

One criticism which I believe has some validity is that top priority in transport research should have been given to the southern areas within the Marion and Noarlunga council areas instead of to the north-eastern suburbs. No doubt the State Labor Government has ignored the transport needs of the people of these areas, and the residents of the Kingston electorate, for political purposes. Negligence of the southern areas by the State Government is confirmed by the fact that it is conducting this NEAPTR research project in preference to research into overcoming the transport problems of suburbs such as O’Halloran Hill, Morphett Vale, Reynella, Christies Beach and Port Noarlunga.

Mr Cadman:

– This is Mr Virgo?

Mr CHAPMAN:

– This is Mr Virgo again. As I said a moment ago, no doubt there are political motivations behind the decision to conduct research in the north-eastern suburbs rather than in the southern areas. Whilst the north-eastern residents will have the luxury of a full transport program established on the basis of detailed research, the residents of the south will be left lamenting with a few cosmetic changes which were hastily introduced before the last State election.

Mr Cadman:

– It is a shame.

Mr CHAPMAN:

– As the honourable member for Mitchell says, it is a shame. Two other projects in South Australia which have been funded under this Commonwealth legislation are research into the viability of an electrically powered vehicle and also a steam powered vehicle. In an era of declining energy resources, particularly declining liquid hydrocarbon fuels, these two projects are of great significance to our future transport requirements. The Commonwealth has provided $2 1 ,642 out of a total cost of $32,662 for the electric car project and $12,826 out of a total cost of $19,241 for the steam car project. One thing that concerns me is that further funds for these two projects have not been provided this year. The South Australian Government did not see fit to give them sufficiently high priority in its list of projects submitted to the Commonwealth Government for funding to obtain an allocation of funds for them. Of even greater concern is the attempt by the State Labor Government to blame the Commonwealth Government for the lack of continued funding for these projects. The plain fact is that the State Government placed these projects way down on its list of priorities so that even with the very generous funds provided by the Commonwealth Government they did not get a guernsey. By contrast, the NEAPTR project has been given number 1 priority in submissions and therefore funding has continued. These are three rejects of nearly one hundred conducted in South Australia with Commonwealth funds under the terms of the previous legislation.

The Bill now before the House will continue that program and that funding. The Commonwealth Government in this way is making a very significant contribution to fulfilling the transport needs of South Australians but the South Australian Labor Government and the Minister of Transport, Mr Virgo, stand condemned for one aspect of their use of these funds. Each of the projects which I have mentioned in some detail has received considerable media publicity in South Australia initiated by the State Government. NEAPTR in particular has been publicised in special lift-out features in several of Adelaide’s newspapers, in particular the two major daily newspapers in that city, but the only mention of the Commonwealth Government has been the misrepresentation about the funding of the electric and steam cars and the criticism of the Commonwealth Government associated with that misrepresentation. I note that the Minister for Productivity (Mr Macphee) is nodding his head. Obviously he is aware of that misrepresentation.

In not one of the many statements on these projects which have been used in the great wad of newspaper articles, some of which I have here, has any mention been made of the Commonwealth Government and the fact that two-thirds of the money for these projects has been provided by the Commonwealth Government. Publicity has been used purely for the purpose of self- aggrandisement of the State Labor Government and the State Minister of Transport, Mr Virgo. Mr Virgo has been ever ready to misrepresent the Fraser Government. It is about time he gave some credit where it is due. As I mentioned, a moment ago, the plain fact is that the Commonwealth Government has provided $356,462 out of $534,754 spent on NEAPTR; $21,642 out of $32,662 spent on the electric car and $12,826 out of $19,241 spent on the steam car, as well as two-thirds of the cost of the many other projects, which, as I mentioned, number nearly one hundred.

It is the Commonwealth Government which has made these projects possible through its generous provision of funds, not the Dunstan Labor Government on its own, as it would attempt to have us believe through media publicity. The South Australian people should be aware of this in view of the barrage of misrepresentations that have been initiated by the Dunstan Government about the Commonwealth Government over the last two years. The transport planning and research program has provided a good example of CommonwealthState co-operation. Let that co-operation and the major Commonwealth involvement in it be acknowledged at the State level, as it is here. This Bill will enable that co-operation to continue and ensure the effective use of resources. It is about time that the State Government, and also the Labor Party in this place, recognised the contribution that is being made by the Fraser Government to public transport projects.

I mentioned at the beginning of my remarks that a leaflet had been distributed recently in the southern part of the Kingston electorate which misrepresented the situation in regard to Commonwealth funding for urban transport.

Mr Cadman:

– Not again.

Mr CHAPMAN:

– Yes. They do it all the time. This year urban public transport will benefit through the provision of $51m, as against $58m last year. The pamphlet was designed to convince the electors of Kingston that there had been a massive slashing of funds by the Commonwealth Government. The pamphlet listed as an achievement of the Fraser Liberal Government the fact that less money had been provided to the States for programs such as public transport programs. The funding which I mentioned a moment ago, $51m, is in fact a minor reduction of some 12 per cent in the 1977-78 Budget over the 1976-77 Budget, not the 21 per cent which was claimed in the heading on that pamphlet which was distributed.

Mr Cadman:

– It is a scandal.

Mr CHAPMAN:

-The way they misrepresent the Commonwealth Government’s funding of projects in that State is a scandal. Given the need to restrain government spending, which has stemmed from the previous Labor Government’s extravagance, this is a commendable effort. As I said, it shows that the Fraser Government still gives a high priority to urban public transport needs. The slight reduction m the Budget this year is in comparison with the Fraser Government’s Budget of the year before. The inference in that pamphlet is that the Fraser Government has slashed spending on urban public transport in comparison with the previous

Labor Government. The heading of that pamphlet is therefore grossly misleading. Add.tionally, the assertion in the pamphlet that the Fraser Government is providing less money for urban public transport is a downright lie. The $5 8m provided in the 1976-77 Budget was nearly twice as much money for urban public transport as that provided in the last Labor Budget of the year before. Fortunately for all Australians that will be the last Budget the Labor Party has a chance to bring down in this place for many years to come.

As I have mentioned already, a further $51m has been provided for these transport projects in the current Budget. This includes $5m specifically committed as the Commonwealth Government’s contribution to new projects in 1977-78. It should be noted that this is the first allocation of Commonwealth funds for new works under this scheme since 1974. It is also the only money allocated to new projects of any type over the whole range of government expenditure in the 1977-78 Budget. This initiation of new projects contrasts with the Labor Party’s performance in government in 1975 and the misleading claims about which I have spoken. It shows that the Liberal-National Country Party Government cares about people who are dependent on public transport. Hence in two years in office the Liberal-National Country Party Government has provided $109m for urban public transport. This is 40 per cent more than the previous Labor Government provided in three years. This point should be emphasised. The $109m provided by the Fraser Government in two years is 40 per cent more than the Labor Government provided in three years. This shows how the Fraser Government has given a higher priority to this area than the previous Labor Government. During a period of necessary restraint on government spending and cutbacks in spending m many areas of spending the Government has increased funding in areas of real need such as urban public transport. It is providing much more money at a time of restraint than Labor saw fit to give in its era of free, easy and uncontrolled government spending which caused our economic problems. Whether one looks at the Bill now before the House or at the overall Budget allocation for urban public transport, one sees that the Government is definite in its commitments and has provided the funds for the States to get on with the job. Certainly this piece of legislation, the Transport Planning and Research (Financial Assistance) Bill, will continue that funding in a very special area and will continue the opportunity for the

States to conduct research on a two for one basis next year and on a 50/50 funding basis thereafter. I commend the Bill to the House and urge its speedy passage.

Mr MORRIS:
Shortland

-Mr Deputy Speaker, I seek your indulgence. During the course of my remarks earlier I said that the provisions for funding on a dollar for dollar basis are not contained in the Bill. I have read my notes again. I was in error. I would like to have my remarks corrected. That provision is contained in the Bill.

Mr WENTWORTH:
Mackellar

-This Bill is to be supported because it is quite certain that the Australian transport system needs replanning and research for replanning. There has been a good deal of talk in the past and I think it is unfortunate that so little practical result has emerged from it. I wish to speak on one or two things which could and should be done. Let me remind the House, firstly, that Australia is a country of great distances and where transport costs are very heavy. Secondly, Australia along with other countries shortly is going to face a crisis in liquid fuel. Thirdly, Australia has at the present moment unused resources of labour and materials which could be used now to provide the economies in fuel for the future. In other words, what we are doing now in failing to use our resources of men and materials- these years of the locust can never be recovered- does prevent us in the future redressing our balance on current account difficulties through the costs of importing liquid fuels and the difficulties of buying oil abroad.

Let me come firstly to railways. At the outset we must do something about the SydneyMelbourne line. Considering the volume of traffic that it carries and could carry, that line is a national disgrace. I refer to the section between Junee and Kapooka. Honourable members will recall that between Sydney and Junee there is a double line but at Kapooka this contracts to a single line to Albury- a single line which has to carry not only interstate traffic but also a good deal of local traffic for the Wagga-Albury district. That line is made more difficult by the fact that it has the nasty descent to the Murrumbidgee River which the line crosses at Wagga, and of course the line has to go up again after crossing the river. So the first thing to look at surely is that section from Junee to Kapooka- 20 or 30 miles. This single line should be duplicated in such a way that the uphill grades are eased. This can be done, of course, by using the new line one way up and one way down and using the old line in the same way. Then there is the section from

Kapooka to Albury. This is a relatively flat and easy section. I am not certain at this present moment whether it would be better to duplicate that or whether it would be better to put in a centralised train control. I am inclined to think that the former is the better, considering the volume of traffic which can and should be carried on it.

The next piece of alignment to be considered is in Sydney itself. Honourable members will recall how that southern line snakes out and follows a winding course to Liverpool. The southern line should go out via East Hills and cross the George’s River twice and rejoin the existing main line at about Macquarie Fields. There is only about five or six miles in it. There are two bridges over the George’s River. This would save an immense amount of trouble and bring quite tremendous economies. I have talked about the route of that line. It should also be considered not only in respect of horizontal curves and grades but in respect of vertical curves also. This used not to be important when short trains were running, but when long trains are running the vertical curves and a change in grade are of quite significant technical importance. That line needs looking at.

That line carries only a small proportion of the goods traffic between Sydney and Melbourne. When I was in England recently I was talking to experts on road-rail traffic and when I told them that there was 600 miles of line between Melbourne and Sydney but still well over half of the goods traffic went by road they could not believe it. It seemed to them utterly incredible because even in England where there is the long haul from London to Glasgow- I think it is of the order of 400 miles- the predominant traffic still goes by rail, not by road although there are the freeways and all the advantages that the roads in England have over the roads here. It is absolutely incredible that so much of the goods traffic between Melbourne and Sydney still goes by road. It is an indictment on the efficiency of our railways.

Then one thinks particularly of the terminals and the way in which containers and other goods are handled at these terminals. I know that one company- Thomas Nationwide Transport Pty Ltd- has made some effort to deal with this. It is, I think, the only company and its efforts are by no means commensurate with the need to get the railways working efficiently. It is not just a question of the physical layout of the terminal; it is also a question of the handling of trains and trucks at the terminal and the co-ordination of the two. Again when I was in Europe recently I had a careful look at what was being done there and I can assure the House that the Australian practices are years and years out of date.

Let me come to the next point about railwayselectrification. When we changed from coal to diesel locomotives we did it for very good reason, namely, that diesel was much more economical. At that time we did not know what the Arabs were going to do to us about oil prices and supplies, but still we made the change and it is paying off but we should be going back to using indigenous fuel, and that means the electrification of main railway lines.

Let me speak particularly of New South Wales where the first priority is the line between Sydney and Melbourne. That line is already electrified between Sydney and Campbelltown. Electrification of that line should be extended as far as Albury. Of course the Sydney to Brisbane line, which is already electrified as far as Gosford, should go via Maitland to pick up the Newcastle links, and the Newcastle system itself should be electrified. Another line which certainly is overdue for electrification is the line from Maitland to Werris Creek. I put this to the House because electrification is particularly desirable where a line has either heavy traffic or heavy grades, or both, because the electric locomotive running on an outside power source is the ideal animal to deal with the heavy grades. If that line is electrified over the hills into Werris Creek it would deal with the main needs of that area as far as efficient rail transport is concerned. Of course we have to think of the Hunter Valley and we have to think of the new systems which are going to go in by reason of the very great increase in coal development in that area, and this proposal that I make will serve them.

Let me turn to the line from Lithgow to Parkes. The line is electrified over the Blue Mountains where there are compensating grades, I think, still of one-m-thirty three- one of the heaviest main line grades in the world. Between Lithgow and Parkes the line gets down on to flat country and there are some very bad grades on that line which carries heavy traffic and it is worth electrification. Finally, the little loop from Sutherland to Wollongong and up to Moss Vale which still carries heavy steel traffic and heavy suburban traffic is one line where electrification obviously is overdue. This is something which could be done now. We are wasting resources and wasting the future. We have idle manpower and idle factories that could produce the equipment. We will need these things in the future.

The years of the locust can never be recovered. This is the time to take action. To fail to do so now because of some obsession about a deficit is really beyond human understanding. We need these things now. We can never recover the time lost in the periods during which factories are idle. It will be gone. Let us get on with the job and do now the things that we shall need in order to cut down our dependence upon imported oil in the near future. In only seven, eight or nine years time Australia ‘s oil supplies will start to constrict. We may find more oil on the North West Shelf. We have not found it yet. It may well be there. Even if oil is discovered now, it will be many years before it is in economic production.

In regard to railways, we must fix up the main Melbourne line and carry out some electrification. We must concentrate on our main lines. In particular, we must think of the terminals and the way in which traffic is handled. People who know something of the signal system in Sydney know how vastly and unnecessarily complicated the system is. Railways are out of date in their thinking very often because they are still bound to a position where there was no real motor transport. They do not think in new terms. The trouble about a train, of course, is that it runs on rails and is hard to shunt. When one starts to break up a line of trucks and reform them one loses a lot of time and incurs a lot of cost. We have to think in terms of complete rakes of trucks which are never broken up. That is the economic way of doing things. If we do this we can slash freight rates. A massive reduction in rail freights for rural areas is long overdue. There has to be some reassessment of our handling of livestock on rail. By comparing our trucks and the way in which they are marshalled and handled here with what is being done in some countries overseas we see how far out of date the Australian system is and how much we could help our graziers and the whole rural industry if we would reorganise our way of handling livestock on rail. We must get the freight costs down. We should make it possible, when the varied seasons give a drought in one area and rich pastures somewhere else, to move stock about with reasonable facility and at low cost.

I have spoken of rail and I have spoken of goods. I speak now of passengers. The concept of a high speed passenger rail service in Australia probably has little application because we do not have the population concentrations which make it so economical in places such as Great Britain and Japan. Let me talk of our suburban railways. In the cities we have to cut down our use of liquid fuel. This can be done partly by helping public transport to become efficient I do not mean that this should be done by penalising the motorist or making the motorist uncomfortable. I believe that we should do this by giving a better and cheaper alternative. I wish I had time to speak more on this matter. I just indicate to the House briefly that the development of the underground rail system in the cities obviously is called for. We have, here again, to get the costs down. I wonder whether we have taken sufficient note of the possibility of using small buses or whether we have yet appreciated the full impact of having suburban transport on which no fares are collected. The costs of collecting fares are sometimes more than the fares collected. In inner city operations fare collection shows a net loss. We would get a better service and lose less money if we did not collect fares.

I am sorry that the Labor Government in New South Wales is ditching the inner city freeways. It is a most retrograde decision and one which I think can be made only in complete ignorance or with some kind of malicious idea of slugging the motorist. I do not know which it is. In the cities we have to think of proper freeways which, in a sense, will save fuel but also will make it possible for the motorist to use his car to real advantage. We have to save fuel. But what about the liquefied petroleum gas that we waste? Where are the plans for conversion of government vehicles on a major scale from petrol to LPG? Where are the plans to get rid of all excise and other charges on LPG and the corresponding difficulties of using LPG? Where are the plans to organise new outlets for LPG so that motorists can have the convenience of a bowser? Where are the plans to cut down the registration costs on vehicles which are equipped for LPG and which by using that fuel not only reduce our oil bill but in addition reduce- not eliminate- the pollution in cities. This, of course, is only a temporary alleviation. We have to think further of electric vehicles for city and commuter use. They are not, at present, as economic as they should be; but they are improving. The Government should be spending more money on them and showing much more interest in electric vehicles, particularly the small vehicles and the vehicles which can be mass produced and which can give a special service m cities as commuter vehicles.

I am coming to the end of my time not only in this speech but also in speaking in this House. I have been able to put before the House some of the things which I intend to urge when I take my place in the Senate next year. These are some of the things which I believe are the proper concern of a House of review which can look at the overall plans and by so doing hope to improve the efficiency of an Australian transport system which remains, for all our planning, a national disgrace.

Question resolved in the affirmative. Bill read a second time.

Third Reading

Leave granted for third reading to be moved forthwith.

Bill (on motion by Mr Adermann) read a third time.

page 3060

INDUSTRIES ASSISTANCE COMMISSION

Report on Items

Mr ADERMANN:
Minister for the Northern Territory · Fisher · NCP/NP

– On behalf of the Minister for Business and Consumer Affairs (Mr Fife), for the information of honourable members, I present the interim report of the Industries Assistance Commission on copper ores and concentrates.

page 3060

TAXATION STATISTICS

Mr ADERMANN:
Minister for the Northern Territory- On behalf of the Treasurer (Mr Lynch · Fisher · NCP/NP

, for the information of honourable members, I present a paper entitled Taxation Statistics 1975-76, dated 1 November 1977, a supplement to the 55th report of the Commissioner of Taxation which was presented to Parliament on 2 November 1 976.

Ordered that the paper be printed.

page 3060

AIRLINE EQUIPMENT (LOAN GUARANTEE) BILL 1977

Second Reading

Debate resumed from 27 October, on motion by Mr Nixon:

That the Bill be now read a second time.

Mr MORRIS:
Shortland

-The Airline Equipment (Loan Guarantee) Bill 1977 seeks authority for the Treasurer to give a guarantee on behalf of the Australian Government for loans to be raised by Ansett Transport Industries to enable the company to finance the purchase of its eighth Boeing 727-200 series passenger aircraft. It is in line with previous Bills of a similar nature which have been passed by the House on earlier occasions when Ansett Transport Industries has purchased aircraft for its fleet. The Bill is a routine measure and as such the Opposition does not oppose it

In bis second reading speech the Minister for Transport (Mr Nixon) canvassed a wide range of matters pertaining to the aviation industry. I shall address my remarks to some of the issues that the Minister raised. One of the great problems facing the aviation industry is the selection of aircraft, and the facilities available at airports and the capacities of airports. One of the best documents to which honourable members could refer would be the recent publication of statistics of domestic scheduled airline performance for the year ended 30 September 1977. I wish to draw attention to some of the figures that are shown in relation to three aspects: Firstly, passengers; secondly, freight; and thirdly, mail. In the year ending September 1977 Trans-Australia Airlines flew 3.2 per cent more hours but carried 7 per cent more passengers, a 11.6 per cent increase in freight and a 12 per cent increase in mail on what was carried in the previous year. Similarly, Ansett Transport Industries with a 0.3 per cent increase in hours flown carried 2.7 per cent more passengers, 2.5 per cent more freight and 3.3 per cent more mail.

Without going into the details of the other internal airlines shown in the document, such as Airlines of New South Wales, East West Airlines, MacRobertson-Miller Airline Services, Connair, Qantas and Airlines of South Australia, I want to remark on the total figures for the industry for the year ended September. Looking at the total hours flown we find that there has been a decrease of 1.1 per cent in that year. But the number of passengers carried rose by 4.6 per cent. The domestic airlines carried 9,690 million passengers in the year ending September. As I said that was a 4.6 per cent increase. There was a 5.2 per cent increase in freight and a 5.7 per cent increase in mail carried. I have mentioned those figures to show evidence of increased utilisation of aircraft. Much is said about lower air fares and airport capacities but there is a basic equation as I see it to lower air fares; that is, higher load factors equal lower air fares. The better utilisation and the more people in aircraft on trips the greater the possibilities of lowering the fare for that journey. Those figures show what is happening.

At the same time when we come to the figures for our perennial problem of Mascot they show a reduction in hours flown and an increase in passengers carried. In the year ended September 1977 at Mascot there were 82,138 aircraft movements, a reduction of 0.5 per cent on the figures for the previous year. But 4.983 million passengers were moved through Mascot. That is an increase of 5.5 per cent. So there was very little reduction in the number of aircraft movements but a substantial increase in the number of passengers. Probably the use of larger aircraft would be a factor as also would be better load factors and better utilisation of facilities.

Turning to Brisbane, we find that Brisbane airport had 34,799 aircraft movements which carried 2. 144 million passengers. An increase in aircraft movements of 1.4 per cent was more than countered by an increase in passengers of 4.4 per cent. It is the same story. Melbourne is probably the best example. In that same period Tullamarine airport had 66,662 aircraft movements and handled 4.295 million passengers. There was a reduction in aircraft movements at the airport of 2.2 per cent but an increase in the number of people handled of 5.2 per cent. That brings us back to the basic equation that lower air fares, in the main, equal higher load factors and better utilisation of the industry’s facilities.

Much criticism is made from time to time by our political opponents about what happened at Mascot or Brisbane or at other airports. But the simple fact is that for 25 out of the past 28 years -almost for the total period of the development of major civil aircraft operations in Australiathe conservatives who now sit opposite have been responsible. They have been the administrators. Whatever shortcomings exist in our aircraft industry the responsibility lies at their feet. In its relationship with the government the industry sees a problem of uncertainty as to what are the Government’s intentions and what should be the guidelines for the industry. I can best evidence this by quoting from Aircraft magazine of October 1977 which reports a statement of the chairman of the Australian National Airlines Commission, Mr Vial. The magazine states:

Sydney airport’s serious problem of traffic congestion and increasing noise annoyance could reasonably be met only by early introduction of wide-bodied jet aircraft on domestic air services, Mr Viall has warned. ‘But the airlines cannot be expected to place orders for larger, more efficient, but capital intensive new equipment in a situation characterised by falling or stagnant traffic growth, and faced with the prospect of ever-increasing government imposts leading inevitably to still more daunting fare increases,’ he said. ‘To do so would be an act of financial irresponsibility.’

Mr Viall was certainly referring to the conditions as they were. In recent times conditions have improved in terms of passenger growth but I think his statement points out the uncertainty that faces the industry in relation to what are the Government’s intentions.

In relation to Mascot I now refer to the publication put out by the Major Airport Needs of

Sydney committee. Again we run into the problem of knowing what the Government wants to do. It does not want to discuss it publicly. Friction has developed, as I understand it, between the New South Wales Government and the Federal Government in regard to the activities of the MANS committee. On page 5 of the report it states:

Traffic Management Schemes

This study looked at ways of more effectively using Kingsford-Smith airport without building additional runways. It also considered excluding some types of air-traffic, and reducing some services.

Consideration is being given to the implementation of some of these measures in the near future.

I want to go on from that to deal with the dilemma that is facing the operators of commuter aircraft in Australia at the moment, but particularly in New South Wales. Quite a campaign has been developing around that problem. The Minister recently, as I recall his statement as accurately as I can, said that there is to be no discrimination, or no discrimination against commuter aircraft, that there is no move to shift commuter aircraft out of Mascot, but a system of priority based on weight has been developed. I put it to the Parliament that that, is exactly a means of forcing the commuter operators out of Mascot. The effect is the same. The larger the aircraft, the higher the priority it has. It means that commuter aircraft have to circle for longer periods than commercial aircraft. That increases their fuel consumption. It causes a delay in their time- tabling and they cannot maintain their services and connections. So they have either to put up with providing that kind of service or to move out. On page 9 of its report the MANS Committee states:

For example, the governments may decide to introduce certain operational procedures immediately, and to accept in principle the concept of a second airport at a particular site. However, it may be decided that the initial planning stages should not commence for a number of years, or until the demand for air travel exceeds a certain number of passengers or aircraft.

Then, more significantly on page 1 1, it continues to say in relation to commuter aircraft:

Over the years, measures have been proposed which could lead to more efficient use of existing faculties at KingsfordSmith. These have included:

Excluding certain classes of traffic, such as general aviation, commuter services and some nights within New South Wales. At present 25 per cent of all aircraft movements at Kingsford-Smith are general aviation (mostly small aircraft).

A later suggestion is the placing of a surcharge on aircraft movements at Kingsford-Smith. That surcharge would be passed on as higher air fares which may reduce the demand for air travel. In effect, those charges would be punitive. Their purpose would be to discourage aircraft from using the airport. That brings us back to the claim that is being made by the commuter operators. I know that the commuter operators, in their discussions and in their concern about what the Government has in mind, have displayed deep concern about a discussion which took place between themselves and some officers associated with a review of the operation of Kingsford-Smith. In that discussion the Federal officers are reported to have put a very strong line for the exclusion of commuter aircraft from Kingsford-Smith Airport. I know that the Minister has said that the commuter aircraft industry is over-reacting. I put it to the Parliament once again that there is very good evidence to support the view that the commuter operators are taking, and that is the verbal exchanges which took place in relation to commuter aircraft. Those exchanges are not on record, as I understand it, but certainly a discussion took place.

The Australian Financial Review of 26 October reports a decision made by the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. That Association queried the separation times at Mascot for lighter aircraft. Again this is a matter that needs to be taken into account. As was mentioned at the Association’s meeting- I raised this point earlier- the separation standards and the associated delays caused unnecessary loss of time and waste of fuel without enhancing safety. One of the inter-city air services, Aero-Pelican Inter City Commuter Air Services Pty Ltd on which I often travel, said that if graded landing priorities were introduced to Mascot it would be the end of small commuter air services. Mr Hilder, the manager, was commenting on the proposal of the Department of Transport to place the small commuter services at the bottom of the landing priority scale. He went on to say:

If we are given a ‘D’ priority, they are actually telling us that the people of New South Wales do not have as much right to use their own airport as the people of another State do.

So there are good and genuine grounds for the fears of the commuter operators about their future and their access to the airport. The responsibility lies with the Minister and with the Department. In matters such as this more good is achieved by the people responsible coming out into the open and putting the facts on the table in front of the people concerned than by leaving them to be dealt with by departmental memos, exchanges between governments, secret documents and secret reports.

I now turn to the relationship between the aviation industry and the Minister. From reports I have received from within the industry and from the unions, I doubt whether the relationship between the Department of Transport and the industry has ever been at a lower level than it is at present. The industry’s disenchantment with government stems from the failure of the Minister to implement the promises he made in the 197S election campaign. At the time he said he would recreate a separate Department of Air. He has not done that. Instead, he has confirmed the role of the expanded Department of Transport which he inherited. He said there would be a halt to increased air navigation charges. Instead, he increased them by 30 per cent within the first 12 months of coming to office. He said that increases in the industry’s costs needed to be stabilised. Yet he endorsed a Budget decision to increase the excise on Avtur, thus bringing about an increase of almost 3 per cent in domestic air fares and the prospect of further heavy increases in the price of Avtur under his Government’s energy pricing policy and policies which have been supported by him, as a senior Cabinet Minister, m the Cabinet room.

His attempt to introduce new regulatory charges for services provided to aviation industry personnel sparked off a protest campaign against himself such as has not been seen in Australia previously. He has postponed the introduction of the new charges, but obviously he hopes to introduce them after 10 December if, regrettably, this Government should be returned to office. It is no wonder that the industry is disenchanted with his performance. I do not believe that any other Minister has taken unto himself the power that this Minister has in the management of his Department.

Since December 1975 we have seen a plethora of secret inquiries into transport, particularly aviation. Let me list just a few of them. The Aviation Industry Review Committee, chaired by Sir Lennox Hewitt, was appointed in March 1976 to examine cost recovery in the aviation industry. No report has been presented to Parliament. I shall come back to that matter later. I refer also to the scandalous McNeil Committee of Inquiry into Australian Government transport undertakings. That was an inquiry conducted by competitors of, clients of and suppliers to the Australian Government transport enterprises. No report has been presented to Parliament, despite repeated requests to the Minister to do so. I refer also to the interdepartmental committee which inquired into the provision of Northern Territory aerial services, with particular reference to Connair Pry

Ltd. I have asked the Minister to table the report, but the best answer I have received is that which he gave to question No. 1 805, when he said:

The decisions of the Government, which are based to some extent on the report -

That is the report of the interdepartmental committee- and the recommendations contained therein, are open to parliamentary scrutiny and judgment.

In other words, the Minister is saying: ‘We will have a look at the report; we will get the facts; we will make a decision; you can argue about whether the decision is right or wrong, but you cannot have the information’. It is interesting to note that on page 8 of the Minister’s second reading speech he says:

I myself had a number of quite frank discussions with the Chairman of Connair, Mr £. J. Connellan.

That is not good enough. Parliament needs to be told the facts and the factors involved. It needs to be told whether there is justification for the action which the Government is taking so that the matter can be examined publicly. It could well be- I emphasise this- that Connair is being disadvantaged by the course of action which the Government, and the Minister in particular, is following. We do not know the facts. I do not have access to the information. I am sure that the Parliament does not have that access. But if the information was laid on the table where it could be discussed and assessed in the public view, it may well be discovered that Connair and the people of the Northern Territory are entitled to a better level of air services than they are receiving under this Government

I refer now to the Domestic Aviation Policy Review Committee. Again, the report of that Committee is privy to the Minister. The report brought down following the Review of International Civil Aviation Policy again is privy to the Minister. People and organisations could make a submission to that Review and if the person or organisation concerned published that submission it would be available for scrutiny. But we have the ludicrous situation of two separate review committees looking at the same subject and their terms of inquiry overlapping. That creates waste and extravagance. No report has been presented to Parliament and no public hearings were conducted. All I can say is: More power to the Minister, more opportunity for back room deals. That is the only conclusion that one can draw when a government does not want to bring information related to the aviation industry out into the open. It must have something to hide. The question is: What? The Minister is left with more power and is in the position to negotiate, to give out largesse. That may not be the situation, but one cannot blame people for taking that view.

We in the Opposition have been saying that there is a need for a full scale public inquiry into civil aviation. Until that happens, air travellers in Australia will continue to be disadvantaged. Their needs and wants and the industry’s answers should be dealt with in a public forum. As I have said, air travellers will continue to be disadvantaged in terms of frequency of services, level of fares and quality of travel. I come back to this basic equation: Lower fares equal higher load factors. How do we achieve that result and how do we at the same time meet the community’s needs in terms of services?

Those 3 million migrants in Australia who were not born here have a special interest in the lowering of air fares. They are the people who would like to put a submission to a public inquiry. But that will not happen under this Government; no way. Such inquiries have to be conducted behind closed doors, and the Minister will feed out what he thinks we are entitled to see. But migrants are getting the same kind of second and third class treatment in this area of lower air fares as they are getting from the Government in other areas such as migrant education. At least what the Government is doing in this area is in line with its performance in other areas.

The aviation industry needs to know what the guidelines are and where it is going, especially because of the high capital investment involved and the long lead-in time required in purchasing suitable aircraft and equipment. With the present Minister for Transport and this dilatory government, it is no wonder that the industry is perplexed. I have not been able to get from the Minister a copy of the report of the Hewitt Committee but I have here what is probably part of the conclusions of that report. I will tell the Parliament the reason the Minister will not table this report. The Chairman is Sir Lenox Hewitt.

Mr Hodgman:

– Is it a stolen document?

Mr MORRIS:

– The Prime Minister (Mr Malcolm Fraser) said that public servants may steal documents when it is in the public interest. This morning we sought to move a motion disagreeing with that statement and you voted against it. Do not raise that kind of question about stolen documents. You voted in favour of stolen documents.

Mr Hodgman:

– It is a felony to receive stolen documents.

Mr MORRIS:

– This is not a Public Service document. One paragraph in this document states:

The existing degree of recovery from the aviation industry is excessive because of the composition of the costs and of the offsetting items of revenue and by comparison of that achieved elsewhere in the transport industry. . . . Met. services provided to the aviation industry exceed its requirements and the industry is not paid for the data it provides the met. bureau.

It shows that the recovery rate for international airlines is 160 per cent, from domestic trunk airlines 130 per cent, from rural airlines about 40 per cent and from commuter general aviation 20 per cent. The overall recovery, according to the report of members of this Committee, is 85 per cent. That is quite different from what the Minister said in his speech. The document continues:

Environmental factors mean heavy costs for airlines in diversionary flying for noise reasons, curfews on the use of airport facilities which mean about 25 per cent of idle capacity.

It mentions rentals and leases. The concluding paragraph, which I shall read, explains why the Minister will not table the report. It states:

The organisation of the Department of Transport in its regions is of concern. These employ more than 80 per cent of total departmental staff. There appear to be costly duplications and regional civil aviation staff are becoming involved in multi modal activities at the expense of aviation and much of these activities are adequately catered for by existing State transport departments and organisations.

That is the reason. The Minister has refused to table the report because that Committee came up with a report critical of the Department. In the interests of the industry it ought to be tabled.

Mr Hodgman:

– Are you sure that it was not stolen?

Mr MORRIS:

– A lawyer like you would not know the difference. I want to raise now a matter that I am reluctant to raise.

Mr Bourchier:

– I will bet you are.

Mr MORRIS:

-I am reluctant to raise it, but I have informed the honourable member for Brisbane (Mr Peter Johnson) that I propose to raise it. I informed him yesterday. I am prompted to raise it because I saw on the Australian Broadcasting Commission a few weeks ago a film of a person who was wearing a short sleeve striped shirt and sunglasses screaming out to Senator Georges when he was being arrested in Brisbane: ‘I am a member of the House of Representatives, and you ought to be ashamed of yourself. It was the honourable member for Brisbane. That was on the ABC news on a Saturday screening. It was screened several times. No doubt millions of Australians saw it On 18 October I received a telephone call from a distressed lady complaining about the honourable member for Brisbane. Honourable members may recall that that was the day the Lufthansa captain was murdered at Mogadishu airport and there was revulsion throughout the world at the whole subject of hijacking. The lady said that all of us- I agree with her- as members of parliament have a responsibility to set an example by our behaviour to the law and our services to and requirements in the community, particularly in relation to security checks at airports.

The complaint from this lady was that the honourable member for Brisbane had refused to undergo security checks at an airport- this had been witnessed by her neighbour- a scene was created and the staff refused to carry on working unless he went through the security check like anybody else. I think that is fair. I think all of us would agree. I think we ought to be setting an example. Because he acted in the way he did when Senator Georges was arrested, I think it is my responsibility -

Mr Bourchier:

- Mr Deputy Speaker, I take a point or order. What relationship has this subject to the Bill? Would you ask the honourable member for Shortland to keep to the subject that he is supposed to be discussing, instead of trying to be disgusting.

Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER (Dr Jenkins:
SCULLIN, VICTORIA

-A wide-ranging debate has been allowed by my predecessor. I was listening carefully. The honourable member has connected his remarks with the subject matter. I suggest that he not persist for too long with that line.

Mr MORRIS:

-I submit that my remarks are quite relevant to the Bill. The Minister referred to air safety equipment and I was referring to an air safety procedure- security checks at airports. I believe that members of Parliament have a responsibility to undergo those checks, the same as anybody else. As I understand it from inquiries I made into the incident, it probably occurred.

Mr BOURCHIER:
BENDIGO, VICTORIA · LP

-Probably occurred?

Mr MORRIS:

– I think it occurred.

Mr Bourchier:

– You are making a statement that is not based on facts. You cannot say that it definitely occurred.

Mr MORRIS:

– He will have his opportunity to rebut it.

Mr Bourchier:

– You are saying that it probably occurred. In other words, you are casting aspersions without proof. That is typical slander.

Mr MORRIS:

-If the honourable member for Bendigo checks with Ansett Airlines of Australia he will find that a long series of complaints have been made about the activities of the gentleman concerned at the airport. I do not want to say any more than that because the honourable member for Bendigo might not like what else I say. The member of the public had a perfectly good reason for bringing this matter to my attention. She rang me as shadow Minister for Transport and she complained, in fact demanded, that I do something about it. I have brought the facts to the attention of the Parliament. It is up to the Minister for Transport to make up his mind on what he wants to do.

The other matter on air safety which I want to mention relates to the fire at Mascot a few weeks ago. That fire was the result of a tragic accident in which a petroleum tanker overturned. Flaming spirit poured down the drains outside the airport, travelled underground for some hundreds of yards and surfaced between No. 5 and No. 6 passenger bays and the aerobridges of TAA, in the Qantas power house, in a Qantas hanger and in a TAA hanger. I drew attention to the danger. In good airport design external drains do not flow under airports. It is a safety requirement a basic requirement of airport design that drains from outside an airport should not flow under an airport. The position at Mascot is that the drains in the nearby streets flow under the airport, under the buildings, into a pond in the inner part of the airport environs, across to Alexandria Canal and into Cook’s River. When I drew attention to the danger, the Minister’s response was that it was a unique accident.

I again put to the Minister and to the Government that the situation is very serious. It was just plain good luck that nobody other than the unfortunate person in the motor accident was hurt. The situation exists and the Government is aware of it. If anything happens, the Government is responsible. There is one facet which I have not mentioned previously. During the period of tension in the course of the delay after this incident occurred, TAA aircraft could not unload. Aircraft were on the tarmac. Flames had surfaced between No. 5 and No. 6 aerobridges and at other places. There were not sufficient fire engines to deal with a Jumbo crash or anything above a Fokker crash during the major part of this crisis.

I wish to inform the House of what happened in one aircraft that was waiting to unload at one of the aerobridges. This is a perfectly human side of what happens in these situations. During that period a passenger became very concerned because the aircraft had landed and the passengers were not being unloaded. Apparently, from what

I can gather, the passengers did not know what was happening. The aircraft were waiting on the tarmac. As honourable members know, the airline companies are very happy to serve alcohol on aircraft. I understand that in this case some kind of sedative had probably been imbibed during the course of the journey. The passenger became excited and broke into the flight deck of the aircraft and demanded to know what was going on. This is the kind of thing that happens. In this case the aircraft was stationary and no injury or further damage was caused. The unfortunate passenger, for his pains, was arrested and charged. Who is responsible in a situation such as this?

For the Minister to regard lightly the Mascot incident, the drainage problem there and the lowering of standards of fire fighting appliances is just not good enough. To say that it was a unique accident is not good enough. We are extremely lucky that something far more serious did not occur. An aircraft could have been between No. 5 and No. 6 aerobridges. There were not sufficient engines present. There could have been an incident in aircraft which were waiting on the tarmac because they could not unload their passengers. The Opposition has a commitment to restore aircraft safety standards to those that prevailed prior to the change in government. The next Labor govemmment will give top financial priority to ensuring that aircraft have the proper standards of safety and that the aviation industry has clear guidelines.

Mr Peter Johnson:
BRISBANE, QUEENSLAND · LP

-Mr Deputy Speaker, I wish to make a personal explanation.

Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER (Dr Jenkins:

-Does the honourable member claim to have been misrepresented?

Mr Peter Johnson:
BRISBANE, QUEENSLAND · LP

-I do. The honourable member for Shortland (Mr Morris) stated that an incident probably happened, involving me and a security check, at an airport. This has never happened. Never has there been a stopwork at a security check. Every time I have approached a security check I have realised the importance of it and I have been quite willing to have my baggage examined, as has everybody else. That is the only way I approach it. I consider that that sort of political smear tactic on the last day of the Parliament is something that should be above the honourable member for Shortland.

Mr MORRIS (Shortland)-Mr Deputy Speaker, I wish to make a personal explanation.

Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER:

-Does the honourable member claim to have been misrepresented?

Mr MORRIS:

– Yes. I said earlier, in sincerity, that I did not want to press the matter too far; but, since it has been raised by the honourable member for Brisbane (Mr Peter Johnson), I point out that I made inquiries of Ansett Airlines of Australia -

Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER:

-Order! The honourable member is allowed to make a personal explanation. He is not allowed to debate the issue. He is proceeding to debate the issue.

Mr MORRIS:

– I accept your guidance, Mr Deputy Speaker. I raised the matter in sincerity because when I contacted the company concerned I was told:

Johnson has a long history of creating problems at airport counters -

Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER:

-Order! The honourable member will resume bis seat

Mr JULL:
Bowman

-The debate on the Airline Equipment (Loan Guarantee) Bill has been very wide ranging. The purpose of the Bill is to seek authority for the Treasurer of the Commonwealth to guarantee a loan raised by Ansett Transport Industries Ltd to purchase its new Boeing 727 200 series aircraft. Both Ansett and Trans-Australia Airlines are moving into the purchase of this new equipment. TAA has indicated that it will be financing its aircraft from its own funds. This is just a mechanical Bill, but because the debate has been so wide ranging there are some points that should be answered and some observations that should be made about civil aviation in Australia at the moment. It is interesting to see that the airlines have faith in the future. They have enjoyed a 4 per cent growth rate in the first three quarters of this year. In fact, some extraordinary growth rate figures have been produced on a month to month oasis. Reports that the airlines in one month experienced a 9Vi per cent growth rate emphasise the problems they are having in providing the scheduled services. It is good to see that they have confidence in the future of civil aviation and are prepared to invest in their new Boeing 727 200 series aircraft.

Civil aviation in Australia is at a very interesting stage. As the industry moves into the 1980s the call on new equipment and facilities will become greater and greater. In some respects it is interesting to observe that the airlines at this stage have moved into the Boeing 727 rather than looking at some of the bigger equipment. If one criticism can be levelled at the two major domestic operators in Australia, perhaps it is that sometimes they have been a little conservative in their forward estimates of their equipment demands. Airlines in South Africa, Thailand, Iran and some of the smaller nations in Europe have taken the risk and moved into the big Airbus equipment, the 250-seat aircraft. There has been quite a deal of debate suggesting that perhaps the Australian domestic carriers should be looking right now at moving into the Airbus or the DC 10, which has been put up as a second option for the wide-bodied aircraft to operate on the domestic routes in Australia

Certainly much of the jet equipment operating in Australia at the moment is becoming quite old. When I say that, it is not to say that safety is being impaired at aU. When we consider that both fleets contain DC9s that have operated for some 24,000 flying hours in the last 10 years or so and when we do a quick mental calculation that would indicate that those DC9s have been in the air non-stop for about three years, we can see the point made by the honourable member for Shortland (Mr Morris) about the utilisation of aircraft in Australia. Obviously the airlines must be looking very hard at re-equipping their fleets, and indeed they should. In a report released overseas recently it was indicated that a Fokker Friendship aircraft operating in Australia was the oldest in the world. Obviously the airline fleets must be kept up to the rigid safety standards that operate in Australia but obviously the time is coming when some major re-equipment purchases will have to be made by the domestic airlines.

I was interested to hear the comments of the honourable member for Shortland regarding the major airport needs of Sydney study at Sydney (Kingsford-Smith) Airport. What he said is very true. Kingsford-Smith Airport is probably the greatest headache besetting Australia at the moment. I was interested to hear that he had some doubt about the priorities of the commuter operators. The commuter operators play a most vital part in providing airline services to those areas of New South Wales which they serve. The whole Kingsford-Smith Airport operation should be looked at in its true perspective. Many members of Parliament do not speak to the men who really know the true position. In many cases they would be the domestic airline pilots. They tell us some rather frightening stones about some of the things that happen.

It is an established fact that the early flight that leaves Brisbane at 7 a.m., or 6 a.m. during daylight saving, for Sydney, is one service that is not particularly affected. It is established that the first aircraft to leave Brisbane for Sydney probably will arrive on time, but the second is invariably 20 minute’s late because of the bank-up at Kingsford-Smith Airport. Late last Sunday afternoon I was coming to Canberra. The aircraft was delayed 20 minutes, and so was the one behind. Another aircraft was holding to the west of Sydney and another to the south of Sydney. So much of this bank-up time is being caused by the small aircraft using Kingsford-Smith Airport. We talk about the cost factor involved in the operation of light aircraft. Having a Boeing 727 or a DC9 holding outside Sydney for up to 20 minutes is very costly for the domestic carriers. If we are looking at how we can bring down the cost of fares, aU these things must be considered. I am certainly not a pilot, but on my rather amateurish estimations I would say that to hold a Boeing 727 aircraft outside Sydney for 20 minutes would cost the price of 400 lb of fuel. That is not an inconsiderable amount of money. On Sunday afternoon, when four Boeing 727 aircraft were holding, the added sum would have been appreciable indeed.

A number of other factors concerning Sydney are certainly well worth looking at. A number of airline pilots have expressed to me concern at the instrument landing system operating on runway 16, the southern runway. To put it in airline jargon, the centreline beam on that instrument landing system has bends in it. In fact the pilots do not have the capacity to line up their aircraft exactly to come in on that main south runway, runway 16. The glidescope which the pilots use to make their landings on that runway also is causing them some headaches. In fact, according to the Department of Transport, the problem is caused by industrial interference from the facilities surrounding Kingsford-Smith Airport. Sure, the aircraft pilots can overcome those problems and they do overcome them very well but, if we are looking at maximum safety and maximum efficiency, these are the areas that must come under investigation and must be upgraded continually.

If something can be done about keeping the light aircraft- not the commuter aircraft, but the general aviation aircraft- out of KingsfordSmith Airport, we can allow the heavy commercial equipment which may be carrying up to 400 passengers the right to land on schedule with the required safety separation between aircraft, which they certainly are not enjoying at the moment. Three or four aircraft could be coming in on a flight path and a light aircraft going at a very slow speed could be holding up a Boeing 747 or a DC10 behind it on its final approach.

Apparently the system is that those major aircraft have to slow down their approach to make way for the light one, rather than priority being given to the heavy aircraft to make their landing at Sydney.

As I said a little earlier, the civil aviation industry, going into the 1980s, has a very bright future; but it is a future in which obviously the concern of all governments, State and Federal, must be shown. I understand that the honourable member for Lilley (Mr Kevin Cairns) will be speaking a little later about the Brisbane Airport. We know the situation in regard to the KingsfordSmith Airport and that there is a problem with the length of the runway at the Adelaide Airport. So in years to come the cost to government is going to be very considerable indeed One would hate to think of the amount of expenditure that will have to be spent on airport facilities over the next 10 years, but it must be spent if Australia is to maintain its safety standards.

I was interested to read the comments of the Minister for Transport (Mr Nixon) in his second reading speech and the confidence he put in the aviation review. Indeed many people in Australia are interested in seeing the outcome of the recommendations that will flow from that aviation review, not only in the domestic sphere but also in the international sphere. The twoairline policy has served Australia very well during the past 20 or 30 years. However, the time must come when a full review is carried out to make sure that the service that is being provided to the people is the most efficient and the least costly. After all, the whole business of civil aviation is people. Even the freight services relate to people. The safety of those people certainly must be taken into consideration, as must be price. If there is a possibility of reducing domestic airline fares, whether it be through the dropping of some air navigation charges or fuel tax or the higher utilisation of aircraft, every effort must be made to provide the cheapest possible form of travelling to the Australian public. With the bringing in of wide-bodied aircraft as soon as possible, one wonders whether or not some of these objectives can be achieved. In regard to the Airbus or a DC 10, we have, as the honourable member for Shortland mentioned, a situation at the moment in which, although in some cases the number of aircraft movements are down and the number of passengers handled is up, perhaps some of the congestion at places like SydneySydney is a problem and will be for some timecan be relieved. Certainly that has been the exercise in South Africa and it has been the exercise in some other cases around the world where the

Airbus has come into service in the last six to 12 months or so.

I was interested to hear the comments of the honourable member for Shortland about the migrant population. I have mentioned three or four times in this House the specific worry of the people in my electorate, those of the Finnish and Danish communities, who at this stage have no access whatsoever to excursion fares to take them home or indeed to reverse traffic to bring their relatives from places like Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland to Australia to visit them. It was one of the recommendations of the House of Representatives Select Committee on Tourism that this aspect of international air travel be looked at. One would hope that in the civil aviation review we will get a very fair approach to it by the Department and that the Department will not be snowed by Qantas. It is interesting to speak to people who work with the domestic operators, and some of the international carriers too, who claim that Qantas does have too much say over the civil aviation policies of Australia. The criticism is made, quite regularly, that when the Department of Transport has to make a decision on some aspect of civil aviation policy, whether it be landing rights or something else, what Qantas says goes. Nobody is denying that we must protect our national carrier and that we must provide the best possible operating circumstances for that carrier; but I think there have been examples in past years where perhaps the national carrier has had far too much say in the way the aviation policy should go. So one hopes that this review will be a fair one, that it will be an objective one and that we will see some very real recommendations coming from it to help the people of Australia achieve what I believe should be the aim of our civil aviation policythe cheapest possible fares for the Australian travelling public.

As I say, this has been a wide ranging debate, when we consider that the prime purpose of the Bill is to guarantee the provision of money from the Commonwealth Government on behalf of Ansett to purchase a new Boeing 727. It is an area which should be of vital concern to all of us. Never before, I believe, in the history of Australia has there been so much interest amongst the general public as to which way civil aviation in this country is to head over the next 10 years. It will be interesting to see just what results and recommendations come out of those reviews. It is an industry in which Australia has a very proud record around the world. It is an industry in which we enjoy a safety record which is probably comparable to that of no other country. It is interesting to see that the three airlines- Ansett, TAA and Qantas- are amongst the top ten airlines of the world in relation to air safety. I believe that two of those airlines are in the top three. I think the record speaks for itself.

This is an industry which must be in our consideration at all times. It is an industry in which there will be major changes in coming years. It is an industry where technical development is going along at a tremendously rapid pace. It is an industry which must be under constant review. The new navigation equipment that is coming into so many of the new aircraft, and the Omega navigation system that is going to be used by domestic aircraft around the world, must be kept in mind too. Obviously there will ultimately be room for big cost savings to be made in what services the Department of Transport itself provides. I do not think it will be too long before the domestic carriers and the internationals will be complaining about the amount of money they are being charged for some of these services when sophisticated computerised navigation equipment in modern jet aircraft will be able to provide most of the information they need. So we look forward to continued expansion in civil aviation in Australia in the next 10 years. This Bill is helping that expansion by bringing a modern Boeing 727 aircraft into Australia on behalf of Ansett. Another is to come for TAA. I wish the Bill a speedy passage.

Mr Kevin Cairns:
LILLEY, QUEENSLAND · LP

-A little piece of history is always useful when looking at the development of airports. There has been a growing concern over the Brisbane Airport. It has manifested itself in this place and it is certainly manifesting itself in my own State. Brisbane Airport is the most neglected in Australia and it is the worst airport in any mainland capital city. The anger and the concern that have developed are well exemplified by a newspaper article in the Brisbane Courier-Mail dated Saturday, 4 November 1967. The article contains a list of promises in relation to the Brisbane Airport. These promises have now extended well over 10 years. This is merely a record of the last decade. If one were to reach back into the early 1960s, one could peruse the promises made then. I shall read certain excerpts from this article and from the statement of the then Minister for Civil Aviation to indicate just what has not occurred.

The then Minister for Civil Aviation indicated at that time that Brisbane was expected to become Australia’s No. 2 international airport under Federal plans to develop it. The Sydney

Airport was to be brought up to an equal standard. The article said, and this is the important point:

The Civil Aviation Minister, Mr Swartz, in Brisbane yesterday confirmed that the Civil Aviation Department had accepted 12,500 feet as the necessary runway length for nonrestricted operations of the Boeing 747. He indicated that Sydney Airport had two runways of 7,900 feet and 5,500 feet in length and that Tullamarine, Melbourne’s new $45m airport -

That is in 1967 dollars- due to become fully operational in 1969 will carry only limited jumbo jet traffic and will not be extended to become a major port for them. Tullamarine’s main runway will be 8,500 feet. Jumbos using it will do so with restricted loads because of the runway conditions.

The article then described the Darwin Airport and the Perth Airport. The plain fact is that there has been development and extension at every one of those airports within the past decade. There has been none at Brisbane, and Brisbane is the third airport in Australia. It is also the third international airport in Australia. That is why the Courier-Mail, in a magnificent editorial last Friday, made it perfectly clear that it expected something to be done in relation to Brisbane airport. I have not seen such a forthright editorial in that newspaper for a long time. There is a growing and real concern. Let me make it quite clear that the runway at Brisbane airport, in terms of both domestic and international traffic, is the most inadequate runway at any capital city airport in Australia. I say that it is not right that that should be so and I say that it is not a fair go. So the members from Queensland are concerned.

The second reason why they are concerned is simply this: If an airport is stunted the development of a region will be stunted. In some ways airports have become the modern equivalent of seaports. In the past, nations, regions, and states, were built up around their ability to have ocean and sea traffic. That still obtains but airports are a modern counterpart to that position. If an airport is stunted demand and activity through that region will be reduced. That is what is happening with respect to Queensland and that is certainly what is happening quite precisely with respect to Brisbane and south east Queensland today. The plain fact is that the growth of traffic at Brisbane airport has been in excess of the original estimate of the needs of the airport. I am referring to the totality of the traffic, the larger volumes of traffic mentioned by the honourable member for Shortland (Mr Morris). I am referring to international traffic, commuter traffic, general aviation traffic and domestic mainline traffic. I am taking them all together. Commuters and other services have as much right to use capital city airports as to other lines. They fulfil a very necesary purpose.

From 1969 to 1976, which included three years of recession, the growth of traffic movement at Brisbane airport was over 6 per cent per year. The growth this year is well in excess of the 6 per cent per year for 1976, and is well in excess of 7 per cent per year. So that airport will reach its full capacity and queuing will have to occur many years earlier than was envisaged in the Brisbane Airport Transport Survey made some years ago. The data on which the survey was based is seriously out of line and seriously out of focus. Therefore we have to look at the proposals in respect of Brisbane airport. Again I look at the long history of promises that have been made in relation to Brisbane airport, so well exemplified by the honourable member for Griffith (Mr Donald Cameron). Recently, one of the members of the board of Qantas Airways Ltd, Sir John Egerton, who also happens to be an inhabitant of my electorate, pointed out that there were some plans for the immediate development of Brisbane airport which would cost over $200m. These plans which were made public, were for some runway realignment, terminal development, et cetera. As Sir John Egerton indicated, that is a very large expenditure to contemplate. I suggest that that expenditure is totally unrealistic.

As I have pointed out and as Queensland member have made clear, we do not want the development of that airport to be a miniature Snowy Mountains scheme. We do not want anything like that. The realistic program for expenditure for what is required between now and well into the 1990s, towards the end of this century, is one-third of the amount which is being talked about. Some of the programs in respect of runways, I suspect- I cannot obtain all the details of them- are unrealistically elaborate and luxurious. They are unrealistic as to what is required for Brisbane airport. I suspect, and I say this quite frankly, that some of these costs have been so loaded as to make the program unfeasible, to make it quite unrealistic. I suggest that an expenditure of $60m to $70 would satisfy what has been promised in relation to Brisbane airport till the end of this century. What are required are two features in terms of public expenditure: A realigned runway, and sufficient fill for the replacement of terminals. Most of the other expenditures that are required- other expenditures are required- lie within the private enterprise field. We do not want a Taj Mahal. We say that a Taj Mahal is being suggested and worked on in order to make it unrealistic and unattainable. It has the effect of making the financial barrier so high that it cannot possibly be hurdled. We are suggesting modest proposals that are realistic and capable of being fulfilled.

I want to say this: The people in Queensland are becoming increasingly concerned about the airport. Pieces of quite serious misinformation have been conveyed. For example, the Minister for Transport (Mr Nixon), who is a very talented Minister, has indicated to the Australian National Travel Association in Queensland that in respect of Brisbane airport there are no real restrictions imposed on international movements at that airport by either the runway or the recently completed international terminal facilities. That is an incorrect statement and the Department of Transport, which is responsible for the operation of the airport in Brisbane, knows that it is incorrect. It knows that international carriers fully loaded- we are talking about economic operations fully loaded- are unable, under the temperatures and the conditions operating, to reach the nearest Asian port. From there planes are required to drop down at Darwin. British Airways planes travel from Brisbane to Sydney and then to Singapore. They have the pleasure of watching planes from Tullamarine airport flying overhead not only on their way to Singapore but also on their way to Hong Kong, Manila and so on. That position is not sufficiently good. It is not a fair position and it is not one that would intend or would be able to defend.

These things have to be pointed out. There are realistic programs which can be put into operation. We ask only that the people who are responsible for the engineering in this area and the consultants responsible for drainage and engineering requirements in Brisbane and in other Queensland areas be consulted, but that the airport not be designed at an unrealistically luxurious level such as we find in Melbourne or some other southern capital. Brisbane airport must have something done to it. Above all we say that any proposal to extend the runway is unacceptable. It is unacceptable for a whole host of reasons. It has also been declared to be unacceptable by the State Government and by the Lord Mayor of Brisbane. That proposal has also been declared to be unacceptable by the Liberal Party of Queensland and by the Federal Council of the Liberal Party, by a unanimous vote in both instances. What is required at Brisbane airport is a realigned runway and fill for the establishment of terminals and those other facilities in an appropriate direction. Basically that is all that is required until the turn of this century. Unless that is done, queuing will begin to occur at that airport much earlier in the 1980s than was originally foreseen. Most tragically, unless something is done to develop an adequate airport, promises made in 1967 will be shown to have been promises of straw. But above all, an inadequate airport indicates that a region can be kept back in an unrealistic manner.

Let me make one further comment. The economic conditions under which a development occurs are also important. There can be attitudes towards capital development programs that will occur as a particular stage of an economic cycle. It has been part of the Government’s program to have capital works programs restricted more than they would be otherwise . If we accept that fact, it is nonsense to suggest that over the long period that is required for the development of an airport, similar restrictions on capital works programs are going to persist. Is anybody in this House going to suggest that similar restrictions over capital works programs will occur over the next five, six, seven or eight years? The Treasurer (Mr Lynch) has indicated that 1978 will be a year of far more substantial economic growth than we have experienced in the immediate past. We welcome that statement. If 1979, 1980 and the early 1980s are going to be years of substantial economic growth, that is the period of time over which a modest capital works program in relation to an airport can be organised and sustained. So the economic circumstances will enable something to be done. In fact, the economic circumstances could encourage that a capital works program be initiated during the next Parliament with respect to Brisbane airport. I suggest that the Courier-Mail editorial has given a magnificent lead to the people of Australia and the people of Queensland. I believe that that lead will be taken.

Question resolved in the affirmative.

Bill read a second time.

Third Reading

Leave granted for third reading to be moved forthwith.

Bill (on motion by Mr Howard) read a third time.

page 3071

REDISTRIBUTION OF NEW SOUTH WALES ELECTORAL DIVISIONS

Mr Donald Cameron:
GRIFFITH, QUEENSLAND · LP

-by leave- On 27 October, during a discussion of the electoral redistribution for New South Wales, I sought and obtained leave to incorporate at page 2543 of Hansard a paper prepared by the Parliamentary Library which detailed the changes in the political allegiances of the various seats in this House since the 1966 election. The document prepared by the Parliamentary Library contained some errors. The errors no doubt were caused by the rush with which it was prepared following the short notice I gave. I seek leave to incorporate in Hansard a document which corrects the errors.

Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER (Dr Jenkins:

-Is leave granted? There being no objection, leave is granted.

The document read as follows-

Corrigendum to Answer given on 26. 10.77. House of Representatives. Hansard, p. 2544. 1966 Election

First pargraph, last line. Delete CP lost 1 to the ALP (Dawson). 1969 Election

Second paragraph, last line. Insert (Riverina) and 1 making the last line read: ALP (Riverina); Independent lost 1 to the ALP (Batman). 1974 Election

Fourth paragraph, second last line. Delete A in 2nd ALP making it read: the ALP (Henry, Isaacs); CP lost 2 to the LP (Canning).

By-Elections

Fifth line, Insert after LP. (iii) Dawson (26.2.66) CP to ALP.

Then leave 2 lines instead of 1, and then Insert the heading: SEATS THAT HAVE CHANGED HANDS.

Under that heading, begin the sentence ‘During this period . . . and complete as it stands, but Delete the Roman numerals (ii) before the sentence. The last word in the sentence is ‘once ‘ and not ‘one’.

page 3071

ENVIRONMENT (FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE) BILL 1977

Second Reading

Debate resumed from 2 November, on motion by Mr Newman: That the Bill be now read a second time.

Mr UREN:
Reid

-The Opposition does not oppose this Bill. The purpose of the Bill is to replace the States Grants (Nature Conservation) Act 1974. This Act referred only to land purchases and in 1976 it was amended to include all programs concerned with nature conservation. The present Bill extends the purpose of the amended Act to include all environmental programs. The Bill has very wide ramifications. It deals with all the Government’s conservation and environmental programs.

It is regrettable that environmental matters have been very low on this Government’s priorities. I refer for example to the first report of the Australian Heritage Commission which was tabled in the Parliament today. This is one of the few programs in this area which have not been completely scrapped by the Fraser Government. The Australian Heritage Commission in fact was set up by the previous Government. However there is not much moral or financial support given to environmental and conservation programs. An example is the Environmental Protection (Impact of Proposals) Act 1974, which probably is one of the most important pieces of legislation ever introduced into this Parliament. It has wide ramifications. Two studies were undertaken under the terms of the Environmental Protection (Impact of Proposals) Act. One was the Fraser Island inquiry and the other, or course, was the Ranger inquiry into uranium. They had wide ramifications and it is very interesting to note that although both reports were brought down during the last two years, no proposal has been referred to the Environmental Protection (Impact of Proposals) Act by the Fraser Government. This Government has moved back to the old bulldozer mentality. The Minister for National Resources (Mr Anthony) and the Minister for Primary Industry (Mr Sinclair, both Country Party Ministers, have had an enormous influence in this area. The area represented by the Minister for Environment, Housing and Community Development (Mr Newman) probably has one of the Government’s lowest priorities. That is regrettable.

With regard to the mining of uranium, as I said earlier, both the first and second reports of the Ranger inquiry were brought down under the terms of the Environmental Protection (Impact of Proposals) Act. The Minister for Environment, Housing and Community Development did not make all the recommendations; they were made by the Minister for National Resources. That brings the priorities of this Government into question.

This Government is superficially concerned with environmental and human justice issues. I will deal briefly with the environmental aspects of uranium mining. The Alligator River region is a very delicate area of Australia. It is proposed that in due course-I hope that the area is not ruptured in the meantime- the Kakadu national park will be set up there. Recently I was in the area and I saw how beautiful, delicate, and fragile it is. The feelings and attitudes of the Aboriginal people also will be an extremely delicate situation to handle. The sad thing is that this Government is so superficial even with regard to the environmental proposals put forward by the Ranger inquiry. It has accepted the provisions of the Atomic Energy Act to control uranium mining in the Alligator River area and the Kakadu national park area. This Act will supersede the Ranger report. The Ranger report argued very strongly against using the provisions of the Atomic Energy Act, both for environmental reasons and reasons associated with civil liberties.

The operation of the Atomic Energy Act allows no other consideration. It does not allow environmental considerations to disturb its provisions. This means that environmental impact legislation is irrelevant and has no force on uranium mining in the Alligator River region. The Government has only a moral obligation, not a legal obligation, to recognise the environmental safeguards recommended in the second Ranger report. The Atomic Energy Act also overrides the Aboriginal Land Rights Act. Section 41 of the Aboriginal Land Rights Act requires, in effect, that m respect of Aboriginal land, a mining interest shall not be granted unless either both the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and the Northern Lands Council consent or the Governor-General declares that the national interest requires that the interest be granted. But because authority has been granted to Ranger under the Atomic Energy Act the ‘mining interest’ provisions of the Land Rights Act do not apply. I stress that point. Therefore the Northern Land Council consent will not be necessary in respect of the Ranger project even if it becomes Aboriginal land under the land rights claim. Therefore, Aborignals have no right over the Kakadu, the Mudginberri and the Munmarlary pastoral leases and the eventual disposal of these lands.

This is of great significance environmentally in this area. Members of my staff last week visited Jabiluka and Jabiru areas to see what the situation was. They saw large areas covered with plastic sheeting which had been used for aerial surveys, and now there were rotten pieces blowing about the bush. There were grid tracks made by motor trucks all over the bush, cut through the bush yet this was an ecologically fragile area. These rnining tracks of savage erosion will occur during the wet season. This Government’s concern for the environment is subordinate to its championing of the uranium miners rights. The Aboriginals, the people best fitted to protect our unique inheritance in the Arnhem Land escarpment, also have had their interests overridden. The environment is in fact subordinate to this Government’s priorities. That is the whole issue.

They are just a few comments on a sad situation that will occur under this Government on the priorities that do exist. There are other comments to be made on the environmental impact statements. There are comments in the report of the Australian Heritage Commission, which was tabled today, dealing with the “woodchip industry but this Government has shown hide concern about this aspect. It has been said that arrangements have been entered into between State governments and overseas concerns in respect of the wood chip industry, but we know that this Government has certain powers under the Customs Act which enable it to restrict the devastation which is being caused to our forests and protect the natural areas that are being raped in Australia today. The report of the Heritage Commission tabled today warns all Australians about the wood chip situation. It says:

Australia is not rich in forested land. Since white settlement, the area of forest has been halved, and now occupies less than 6 per cent of the continent. In the earlier years of timber cutting, the forests were not viewed as a renewable resource.

The sad situation of course is that just as people are raping our natural mineral resources today, our forest lands were raped in the past and of course this is still going on. The report of the Heritage Commission gives this warning:

Since 1970 the export trade in wood-chips has called for more and more timber. Clear felling has denuded large areas of forest.

One has only to go to Eden on the south coast of New South Wales to see how badly the region has been raped by the wood chip industry. The Australian Government will have to exert control if the State governments will not control this very delicate part of our environment. The report of the Heritage Commission continues.

Many environmentalists do not object to the idea of ‘tree farms’ or to the preference for imported species of trees. They do object, however, to clear felling in environmentally sensitive lands. There also seem to be special opportunities for woodchip harvesting in the large areas of cleared, neglected land which are available for reafforestation.

The State Forests have long been seen as ‘landscaped national parks’ which quietly serve a variety of needs. They serve the logging industry, people interested in wildlife, and tourists seeking grand scenery or satisfying their feeling for solitude. Unless very well managed the woodchip industry can wreck that traditional compromise.

I think that is a warning. I hope that the Government will use the powers that it has over export to make sure that the State governments take some heed of this warning. Frankly, I am pleased that the Minister for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs (Mr MacKelllar) in his second reading speech did stress that if we are going to control our environment the only way we can control it is by a spirit of co-operation. I think that cooperation has to occur between the Australian

Government, State governments and local governments and even between governments and the private sector. We cannot go on as we did particularly between the years 1950 to 1972 in which the bulldozer mentality existed. In that time many of the beautiful buddings that were created by man were destroyed because of greed and stupidity and of course because of that bulldozer mentality. It was only after the Labor Government set up the Hope inquiry into the National Estate that there was any real change in the attitude to preserving some of our national heritage whether man-made or by nature. I think that this understanding that we have to work together if we want to preserve our national heritage is starting to grow in the community.

The sad situation which has occurred is that although the National Estate program is now underway it needs financial support, it needs financial muscle. I am not saying that the Federal Government can produce everything from its Pandora’s box to solve the financial problems of State and local governments, but many of these problems can be solved only if the Federal Government is prepared to give financial supportfinancial muscle- to back up the planning proposals. It has been said that whereas the abor Government in its three years in office spent in excess of some $ 1 5m, less than $ 1 m or at the very most $1.5m might have been spent in the last two years under the Liberal Government. That is the sad situation that has occurred. The Government, in saying that it has to wait until the national register is prepared, is simply postponing the matter. We know from the recommendations in the Hope report and from the reports and requests from the respective State governments that there is ample work available and so much that can be done and much of the work is labour intensive. I hope that the Federal Government will do more in the years ahead towards making a real contribution towards protecting our national heritage and protecting our National Estate, to ensure that the rare species are protected, whether they be flora or fauna.

The whole basis of my criticism of this Bill is that on the environmental front and the conservation front this Government has such very low priorities. It has failed. Wherever the interests of growth or wealth appear to be, this Government sides with them just as it sided with the uranium mining interests in that very delicate area of the Alligator River in Arnhem Land. Instead of accepting the proposition, as reported, that there should be sequential development of uranium mining in the areas and that only the Ranger mine should go ahead first to ascertain what problems would be created in this delicate environmental area- that would have been bad enough- the Government rejected it. But what was done? The Government even cancelled the proposition of sequential development of the Ranger mine and the Pancontinental mine. The simultaneous development of those two mines not only will have a grave effect on that delicate environment but also will have a grave effect on the environment of the human beings in that area, that is, the Aboriginal people. That is the extremely sad situation. Therefore, whilst not opposing the Bill, the Opposition criticises and in some cases condemns the priority given to environmental and conservation matters of protecting our national heritage.

Mr McVEIGH:
Darling Downs

History has recorded in its pages many instances of complete destruction when people have challenged nature. It also has recorded that when people have worked with nature they have lived to enjoy the benefits of that co-operation. I was most interested in the remarks of the Deputy Leader of the Opposition (Mr Uren). I feel a certain sympathy with the points he enumerated. It is true that for too long we in Australia did not really appreciate the environment. If one can be critical of the previous era, one has to say that much of the development by the early settlers in this country was carried out without any significance being attached to the environment and the preservation of our great natural resources for the use of the generations that would follow. I join with the Deputy Leader of the Opposition in paying a tribute to the previous Government for sparking off an interest m the environment as far as Australia as a nation is concerned. I hope that the small acorn that was planted will grow into a great tree so that the environment will be protected, so that we will not challenge nature and so that future generations will be able to enjoy the benefits of what nature can provide.

This Bill is the stepping stone to greater achievement in the years to come. One can criticise it for not spreading its umbrella widely enough or not gathering into its fold aU the things in which environmentalists are interested; but it is a start. It gives statutory outline to a cooperative effort between the Commonwealth Government and the States. Let us not forget that this type of legislation will act as a catalyst to encourage private individuals and organisations to play their part in the preservation of the environment and particularly the National Estate. I want to comment later on a few private organisations which I believe deserve encouragement. Their efforts deserve to be recorded in this national Parliament

The Bill indicates to the States that the Commonwealth seeks to be a partner with them. We do not seek to take over. We do not wish to manipulate. Rather, we want to work with the States so that man can live with the environment and does not become a victim of his own misuse of it. I believe that one or two things are worthy of comment. In this year’s Budget, due to the efforts of the Minister for Environment, Housing and Community Development (Mr Newman) $2.55m was allocated for the National Estate. I understand that certain grants have been announced for Tasmania. We aU know how hard the Minister works and how very interested he is in the National Estate. We hope that he can hurry up the announcements of the grants for the other States. Many organisations and people currently are waiting to hear whether their particular enterprise has been granted some financial assistance. If those announcements could be made in the near future it would allow these people and organisations to plan ahead with some sense of security and with the definite knowledge that their efforts will be reinforced by a financial contribution from the Australian Government.

One of the projects in which I am particularly interested is called the Jondaryan woolshed. The Jondaryan area will be represented in the next Parliament by my good friend, the honourable member for Maranoa (Mr Corbett). The Jondaryan woolshed is a great monument to the ability of the men of last century to erect a building which in effect can withstand the exigencies of time. It was, in its heyday, the largest woolshed in Australia. I understand that at f resent it is the oldest woolshed still in operation, was most heartened in the days of the Labor Administration by the keen interest that was displayed in this project by the honourable member for Hindmarsh (Mr Clyde Cameron). He, as an ex-shearer, wanted to join with me and the people of the Jondaryan district in preserving the woolshed as a memorial not only to the AUS.tralian pastoral industry but also to the shearing industry. No pontics were involved. The honourable member came into this Parliament from the shearing sheds and shared my infectious enthusiasm for having a fitting memorial to the industry in aU spheres, from the bottom up.

I believe that if the honourable member for Hindmarsh had not been removed from his office we would have seen a rather generous allocation of funds to the Jondaryan woolshed for the purpose of recording that at that woolshed the first grains of the shearers strike were sown. That is all part of Australian history. It is part of the National Estate. Irrespective of the side of politics to which one belongs, that is Australia. That is how Australia grew. That is how Australia became one of the great free nations of the world. These things are worthy of recording. I refer to my interest in agriculture and the interest of the honourable member for Hindmarsh in the shearing industry. There cannot be an industry unless we have all facets- the worker, the pastoralist and all the transport activities. These people, through unrelenting application and a great deal of personal sacrifice, have done a lot to restore that woolshed. It is now a most fitting memorial to the early pioneers of that district. There even is employed there a man who can recreate the old transport buggies, make wheels and carry out that wonderful old trade of blacksmithing.

I hope that when grants are allocated the Jondaryan woolshed is among the recipients. It deserves to be among the recipients because it represents the industry. It does not represent just one section of the industry; it represents the whole industry. I am delighted that the honourable member for Hindmarsh has come into the chamber. It gives me an opportunity to pay a personal tribute to him for the encouragement he gave to me when we were trying to get the memorial off the ground.

Mr Corbett:

– We are broadminded in our party.

Mr McVEIGH:

-We are very fair about it, as the honourable member for Maranoa said. The other point about which I want to talk is that there is a need for a co-operative effort on the part of the Government and private enterprise. We have, again in the enlarged electorate of Maranoa, a wonderful display which represents the interests of a man in gathering together native flora and fauna. I refer to Mr Lance Cockburn of Brookvale Park, outside Oakey. There is there an area of land growing all the well known trees and many of the shrubs of Australia, gathered personally by him when he and other people interested in the project crossed Australia from east to west. That is a fitting memorial. No words of mine are necessary to compliment Mr Lance Cockburn. In his heart he sees recreated before him, each day as the dawn comes, something of himself. But more importantly, he has another project, that is, to collect together and to house a national orchid collection. This is a mammoth exercise which will require an injection of considerable funds. I hope that that idea receives encouragement with finance and gifts of orchids.

It grieves me to think that here in Australia where orchids grow in the bush- a profusion of different types, delicate shades all reflecting beauty- we do not have housed in one area a national orchid collection. That is what concern for the environment is all about, the preservation for those who come after us of typical Australian things. In that way, not only we who have seen them in the bush and have enjoyed them, have had the time to breathe away from the many pressures that are being exerted upon us and ave taken the time off to go into these areas, with some feeling of a sense of belonging, a sense of getting away from it all, but others also will be able to enjoy them.

I suppose many of us have been disappointed that we have to plead guilty to the charge of being negligent in regard to soil conservation. It is not for me to criticise the old pioneers. Probably if a little of their spirit of hard work was still present we would be a lot better nation. The old timers- honourable members on both sides of this House can claim them as their mums and dads; it is not the prerogative of any one sidewent out into the scrub with an axe, a sugar bag full of corned meat over their shoulders, tamed the scrub and made Australia great. But I believe that their farming methods were such that they have led to a rapid decline in the fertility of the soil and the loss of thousands of tons of soil from what were fertile highlands.

I have been most impressed by the efforts of some of the State governments to come to grips with the problem, to wrestle afresh with the fact that unless something is done we will have pollution of our streams and topsoils will be washed away, never to be replaced. Let us be critical and say that many thousands of acres of soil that have been cultivated should never have been cultivated; the land should have been left with trees and undergrass for pasture purposes and not used for the growing of crops. That was not done. Unfortunately we cannot turn the clock back, but let us hope that the Federal Government, particularly through tax incentives, can give encouragement to the farmers to preserve the soil, either by rotation of crops or by construction of contour banks or other appropriate measures.

We have allocated $200,000. 1 know that the Minister for the Environment, Housing and Community Development will use his considerable persuasive powers to get the Cabinet and the State governments to agree to a massive onslaught on the problem. Each day that passes makes the action an extra day too late. As well as the decline of fertility, there is the associated problem of clogging up the streams. I have listened here to people like the honourable member for Maranoa, the honourable member for Wimmera (Mr King) and the honourable member for Mallee (Mr Fisher) talk about what has happened in the last 20 or 30 years. They used to be able to get in a boat and row up the river but now those rivers are clogged up. The water holes are filled up because of the silt that has been washed down from the highlands. A lot of damage has already been done. Let us ensure that what has been done will not be repeated.

This Bill seeks to bring out national policies in two ways, not only in the manner of spending money, about which I have been commenting, but also in the matter of overseeing the importation of chemicals. It is both distressing and displeasing to note that man has wrought great damage by the indiscriminate use of chemicals. When I hear of a person being afflicted by some unknown disease I often wonder whether this can be traced back to the fact that he has absorbed through the pores of his skin pesticide and weedicide sprays, used by people aimlessly and without any idea of responsibility. I know that in the irrigation areas of Queensland, cotton worth thousands of dollars has been destroyed because of drift of chemicals from people who have been using weedicides in a windy situation and who have not exercised responsibility.

Therefore it is good to see in the Minister’s second reading speech- I compliment him on the fact- that the Government, through the Aus.tralian Environmental Council, will move positively towards comprehensive and co-ordinated regulations for the export and import of environmentally hazardous chemicals. I believe that that is an excellent initiative. Damage done by chemicals cannot be measured in absolute terms. In the final analysis it is the cause of much sickness and much loss of income. The National Country Party and all Government supporters fully support this legislation. We agree with the criticism that has been advanced that it does not go far enough. But viewed against the background of a government moving in the right direction with great financial restrictions placed on it on account of the state of the economy, this is a positive proof to the Australian people that we are serious about the environment.

We are concerned about the problems of air pollution and land pollution. We are concerned that unless something is done to overcome the clogging up of the roads and to rid us of the fumes that are being exhausted into the air by uncontrolled transport, man will reach a situation where in effect he will be suffocated by the things he has created. For far too long people who live in cities have had to put up with unrelenting and unremitting noise. That must jar on the nerves of people who have emotional problems, people beset with the problems of rearing a family in a modern day and age with all amounts of pressures being exerted on them from economy, science and philosophy. They cannot even have time to sit down in peace and quietness and take a few minutes off without someone starting up with the whirr of the lawn mower, or a truck goes past with a broken muffler and there is the intrusion of noise. These are aU problems that we have to tackle. This Bill indicates that this Government is serious about attacking those problems. Unless the Government does something about this matter in association with the States it will not be possible for people who live in metropolitan Australia to enjoy a peaceful Sunday afternoon outing in the bush where the kids can run up and down the rocks, run down into the gulleys and climb the trees. I am delighted to note that the Minister commented in his second reading speech on parklands where people, no matter whether they are the richest or the poorest in the land, can go to enjoy the privileges of the countryside, where they can get away from it all, where they can sit down under the shade of the tree and listen to the beautiful sounds and the murmurings of the birds.

Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER (Mr Lucock)Order! The honourable member’s time has expired.

Mr Clyde Cameron:
HINDMARSH, SOUTH AUSTRALIA · ALP

– I will not talk for very long. I begin by congratulating the honourable member for Darling Downs (Mr McVeigh) on the excellent speech that he just delivered. It surprised me, and I am sure it surprised everybody in the Par.liament, to learn that he can speak with such eloquence and common sense on a matter such as this. What I liked about his speech was the fact that he did not read a single word of it. It aU came from the heart. My advice to him, which I offer in the kindliest of ways, is that from now on he should continue to speak from the heart- he has proved himself to have a heart- and not to read and rant from papers written to him by the Australian Cattlemen’s Union or whoever used to write his speeches. The honourable gentlemen is improving rapidly and I am sure that in the dim, distant future, when his side comes to office again, we will see him in this place as a Minister. I hope that one day he is made a Minister. He is worthy of it.

I wish to deal mainly with the point that the honourable member for Darling Downs made about Jondaryan Station. He is entitled to a great deal of praise for what he has done to foster this wonderful historic relic of Australian history. Not only is it a relic of the pastoral industry; it also is a relic- a very important relic- of labour history and the industrial history of Australia. I remember so well the honourable member coming to me, when I was Minister for Labour and Immigration and in charge of the Regional Employment Development scheme, and asking for support for the restoration of that magnificent old building. I approved his request and gave my support to it. I am sorry that I was dismissed from the ministry before I was able to see it restored. Of all the projects Labor carried out under the RED scheme- many very fine projects were carried out under that scheme- none was more deserving of support than the restoration of Jondaryan Station

Jondaryan is the station where the Australian Workers Union first secured agreement from the pastorialists of Queensland for an all-union shop. It was agreed with the late Spence and Macdonnell that in the shearing season of the following year all of the workers there would be union members. Spence made the mistake-it turned out to be a mistake later but at that time, in the short term it was not- of threatening the owners of Jondaryan. He said that if they did not agree to a union shop, as it was called- to work according to agreement rates- the waterside workers would refuse to load the wool onto the ships. I have studied the history of the AWU and I have documentation to prove that Spence was never given authority by the Australian Waterside Workers Federation to make that threat against the owners of Jondaryan. That fact has not been previously recorded in any of the official history books but it will be recorded in my history of the AWU. He made that threat as a bluff, something for which he was notorious. The owners of Jondaryan caved in. When the waterside workers heard about the situation they took umbrage at the fact that their name had been used without consultation in the course of an industrial dispute. However, because Jondaryan eventually agreed to the union demand, the waterside workers were quick to turn around and claim credit for a threat that was made in their name.

History shows that the settlement of the Jondaryan dispute sowed the seeds of the great maritime strike. When the ships officers were refused the right by the ship owners to affiliate with the Melbourne Trades Hall Council, the ships officers, in conjunction with the waterside workers, made the same threat which had been so effective against the owners of Jondaryan. However, the ships officers and waterside workers lost and one of the biggest strikes ever recorded came into being.

Jondaryan is an important part of Australian labour history. It has the biggest shed ever built in Australia and perhaps anywhere in the world. It is fitting and proper that it should be restored. I hope that the parties now in office will support the party which will be in office after 10 December in giving a substantial donation for the purpose of restoring Jondaryan so that we can proudly show it to people from overseas and, perhaps more importantly, to the people who live here.

Mr YATES:
Holt

– I want to spend a few moments this afternoon in supporting the Environment (Financial Assistance) Bill which was presented to the House by the Minister for Environment, Housing and Community Development (Mr Newman). I do so on three grounds: Firstly, I have found that almost every Australian now is at heart a conservationist. Secondly, there is major national concern about the fact that some of our most treasured buildings have been lost. Thirdly, there is major concern because some of Australia’s rare species of wildlife are so likely to be lost in the next 20 years unless we take very great care. In my view there should be no monopoly- and no particular party is entitled to the monopoly- of concern for conservation. It is the concern of us all.

It is sometimes said that those people who first came to this country ravaged the country and did a lot of damage. In certain cases that may be so but I do not think we should look upon the whole problem of conservation with a feeling of guilt. Certainly, we ought not to look upon it with the gloom which the Deputy Leader of the Opposition (Mr Uren) always asks us to adopt. I prefer to look upon it with the charm, grace and elegance of the honourable member for Hindmarsh (Mr Clyde Cameron). Honourable members should look at the wonderful buildings in Robe. They should look at the history of Robe. They should look at the wonderful areas in Australia.

I wish to make a few comments about conservation. The next problem we have to face is education in conservation. Are we teaching the children in our schools how to use the equipment they take with them when they go into the wildlife areas? How many rivers have I found full of spinners because people or children did not know how to use their tackle? What a tragedy it is, when fishing in the Falls Creek area and watching the evening sun go down, to have to stand on glass bottles or cans. The first lesson in conservation must be taught and understood by all those who go into the countryside. Let us take an example of one person in the last century who made a very fine contribution towards conservation. I refer to the work of Carlo Catani. If honourable members looked from the Dandenongs straight down to Westernport they would realise what a wonderful operation it was to clear the whole of the area and to make it some of the most fertile and most valuable land in Australia. The black soil around Kooweerup is well known to anybody with an understanding of farming.

Those who understand must appreciate how difficult it is for people to work out conservation plans when two authorities are involved. Take, for example, the Shire of Cranbourne. There are two authorities involved- the Westernport Regional Council and the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works. A third authority deals with all the effluent which goes into Westernport Bay. There must be a genuine cooperation between all these authorities. I say that it would be tragic if we lose the use of Westernport Bay because development of industry in that area. The development must be done with the greatest possible care. The revision of the boundaries of Holt have given me the wide areas towards the bay. I consider that conservation is one of the most important things to which every member of this House should devote his attention in the next 10 or IS years. Industries are developing in this area. They must be developed carefully and with sound sense.

I do not want to take up too much time of the House -

Mr Haslem:

– I am glad to hear you say that. There is a Bill dealing with returned servicemen. You are delaying it.

Mr YATES:

– I did not know that. I am an exserviceman. If the honourable member had said that there was another important Bill on which he wished to speak, I would have given up my time. In view of that statement, I will say only one thing: This Bill is designed to assist those who are working voluntarily, both at a national level and at a State level, in the most important area for our nation, that is, the conservation of all the beautiful things we possess in our country.

Mr Les Johnson:
HUGHES, NEW SOUTH WALES · ALP

– I certainly will not take up too much time. As has been acknowledged, this Bill is an interesting one. It opens an area of contemplation that is very important to Australia and the people of this country. I want to summarise the financial aspects of the Government’s approach to environmental matters. Although I do not regard the Bill as a major controversy for the House, I must say that quite consistent with the inability of the Minister for Environment, Housing and Community Development (Mr Newman) to sustain expenditure in other areas for which he is responsible, there has been this heavy decline in funding of environmental activities. I refer especially to special grants which have been cut back very significantly indeed. The grants for conservation organisations in the last three budgets have been $450,000, $391,500 and $300,000. In three years they have come down from $450,000 to $300,000. 1 am told that there have been no curtailments at all to grants in aid generally if they apply to boy scouts, girl guides or surf life saving clubs. The curtailment in grants to conservation organisations has been of very serious proportions.

I refer now to the grants to the environmental centres. The Labor Government of course made available direct grants, not matching grants. In recent times this Government has introduced the principle of matching grants- a $2 for $ 1 subsidy arrangement for 1976, and the $1 for $1 subsidy arrangement for 1977. We are told that some centres will be closing as a result of this arrangement. One can imagine the mining people and those industrial people with vandalistic tendencies rubbing their hands together with glee when the policemen- the people who alert the country and the governments to environmental destructionare put out of business. I think that is a very sad thing to happen.

Let me mention briefly the Environment Protection (Impact of Proposals) Act. I am told that no inquiry has been conducted under that Act since 1975. Of course there were issues which could have justified inquiries- the Concorde coming to Australia, the wood chip industry on the South Coast of New South Wales, the nuclear powered warship or submarine coining to Australian waters and the Omega base in Victoria. None of these matters has been the subject of any inquiry under that Act. The Environmental impact allocation for public hearings is down from $694,300 in 1975-76, to $507,268 in 1976-77, to $65,000 in 1977-78. That is a drop of $629,000 in three years. That is in regard to environmental impact statements. I know that we were promised an inquiry in respect of the Concorde aircraft, but the Minister for Transport (Mr Nixon) apparently took unilateral action.

He made bis own decision. The aircraft came flying in. The Act was totally disregarded. The Government promised in its election policy on environment and conservation a public inquiry on the wood chip industry. That promise has been dishonoured.

The air pollution monitoring program has been cut from $275,000 in 1975-76 to $75,000 in 1977-78. 1 think a matter of concern is that the Minister for Environment, Housing and Community Development has allowed his Department to be whittled away. The staff ceilings have affected the environmental area quite considerably. We hope that the next Minister responsible for these matters will fight and will be more successful in trying to maintain adequate staff for the purpose. I probably should pack up at that point. I am being very co-operative because of the time restraint, as I understand it.

I think a lot more could be done about marine pollution. I would have liked to have said quite a bit about this subject. It is a very serious matter. In New South Wales waters alone there have been more than 40 incidents involving oil pollution from ships in the last 12 months. There has been no reduction in the number of spillages in the last 12 months. It is as plain as a pikestaff that greater resources and greater effort must be put into this. I am grateful for the opportunity to have spoken. I feel tempted to say a little more. I am getting the nod from the Government Whip that I have had a fair crack of the whip so I am prepared to leave it at that and convey my ap- preciation for the attentive audience that I have ad. I wish all my parliamentary opponents a vigorous fight in the forthcoming election. I can assure them that when the Labor Government is elected we will certainly be giving to environmental matters the kind of attention that they would like to see given.

Mr NEWMAN:
Minister for Environment, Housing and Community Development · Bass · LP

– in reply- I will not speak for long, but I think I must respond to some of the half truths and exaggerations that were trotted out as usual by the two old faithfuls from the Opposition, the honourable member for Hughes (Mr Les Johnson) and the Deputy Leader of the Opposition, the honourable member for Reid (Mr Uren). If their concern for the truth half matched their concern for the environment, I think they would be a lot better off. Let me put the facts on this matter of the Government’s concern for the environment and conservation. This Government’s record in these matters is impeccable. We have a record of concern. We have a record of action. We have a record which shows a practical application of a range of programs and policies.

Let me go through them quickly. We have continued to subscribe in a very vigorous way to and have provided leadership for two councilsthe Australian Environmental Council and the Council of Nature Conservation Ministers. We have continued programs on air quality. We have continued programs on soil conservation. We have introduced new programs detailing the hazards of chemicals. The honourable member for Hughes, typically, has no concern for the voluntary organisations that run environmental centres for the conservation groups around the countryside. The arrangement for sharing, which I think is perfectly reasonable, will continue on the same basis as last year. For every $ 1 that they raise, we will give them $2. We are not reverting to the dollar for dollar basis, as the honourable member for Hughes suggested. It is also wrong to say that we will be going down to $300,000 this year. We will maintain the same level of programs as last year- $400,000. In addition to continuing support for those voluntary organisations, we have continued under the States grants legislation to provide money for those States which wish to acquire land for national 1 larks and so on. We have amended that legislation so that we can help the States with management facilities. We are doing that in Tasmania in the wilderness area known as the South West National Park.

The statutory bodies have a magnificent record. Again it is a vigorous record. The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority is surging ahead. I hope that in the near future we will be able to declare the first zone in that magnificent area in the southern part of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. The Australian Heritage Commission has proceeded to put thousands of places on the national list. It has been very helpful also in making recommendations, for example, about the national conservation voluntary groups and those who will be funded under the Australian Heritage Commission Act. In that respect we have increased the figures this year, not to the $ 1 .5m about which the Deputy Leader of the Opposition was talking, but to $2.55m which will keep the Australian Heritage Commission Act moving along so that areas and places that need help will continue to receive it.

We come to the linchpin of our policies, the Environment Protection (Impact of Proposals) Act. The honourable member for Hughes is either ignorant or just being provocative in this place, because the things he said are totally untrue. We began our inquiries with the Fraser

Island issue. We acted decisively, with determination and with courage. That island will become part not only of Australia’s heritage but also of the world heritage. The honourable member for Hughes implied that by not putting money into the Budget allocation we therefore would not be looking at any public inquiries. There has not been a need for a public inquiry. I am sure the honourable member for Hughes knows that if there were a need money would be provided out of the advance to the Treasurer. It is as simple as that. The honourable member for Hughes claimed that there should have been inquiries into other matters. We have acted under the Environment Protection (Impact of Proposals) Act, whether the matter in question was the Concorde aircraft or wood chipping on the south coast of New South Wales. There is no question about that. Let me educate him a little about the Act, because obviously he does not know it. Under the Act there are two alternativeseither a public inquiry or administrative procedures with an environmental impact statement. I chose the environmental impact statement. That was legitimate and it was certainly the correct thing to do in those matters.

I will finish on the question of uranium in the Northern Territory. The Deputy Leader of the Opposition tried to pretend that the Government was going to ignore the environmental promises it had made in regard to the development of uranium mining in the Northern Territory and the declaration of the Kakadu National Park. He brought in the red herring of the Australian Atomic Energy Act. The Act has absolutely no bearing on this argument. We have made our position quite clear. I will go through those procedures again. We will declare the Kakadu National Park as soon as we can. There has been a delay because the matter has to be arranged so that the Aboriginals may get their land rights established and lease the land back to us. Already the Acting Supervising Scientist is working with a committee of specialists and the Northern Territory Administration on establishing the monitoring requirements that will precede the establishment of mines in the area.

In summary, let there be no mistake either in this House or among the people who may be listening to this broadcast. This Government is concerned with the environment and conservation issues. We can point to a history of action in the last 22 months. It is a record of action that was not matched by the Opposition when it was in government and had a chance to do some of the things about which Opposition members have been talking in this place this afternoon.

Question resolved in the affirmative. Bill read a second time.

Third Reading

Leave granted for third reading to be moved forthwith.

Bill (on motion by Mr Newman) read a third time.

page 3080

DEFENCE FORCE (RETIREMENT AND DEATH BENEFITS AMENDMENTS) BILL (No. 2) 1977

Second Reading

Debate resumed from 2 November, on motion by Mr McLeay:

That the Bill be now read a second time.

Mr BRYANT:
Wills

-The Defence Force (Retirement and Death Benefits Amendments) Bill (No. 2) 1977 is part of the long and continual liberalisation of the Defence Force retirement benefits system; so the Opposition side of the House supports it.

Mr Bourchier:

– Hear, hear!

Mr BRYANT:

– I am glad that my friends opposite also support it and agree with it.

Mr Bourchier:

– We introduced it.

Mr BRYANT:

– In a way I suppose that they introduced some of it, but this is one of the more interesting pieces of legislation of this Parliament in the long haul to obtain reasonable retirement provisions for the people in the defence services. There has been a continuous struggle by people on both sides of the House and people outside the House to remove some of the anomalies between the Public Service superannuation schemes and schemes such as this one. The liberalisation in this legislation covers the spouse who is widowed after the retirement of the serviceman and who remarries, and the spouse who married the pensioner after the pensioner attained the age of 60 years. It is interesting that it has always been difficult to have such reforms accepted as reasonable social security projects. Ever since I entered this Parliament we have had discussions of this nature. I do not know why it has taken 20 years to liberalise these matters. I recall 1 7 or 1 8 years ago having a discussion with the Commonwealth Actuary, on behalf of a committee outside of this to which I belonged, in which I raised the case of the widow of a serviceman who remarried after the servicemen’s retirement. The horror that the Actuary brought to the discussion when it was suggested that we ought to disregard the peculiarity of her situation and bestow the normal benefit was almost incredible.

I hope that the Bill is gratefully received throughout the system. I think the honourable member for Herbert (Mr Bonnett) has had something to do with recent developments in this field. A former member for La Trobe, Mr John Jess, and a committee of this Parliament had a good deal to do with updating the scheme. If I remember rightly- I would hate to introduce politics at this stage of this Parliament- it was the Labor Government which implemented most of that committee’s recommendations and started things on their way. So we all have had a part in it, but we all have been a part also of the illiberal interpretations of the system.

This afternoon 1 remind honourable members and the people responsible for drafting this legislation and for the examination of the scheme of the situation of those officers who retired, I think, prior to 1962. 1 am open to correction, but from a glance at the speech I think we have not brought servicemen up to date with the people who retired post-1962.

Mr Bonnett:

-Post- 1972.

Mr BRYANT:

– That is correct, 1972. I know servicemen of long and distinguished service who were gravely disadvantaged by this failure to introduce what might be called ‘catch-up ‘ provisions. I know of one soldier who graduated from Duntroon towards the end of the First World War, went overseas, served in the regular Army continuously during the period of peace, was in Europe at the beginning of the Second World War, formed a battalion and carried it through to battlefields and who rose to the rank, I think, of brigadier and ultimately retired as a lieutenant-general. I do not know exactly what his pension is, but I would guess that it is very low down in the system. It is probably not much better than the pension of a person who served for 10 or 12 years, who may have seen no active service at all and who retired as a lieutenant or a warrant officer or something of that order.

Some years ago when we first started to discuss this matter only 7,000 or 8,000 people were involved. There is an incredible meanness in the system when we come to discuss matters such as this in relation to pensions, whether they be pensions of servicemen or other folk. Such meanness was reflected in the Act governing parliamentary pensions. There were certain restrictions on the widow’s pension if the member had married after a certain age or within a certain period before bis retirement. I do not think those things are justifiable.

I was saying here this afternoon, as I have said on a lot of occasions in this place, that when we are speaking about people who put on the uniform to serve in the armed Services, they accept a totally different responsibility from that of any of us who do not do so. It may well be that a person will serve for 20 years and will not move far from headquarters or from barracks. It may well be that a person enlists in the Services and within a few months he is in some totally unexpected situation such as Vietnam and his life or his health is forfeited. It is a totally different quality of service. Therefore it cannot be evaluated in any way in terms of money. So this afternoon I am grateful, on behalf of those people in my electorate who will benefit from this legislation, for the fact that something more has happened. I hope that in the not too distant future we will be in a position to take up all the anomalies and iron them out. That ought to apply to other systems too. This is one of those cases in which the superannuation scheme for public servants has been a trendsetter.

This afternoon in the last few minutes of this Parliament I am grateful for the opportunity to speak uninterrupted. I noted that as I rose to speak an increasing number of people, including the Prime Minister (Mr Malcolm Fraser), came into the chamber to listen. It has been one of my great sorrows that the right honourable gentle.man who was elected to this Parliament at the same time as myself and who made his maiden speech on the same night as I did, has refused to benefit from the continual advice I have given him about bis political views. However, he is still not too old to be corrected. As I make what I suppose is going to be one of the last speeches of this Parliament, I remind the House that I made one of the first speeches of the Parliament on the day we elected the Speaker. Honourable members will be interested to note that, having spoken for what amounted to about a third of a column in Hansard, the present right honourable member for New England (Mr Sinclair), who represents that constituency for the time being, had the question put and I was gagged. I hope that this afternoon we will depart from this Parliament with some sense of responsibility for the parliamentary system.

One is critical of the short time allotted for this debate. This is a very lengthly piece of legislation; it has 51 clauses; it is a very complicated piece of legislation. But we have no time to deate it. The sheer arithmetic of this Parliament means that we will not have time to debate legislation such as this in the future either. If 80 or 90 pieces of legislation such as this are brought down and we try to fit them in end to end during the parliamentary year, there is no way in which that can be done. Therefore there has to be a legislative committee system. I hope that we will get round to that so that we can start to feel more as though we are in a participating parliamentary democracy.

I shall refrain from speaking during the adjournment debate this afternoon but will express my thoughts now. I do not know what one wishes honourable members opposite on an occasion such as this. I will be going out into electorates to try to entice the people to see otherwise than do honourable members opposite and to encourage them to return people who represent the forces of progress and justice as do members on my side of the House. I have no doubt that vigorous campaigns will be conducted by honourable members opposite in the electorate of Wills to try to remove me. At least they will drive through the electorate on occasions, but I suppose they will not stop. On the whole, one can only say, Mr Speaker, that under your benign guidance and the way in which you conducted the affairs of the House- and you have improved through 22 years’ association with me- the House has overcome many great difficulties and troubles that come from the tensions that arise in it. On the whole, one finds that most members are personable, that they are easy to get along with when travelling interstate or overseas on parliamentary committees. I hope that the spirit of good sense, good judgment and bonhomie we bring to occasions such as this will eventually extend to the consideration of social legislation such as that now before the House and that, instead of taking 20 years to drift and trudge through the liberalising of matters, we will get on with it from day one and will do things properly from the very beginning.

Mr HASLEM:
Canberra

– I shall take only a moment of the time of the House to mention this legislation. Firstly, I thank the Leader of the House (Mr Sinclair) and the Minister Assisting the Minister for Defence (Mr McLeay) for allowing the legislation to come before the House today. With the pressure of business there was some risk earlier that we might not have been able to fit it in. This legislation, of course, is terribly important to a large number of people throughout Australia, particularly to exservicemen in the Australian Capital Territory whom I represent.

I should like to touch upon the two most important parts of the legislation. The first is the non-cessation in future of the spouse’s pension on remarriage. This is a very important piece of progress, not only for ex-servicemen in general, ut also for women in particular. The second most important part of the legislation is the nondetriment provisions to protect certain late entrant officers transferring to the new scheme against any possible diminution of their pension entitlement for which they were contributing at the time of transfer. The amendment is to be effective from the date of commencement of the present scheme, namely, 1 October 1972. Other parts of the legislation are aimed at overcoming anomalies and technical defects in the Defence Force retirement and death benefits legislation. I commend the legislation to the House.

Question resolved in the affirmative.

Bill read a second time.

Message from Governor-General recommending appropriation announced.

Third Reading

Leave granted for third reading to be moved forthwith.

Motion (by Mr McLeay) proposed:

That the Bill be now read a third time.

Mr BRYANT:
Wills

-During my earlier oration, I omitted to mention one very distinguished member of this House who contributed a good deal to this legislation, that is, our friend, the honourable member for Melbourne Ports (Mr Crean). He was a member of the committee to which I referred and was the Treasurer responsible for the first implementation of the features of the report.

Question resolved in the affirmative.

Bill read a third time.

page 3082

LEAVE OF ABSENCE

Motion (by Mr Sinclair) agreed to:

That leave of absence be given to every member of the House of Representatives from the determination of this sitting of the House to the date of its next sitting.

page 3082

SPECIAL ADJOURNMENT

Valedictory

Mr MALCOLM FRASER:
Prime Minister · Wannon · LP

– I move:

That the House, at its rising, adjourn until a date and hour to be fixed by Mr Speaker, which time of meeting shall be notified by Mr Speaker to each honourable member by telegram or letter.

This is the end of the Thirtieth Parliament Members of the House and half the Senate will submit themselves to the will of the people, and it will be my pleasure early in the new year to see the opening of the Thirty-first Parliament, again from this side of the House. Before we depart, before the House is dissolved, I should like to pay a tribute to you, Mr Speaker, for the way in which you have discharged the dudes of your high office. It is your task to maintain the dignity of this place, and you have done so in the best traditions of your predecessors, with moderation and with humour. Mr Speaker, if I may say so, you have not always been given the entire assistance which you should have been given by members of the House.

Assisting you have been the Chairman of Committees, the Clerk and his officers in this place. We are likewise indebted to them for the effective operation of the Parliament. You will know, Mr Speaker, that there are many others who work in the House and who contribute in many ways to the comfort and convenience of all honourable members. We are grateful to them all. Among them I would like to mention the Hansard staff for their unfailing attention to their duties and for their general efforts to improve the quality of our language and the way in which it reads for posterity. I can remember an occasion when a former member for Bonython, who had a habit of stringing his sentences together, complained about the manner in which Hansard had altered his language and, in part, had altered his meaning. He asked that he be reported precisely and exactly as he spoke. I am referring to an earlier member for Bonython, going back some considerable time. On the next occasion on which he made a 30-minute speech he was reported precisely as he spoke- in one sentence without end. Let that be a warning to honourable gentlemen who complain about the way in which Hansard sometimes improves thengrammar. To be reported exactly as one speaks is not always to one ‘s advantage.

The staff of the Parliamentary Library are always ready to help honourable members with inquiries and research. I think the manner in which that Department has been established and expanded in recent times has added greatly to the capacity for work of honourable members. I would like to thank Roger Webb, the Parliamentary Liaison Officer, who has done so much to see that there is smooth working in this building. I thank those who work in the refreshment rooms and who look after us during the long hours that we are in this building; the attendants for their cheerful courtesy to each of us as we come and go about our work; those who order cars and vehicles to make sure that honourable members get here on time and that they get to wherever they are staying at night; and lastly those who arrange our travel to and from Canberra at the beginning and end of each week. We are all indebted to them for their efficient service. Without any one aspect of their activities the Parliament would not function as an efficient and proper place.

Mr Speaker, this Government came to office at a time of some difficulty for Australia. On the ministry has fallen a heavy burden of responsibility. So on this occasion I want to place on record my personal appreciation for the Ministers’ dedicated work and for the way in which they have worked as a team. Behind the ministry are the hard working members and their staffs, and also those in Government departments who work beyond and out of sight but whose labours contribute in a very real way to the successful continuance of executive government. I believe that Australia is very well served by the quality of its public servants, by their dedication to the service of Australia and by their apolitical approach to the problems that confront them. It is cardinal in our system that the Public Service be able to support a government of this complexion or a government of another complexion and do it so that Ministers and Prime Ministers can have complete and absolute confidence in the quality of its advice, in its integrity and in the way in which it goes about its business. The Australian Public Service stands high amongst the public services of the world. I believe that this country can be grateful for it. Ministers particularly, and former Ministers, know of the dedication and efficiency of public servants. I am sure that all of us mark it with appreciation.

It is appropriate in a speech at the end of a parliamentary session for me to say a special word about my colleague the Leader of the House (Mr Sinclair) who has had the difficult task of making sure that the program of government business is managed smoothly and effectively. I believe he has done so in a way that has generally found acceptance on all sides of the House. He has used the gag and the guillotine a good deal less than some of his predecessors used it, and there has been proper and useful time for debate on matters of importance. So I express my thanks to him and to the Government Whips for their work in making sure that honourable members are where they ought to be at the appropriate time.

The Government and this House owe a special debt to the First Parliamentary Counsel, Mr Quayle, and to his staff. These officers have unfailingly given the Parliament Bills of consistently high excellence even when the time has been short or the urgency pressing. The quality of their work is not only a tribute to then: profession, it is also a tribute to Australia. The quality of the Acts of this Parliament, the laws which we are sent here to make, is testimony to their fine work.

I also express my appreciation to my colleagues on this side of the House. They have co-operated wholeheartedly with the Government and have contributed to the debates and the proceedings of this place, and to the formation of policy to their own and to the Government’s credit. Tins Parliament has seen some important reforms in the scope of its own operations. Chief among them is the introduction of the Expenditure Committee. That Committee has been in operation scarcely a year but the value of its work is already being seen. I believe that the very fact of its existence tends to make departments more careful of their expenditures. I extend the Government’s appreciation to the first chairman and to the present chairman of the Committee for their important pioneering work. I hope that early in the next Parliament a move can be made for the establishment of legislation committees, in which I know you, Mr Speaker, have a keen interest but which the pressure of buiness unfortunately led to be put aside over the course of this year.

Finally, some of our colleagues have already signified their intention not to stand again for election to this House. Others will be seeking their fortunes elsewhere by nominating for another House- by nominating for the Senate. To each of those who are resolved not to return we extend our best wishes for the future. Firstly there is the present father of the House and indeed father of the Parliament the honourable member for Fremantle (Mr Beazley). He was first elected in 194S and since then has given long and honourable service to this House, to his electors and to this nation. I believe that he is one of those to whom Australia owes a debt for the long and dedicated service to his Party and to Australia. He was a distinguished Minister for Education in the former Government. We wish him health, happiness and good fortune in his retirement.

Two more honourable gentlemen who were Ministers of the previous Government will be retiring. I refer to the honourable member for Lalor, Dr Cairns, and the honourable member for Melbourne Ports, Mr Crean. I am sure that every member of this House wishes them both well for the future. The honourable member for Melbourne Ports is in the chamber at the present time. He too has been in the Parliament for a very long while, acting out of a sense of dedication and a sense of those things in which he believes to the service of his party and to the service of Australia. May I say that the Parliament will be a worse place for his departure. I am sure that aU of us wish them well for the future.

Four honourable gentlemen are retiring to seek election to greener pastures, in the Senate. I suppose that, after considering the colour of the chairs, I should have said ‘redder pastures’ in the Senate. I refer to the honourable member for Mackellar (Mr Wentworth). Perhaps the change of colour will not suite him. I refer also to the honourable member for Hotham (Mr Chipp), the honourable member for Tangney (Dr Richardson) and the honourable member for Isaacs (Mr Hamer). I wish the honourable member for Isaacs well. Among the members of the Government parties may I mention the honourable member for Herbert (Mr Bonnett) and the honourable member for Wimmera (Mr King). I join with all their colleagues in extending my best wishes to them for the future. The honourable member for Herbert in particular has given a great deal of attention to the problems of exservicemen. I am certain that they recognise that and are grateful for it, as I am and as this Parliament is.

The honourable member for Wimmera and I, holding adjoining seats, have been neighbours in politics for a very long while. I believe that even when, at times, there has been little warmth between our organisations, as sometimes occurs in the best of families, there has always been the best of relations between Bob King and myself. I could not wish for a better neighbour in a neighbouring electorate than Bob King. I thank him very much for his friendship in the years in which we have held adjoining electorates. I know that he will be living not quite in my electorate but in an electorate just to the north and I am sure he will be around for a long while to come. As Leader of the Government I thank both the honourable member for Wimmera and Duke Bonnett for their loyalty and hard work over many years. I would also like to mention the good work of the honourable member for Evans, John Abel. His time here has been aU to brief. It was cut short through the decision of the Distribution Commissioners. I am confident that he will return as a member of this House on some future occasion. Unfortunately, Distribution Commissioners happen to be one of the hazards that members of Parliament have to run. That can be said with feeling by many people in different places from time to time. I believe that one of the merits of this Parliament is that it has had an electoral system which has, by and large, resulted in a fair distribution of seats in the Par.liament, much more than in some Parliaments. I think it is to the credit of the Commonwealth Parliament that this is so.

We are fast coming to the end of this Parliament. Over the last two years we have had before us a heavy program of legislation and other parliamentary business. We have sat for a total of 1,400 hours- I did not collect the statistics so I hope somebody is right- and more than 360 Bills have been passed. That seems a very great number. Honourable members have placed more than 4,000 questions on notice. As I have said, there was much to be done and much remains to be done. The Government is going to the people confident that it has achieved the first stage of new policies and new directions for the welfare of Australia. It looks forward to taking up the task again after the elections.

Mr E G Whitlam:
Leader of the Opposition · WERRIWA, NEW SOUTH WALES · ALP

- Mr Speaker, of all the rituals of this House the one we are engaged in at present has fallen into the longest disuse. Not since October 1972 have we taken the opportunity to make valedictories of this kind. The Parliaments in April 1974 and November 1975 adjourned rather too hurriedly for us to make these remarks. Accordingly, I shall keep my remarks very brief. I realise that many people outside the Parliament are unkind enough to think that if we say something unpleasant on these occasions we are being provocative and if we say something pleasant we are being insincere.

May I therefore support the Prime Minister (Mr Malcolm Fraser) in his tributes to those many hundreds of men and women- up to about 1,000-who work in this building. This is one of the most industrious office blocks or factories or plants in the country. Nobody works a 40 hour week here. It would be impossible for us to do our jobs but for the assistance of a very great number of skilled, good humoured and dedicated servants of the Parliament and, through it, of the country. I also support the Prime Minister in the references he has made to those of us who have announced that we will not again be standing for Parliament. Three of them have been Ministers of mine. The honourable member for Fremantle (Mr Beazley), the father of the Parliament, entered this House in August 1945. He was only 27 years of age. The honourable member for Melbourne Ports (Mr Crean) entered the Parliament in 195 1 but had served in two parliaments in Victoria before that. The honourable member for Lalor (Dr J. F. Cairns) has served in the Parliament for 22 years. The honourable member for Batman (Mr Garrick) has served here for eight years but before that had given long public service in local government as a mayor and for nine years as a member of the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works.

There are two members of the Government parties who have announced that they will not be standing for Parliament again. One is the honourable member for Wimmera (Mr King), apparently the last person so to be described in this House. The other is the honourable member for Herbert (Mr Bonnett). I can say with complete sincerity that I have been to Herbert on very many occasions and to Wimmera on some occasions. On all those occasions in both electorates I have enjoyed the company of these men. They are very good representatives of their electorates. Mr Speaker, I do not propose to single out any other persons for reference. We live an extraordinarily arduous and competitive lifestyle here. I suppose we can take some wry satisfaction from the fact that hundreds of people try at elections to serve in this arduous and competitive environment. I hope that the public benefits from that.

Mr Speaker, it would not be proper for me to conclude my remarks on this occasion without referring to yourself. I had some qualms recently when you went to South Korea because the last Speaker who took time off to go there did not survive the ensuing election. I can say, I believe with complete truth, that you are the only member of your Party who has enhanced his reputation in this Parliament in the eyes of both those who sit on your right and those who sit on your left. May I say, Sir, that when we next assemble and I change sides on this table I look forward, as I said last week, to scrutinising you once again in your proper position of Leader of the Opposition.

Mr SINCLAIR:
Leader of the House · New England · NCP/NP

– In my role as Leader of the House and also on behalf of my leader, the Deputy Prime Minister (Mr Anthony), who cannot be here this afternoon, I too would like to say a few words, again on my own behalf and also on behalf of members of the National Country Parry. Mr Speaker, to you, your Deputy, the Deputy Chairmen, the Clerk, the Deputy Clerk, the Deputy Serjeant-at-Arms, the Hansard people, the Table Office, the Parliamentary Librarian, to all those who service us behind this chamber, I would like to extend the thanks of those who sit with me on the National Country Party benches. On behalf of them all I would say that it is through you, Mr Speaker, that each one of those people is able to exercise his responsibility in this place and we thank you for the distinction which you have given to the position which you now occupy.

To two people who assist me particularly in my duties as Leader of the House, I would like also to extend my thanks. I think that all members of this House owe a particular debt of gratitude to Arthur Dyster who was Parliamentary Liaison Officer, and then to Roger Webb. As honourable members will recall, Arthur Dyster was with my predecessor, the former member for Grayndler, Mr Fred Daly, for the whole period when the Labor Party was in government. He then served in that capacity with us. He was replaced during this Parliament by Mr Roger Webb. Both men in their way have served this Parliament extraordinarily well and effectively. Not one of those statistics that have been read this afternoon would have been possible if it had not been for the manner and efficacy of the operation of those two gentlemen. Behind them, of course, are the members of the Australian Public Service who, as the Prime Minister (Mr Malcolm Fraser) so rightly said, serve the people of Australia far better than many of those people frequently acknowledge. They are frequently not heard of and their merits are unsung. Frequently we as parliamentarians criticise them. Yet they serve very effectively the whole of the Parliament and, I believe, the people of Australia. As those of us who are Ministers and those who have been Ministers know only too well, the business of the Government and of the Parliament would be quite impossible were it not for the many hours of devotion they render.

The attendants, in this place, the members of the Parliamentary Press Gallery, aU serve the Parliament. They have aU made this Thirtieth Parliament effective and operative. To my counterpart in the Opposition, the honourable member for Corio (Mr Scholes), I also would like to extend my thanks. I believe this Parliament has worked well. It is extraordinarily difficult, in either the role that he fills or the role I for the time being occupy, to ensure a reasonable opportunity for the members of this Parliament to speak on issues on which they feel deeply and yet enable reasonable time for the passage of Legislation necessary for the conclusion of Government business. To Mr Gordon Scholes I would like to extend my particular thanks.

There are, as the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition (Mr E. G. Whitlam’ have said, a number of members who are leaving this place. I too would like to join in extending to each of them both my own and my Party’s best wishes for a long and happy retirement. To the father of the Parliament the honourable member for Fremantle (Mr Beazley), and to the honourable member for Melbourne Ports (Mr Crean)- both long serving and very distinguished members of the Opposition-I would like to extend my own personal best wishes, and of course in their own Party there are members such as the honourable member for Lalor (Dr J. F. Cairns) and others who may well not come back.

In the ranks of my own Party, to the honourable member for Wimmera (Mr King) I would like to extend particular mention. He has served in an area that has not been easy to hold over the years. His record in standing for eight elections and coming back on each occasion effectively is, I think, a tribute to the man and his representation. There is no doubt that the difficulties of the holder of the wheat seats during those years of 1960s needs to be recalled by those of us who have been associated with the agricultural industry perhaps more than those others in this place. The wheat seats have always been fairly active in their support for their own particular cause and the man who has been able to hold the support of those who sometimes are advocating differing causes, I believe deserves particular mention. To the honourable member for Wimmera, I do wish a long and happy retirement. I do not doubt that he will be back about the place in other ways at other times.

To other members of the Government parties who also are stepping down- the honourable member for Herbert (Mr Bonnett), the honourable member for Evans (Mr Abel) and the honourable member for Mackellar (Mr Wentworth), all of whom in different ways have served this place in a most effective way. I again would like to extend my best wishes for success in whichever endeavour they pursue and to say to them that, like many other members of this place, I have enjoyed a particular association with them.

We all are about to embark on a particularly arduous round. I am glad that this session of paying compliments to those who have made the running of this place possible has returned. It is interesting that it should have been in October 1 972 when it last transpired. I trust that when the next Parliament rises three years hence a similar occasion might well again be repeated and that we from this side of the House might be expressing similar sentiments.

Mr KEATING:
Blaxland

-I would like to add a few words to those already uttered by the party leaders. In particular to my colleagues the honourable member for Fremantle (Mr Beazley), the honourable member for Melbourne Ports (Mr Crean), the honourable member for Lalor, (Dr J. F. Cairns) and to two close friends I have on the Government side, the honourable member for Herbert (Mr Bonnett) and the honourable member for Wimmera (Mr King) and to other members, I wish them well in their retirement or in their attempts to come back to Parliament. I particularly want to add something to the careers of and the esteem in which members on this side of the House hold the three retiring Labor members. It has been for me as a young man in Parliament a great privilege to have had the benefit of eight years of the company and companionship of the honourable member for Fremantle, the honourable member for Melbourne Ports and the honourable member for Lalor. When you come to Parliament as a young man you always seek to gather experience quickly, but that is something that comes to you over a long period of time and the only way of short-circuiting the system is to take the advice and have the camaraderie of other men. This I have done with the three members I have mentioned and I have listened and learned a great deal from them.

I think the thing that has to be admired in the three of them is that they have maintained their sense of equilibrium and sanity throughout 23 years in opposition in Federal Parliament. It is a sad commentary, I think, on the Westminster system that the talent, commitment and dedication of those three members have been denied to the Australian people because of the vagaries and the structure of this political system in that they had been left languishing for 23 years in opposition before they got an opportunity to display any administrative finesse or to make any commitment to the Australian people. In the bad years of Labor when there was division in the Party and in those many years in Opposition, they managed to stand by their principles and then to take an active part in the Whitlam Administration with a clarity of purpose which I think was obvious to aU observers.

In respect of the honourable member for Fremantle, his commitment to Australian education and the fact that he removed it from the political football field will stand to his everlasting testament. For most of his 23 years in Parliament the honourable member for Melbourne Ports stood where I am standing now, enunciating the principles of Labor on the economic front and his commitment as the Treasurer of the Commonwealth. These years will stand him in good stead. My friend the honourable member for Lalor whose valiant fight against those on the other side of the House m terms of the war in Vietnam and other unpopular issues, also stands in high esteem in the eyes of this nation. These are three men who came to Parliament with principles and I hope that in the years that follow the young men who come- and they aU come as young men- to Canberra do not come here just to take a seat in the Parliament, but to make a contribution based on principles which they have developed over the years and with which they stay. I just hope that they will not go away disillusioned, as these three men could have gone away, when they saw the system that they persisted with for 23 years ripped from underneath them by the actions of the Queen’s representative. That did nothing for the standing of Parliament. It did nothing for those on this side of the House who believe in the parliamentary institution, and it was poor testament to three people who maintained their principles when they got the chance which they won at election to administer the poliCies of this nation that it was denied to them.

So I join in saying on behalf of some of the younger men in the Parliament that I have enjoyed their company immensely and the right to have served with them in the Labor Party in the House of Representatives.

Mr KING:
Wimmera

-I thank the honourable members who have made reference to my service in this place over recent years. Some 19 years ago I stood in this place a very nervous but proud man to make my maiden speech as a representative of the well known seat of Wimmera in Victoria. Today with only a few minutes at my disposal I think I can say that this a rather sad occasion as it is my final address to this chamber- not because I want to leave this place; not because I want to leave my constituents; not because my constituents want me to leave. The reason is a decision of the Parliament to redistribute the boundaries of the Australian electorates, and I do not dispute this. It hurts me because of the fact that I am losing direct contact with my constituents. The result is that for the first time since 1 90 1 there will be no seat of Wimmera. Nineteen years ago I spoke proudly of the importance of that well known area in western Victoria. Today I wish to say just a few words about other issues.

First and foremost I want to say with all the sincerity I possess how much I have appreciated the great support and the confidence of the people in the electorate of Wimmera in selecting me as their representative for a period of 19 years less 12 days. I am very proud of the fact that I am the longest serving member for that area since 1901. 1 also am very proud of another issue. Without boasting may I say that the worst vote I ever received was on my first election, my best vote percentagewise ever recorded was on my last election. There is only one consolation, that is, that I am handing over my seat to four very capable members-my colleague and very close friend, Peter Fisher, John Bourchier, Jim Short and no less a man than the Prime Minister (Mr Malcolm Fraser). I know that they all are the types of representatives who are acceptable and that unless further redistributions affect thennew electorates I would expect all four to remain in this place until they wish to retire gracefully.

I take this opportunity to thank many members of this Parliament- I include members of all three parties; but naturally I make particular reference to the members of my own party, including its leader, the Deputy Prime Minister (Mr Anthony)- for their great assistance and cooperation over the years. I have made many friends in this place. I only hope that from time to time I can come back and renew old acquaintances. I thank all the officers and staff for their great assistance, as without it life in this place certainly would be much more difficult. I make special reference to one man who I believe stands out in particular, and that is Mr Gordon Pike. To use an old Australian cliche, he is a real white man. Nothing is too difficult for him. He is always pleasant, obliging and most efficient. I am sure that when that man retires he will be missed greatly.

I pay a tribute to the many members of the various departments who have been very cooperative over the years. I refer particularly to officers in the Australian Postal Commission, the Australian Telecommunications Commission, the Department of Veterans’ Affairs and the Department of Social Security. I do not exclude my own personal staff over these 19 years. I have always received the highest co-operation possible from them which, I believe, helps to create great harmony between officers, members and the public. I thank you, Mr Speaker, and aU your predecessors and your supporting colleagues for the continued tolerance of me and no doubt of other members of this place.

I regret one thing as a result of leaving this place, one might say, a year early. I refer to the numerous issues that were commenced but not finalised because of lack of time. I do not wish to spell them out at this late hour, but one particular case stands out in my mind. It is an immigration case that should have been finalised long before this. It has been running for 3V4 years. I refer to the case known as the Chui Kwok Chui case. The Minister for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs (Mr MacKellar) knows the story. I hope that he can clear up this matter in the very near future. It is an instance which involves no fault of Australian officers. It relates to a lack of co-operation, I believe, in the country in which this gentleman resides. I wish the Prime Minister every success in the forthcoming weeks. I am sure that, if the people judge him on his performance, his pohcies and his desire to return Australia to where it was on the world standards of a few years ago, he will be returned on 10 December in a resounding victory.

Mr BEAZLEY:
Fremantle

-I propose to be very brief, but the references that have been made to me have been so gracious that I must acknowledge them. I must say that I looked up apprehensively to see my halo, but I did not discover one there. Haloes have a habit of getting battered in election campaigns; so if I have one it W111 not be battered over the next few weeks. You, Mr Speaker, did yourself less than justice when you said last night that I had administered a father of a hiding to you in an election in which we were opponents. You actually reduced my majority enormously in the election of 1949. Unlike the honourable member for Wimmera (Mr King), who said that he had his lowest vote when he first came into Parliament and his highest at his last election, I had my highest vote at the second election in which I participated and my lowest vote at the last election, in December 1975. I come to the depressing conclusion that either there are great swings of opinion or I have retired in time because the electorate was beginning to find me out.

Mr Speaker, first of all, I thank you for the grace and impartiality with which you have occupied that chair. It is a very difficult position in our Parliament. It is not so difficult in the House of Commons because of the acceptance of the Speaker there. You have fulfilled the office with great grace. You are beginning to be a Speaker whose words appear in the sayings of the week, and they are very wise sayings. Let me give you one of your predecessors utterances to me. The late Archie Cameron gave me a definition that really deserves a place in every Australian textbook on politiCS. He said to me: ‘A referendum, my dear Beazley, is an appeal from those who know or ought to know to those who don’t know and can’t be bothered finding out’. He told me that that is what I would find over the years about referenda. I am not quite sure that that is what I found. I also thank the Clerk, Mr Pettifer, and his assistants who on many occasions have given me very valuable help. He is one of a procession of Clerks as far as I am concerned. Frank Green was the Clerk when I came here. There was then Mr Tregear, Sir Alan Turner and Mr Parkes, and now Mr Pettifer, all of whom were great forces for my education. Frank Green always used to say either that he was going to ring up His Holiness, which meant that he was going to take VAT 69, or that he was going to pay his respects to the British Royal Family, which meant that he was going for a George IV. I remember these utterances from when I was first elected.

When I was first elected we had a Whip who, when the bells rang, would go out into the lobby on the Government side- we were the Government at that time- and in a stentorian voice roar down the passage: ‘Factory whistle. Say those Protestant prayers’. I offer that to the Government Whip (Mr Bourchier). We then were obliged to hurry into the House. Those are memories. If I look at the benches there is a procession in the mist of many members, many of them dead, who really served the Australian people very well. I know that that sounds like a cliche, but they really did. If I look back over my 32 years, I think that the Australian community has got a very high quality of representation. If it has, of course, that is what it deserves.

I think that some things are going wrong with Parliament. I have said that on various occasions. I do not propose to dwell on them now. I hope that all honourable members who are going to the election campaign will be able to battle well and to keep to the real issues. Bernard Shaw once said that an election was a moral horror like a war, only without the bloodshed. I do not think it is necessary for an election to be fought that way. I think that we sometimes become quite childish in this Parliament and think that everything marvellous originated on our side and everything disastrous originated on the other side. I do not think that is true. I have not been in the Parliamentary Labor Party, most of the time, in what might be called one of its lucky periods. The Labor movement has going through it all the tides of conflict that develop in the community. I have tremendous gratitude for all the colleagues I have had, including those with whom I have disagreed. I have tremendous respect for the new younger members. When I saw my colleague, the honourable member for Blaxland (Mr Keating) on the Four Corners program last weekend, I thought his analytical style was superb. I believe that that method will take him a long way in politics. He was very briefly a Cabinet colleague of mine, before our careers in Cabinet were terminated somewhat abruptly. I say to the Leader of the House (Mr Sinclair) that, if we did not observe this custom of paying aU these gracious tributes, it was not exactly our choice; it was as a result of the abrupt termination of Parliament

I thank my colleagues in the Parliamentary Labor Party for the confidence that they showed in me. I believe that their numbers will be augmented greatly in this election. I will not go into these controversies. I am now becoming a non.political figure in one sense. I wish them all the very best of luck. To all those who will be in the next Parliament let me say that I hope that it will be a fruitful and creative 31st Parliament. My first Parliament I think was the 17th and my last is the 30th. I can honestly say that in tumult or in comparative calm I have enjoyed them all.

Mr BONNETT:
Herbert

-I appreciate the opportunity to address the House for a few minutes. As previous speakers have mentioned, for health reasons I am not seeking re-endorsement for my seat of Herbert. This will be the last time that I can enjoy the honour and the privilege of speaking in this famous chamber. I have been very conscious of the privilege extended to me by the people in the federal seat of Herbert, in electing me in the last S elections which have covered 1 1 years. To be their representative has been a privilege of which I have been extremely proud. During those 1 1 years I have enjoyed the friendship of honourable members on both sides of this House and in the Senate, and your friendship, Mr Speaker. I should like to stress how much I have appreciated those friendships. I should like to think that we can continue them in the future.

I also offer my special thanks to the staff of Parliament House- the attendants, the clerical staff, the drivers, the stewards and waitresses, the girls in the typing pool, the girls on the exchange, the Library staff, the Hansard staff, Gordon Pike and his team, and in fact aU those people who are engaged in the daily operation of running this Parliament House. I have appreciated their constant courtesy and their willingness to assist me at all times more than mere words can describe. To the various Ministers’ staffs and the departmental officials and the staff of the whips’ offices over the 1 1 years that I have been worrying them with my famous maul a Minister day that used to happen once a fortnight, I say thank you kindly for your valuable assistance to me and my electorate. Mr Speaker and members of the chamber, I wish you aU the best of luck in the forthcoming election, but more importantly I wish you all the best of health in the coming years. I have always regarded it as a great honour to serve in the Federal Parliament of this great country, an honour that comes to relatively few men among our Australian people. I sincerely thank you all once again.

Mr WENTWORTH:
Mackellar

-I thank the Prime Minister (Mr Malcolm Fraser) for what he said about my going into the Senate. In regard to the red seats, if I can say what Shakespeare should have written, I hope I will be making the red one green. It is said that at this time all one’s life passes before one. This would not be credible if people had not survived to tell it. I hope that now in a flash of time my recollection of what has happened in this Parliament presages nothing for me. Anyway, honourable members can be certain that I do not go gentle into that good night.

I came to this Parliament in 1949 with one thing primarily in my mind. It was not something which I meant to do but which I hoped would be done and in which I would play a tiny part in getting it done. It was not done. I wanted to see that the world would sieze the opportunity for nuclear disarmament before proliferation. I believed then that that was the time for it to be done and that if it were not done then the world would be a worse place from then on. Now we wait for the hatching of that dreadful nuclear egg and we wonder what will come out of it. I fear that I was right then. I regret more than ever not my failing, because I could play only the tiniest part, but I regret this ambition failing.

Now I have had to leave my party. I did this not just because I felt that what was being done here on the economic scene was wrong; I did it also because I believed that what was being done here was part of something on a world scene which was being done wrong and that the establishment, by its restrictive policies, by its failure to understand the real nature of the economic process, was precipitating the world again into 1929. It is to me a relief that in the last few months there has been some indication that the world is drawing back from this, that there is some greater sense now in the economists overseas.

I hope that when I am in the Senate it will not be too hard for me to get a change in the present Government’s policies-I believe it will be returnedbecause overall world policy on which it has been based and of which it is an imitation is now changing. What I want I think will happen by the course of events. I go into the Senate hoping to do something about unfinished business. I am not going to detail it here but from what I have said in this House over nearly 28 years now- honourable members know how many loose ends I hope to ravel up, the things that I want to get done. I go into the Senate with the intention of getting those things done and knowing that I have something still to do and something I can still give to Australia. Tomorrow, Mr Speaker, to fresh woods and pastures new.

Mr SPEAKER:

– I call the honourable member for Evans.

Mr ABEL:
Evans

-Mr Speaker, this is the last occasion that you will have the opportunity of calling the honourable member for Evans. I regret personally that the name of Evans has been removed from the list of electorates in New South Wales. But I, like my friend and colleague the honourable member for Wimmera (Mr King), accept the fact that redistribution was necessary, and that my seat had to suffer. Last night in a fair fight I lost Liberal Party preselection for the new seat of Lowe, which now contains 41 per cent of the electors from my old seat of Evans that was, as I have just said, recently abolished. Sir William McMahon, the right honourable member for Lowe who won the pre-selection, has my total support as the endorsed Liberal candidate for that seat. I wish him every success in the election on 10 December so that our policies and our legislative program may continue to have community acceptance. I shall be giving all my energies to his campaign. Sir William will be fortunate indeed to have the loyal and active support of so many of my constituents. With my team we will be working hard to ensure that Lowe remains Liberal with our former Prime Minister as the member.

I have thoroughly enjoyed my time in the federal Parliament. It is an opportunity, a privilege and an honour that is afforded to but few. Many seek to serve in this place but few succeed. I have enjoyed serving at both the policy level and through the parliamentary and Liberal Party committees. But my greatest thrill has come from living and working with my constituents, most of whom are either veterans, young people, migrants or, may I say elderly Australians. Despite the ruggedness of politics there is a special kind of friendship here. I say in all sincerity that it is on both sides of the House. I have made many friends from all walks of life, of all political calibres, and I am sure that my leaving this place will not in any way endanger those friendships. To all of you I should like to say thank you for your help, assistance and friendship. To the hundreds, if not thousands, of Australian- like one family, the Campisi family- in my electorate who have worked for me in more ways than I shall ever know. I want them to know how grateful I am for their support.

In no way has my devotion to liberalism been diminished. The fight is still very much on. I look forward to returning to Parliament shortly to continue my duty and my career and to serve the Australian people. The kind of nation we should have, as I see it, has been spelt out in my earlier speeches in this place, the questions I have asked and the commentaries that I have given to the media- It would be remiss of me if I did not express my grateful thanks and gratitude to the Clerk, his assistants, the Hansard reporters, the staff of the parliamenary refreshment rooms who have looked after us, to Gordon Pike and his drivers and workers, the attendants, and even our friends in the Press Gallery. To all those people who are employed in Parliament House and who have assisted me in one way or people I say: Thank you.

I come now to those people who on 13 December 1975 saw fit to allow me to serve the electorate of Evans. I want to thank them for affording me the honour of serving them for two brief years. My staff, who have been loyal and faithful, have my gratitude. Regrettably, they will be looking for greener pastures. That is a matter which the honourable member for Mackellar (Mr Wentworth) has just mentioned. To my wife and my children, I say thank you. Thank you, Mr Speaker.

Mr CREAN:
Melbourne Ports

-First of all, Mr Speaker, I say that you have surprised me as a Speaker. I think you have been a great success. You have been a good Speaker. I am also surprised somewhat by the honourable member for Mackellar (Mr Wentworth). I think that underneath he must be a believer in slow torture if, after spending so long in this place, he hopes to go to the other place. Candidly, I hope he does not get there. I think that the fewer independents there are in the Senate the better. The realisation that it is one’s last day in the Parliament is a somewhat eerie experience. I suppose that there are some honourable members here who hope that it is not their last day. They may not be as blessed as they think.

I do not want to have to thank a long catalogue of people. There are too many people to thank. Perhaps I should thank the electors of Melbourne Ports. That electorate has had, I think, only three representatives in the whole of its history, and I have served it longer than anybody else. At least I am grateful for having had that opportunity.

There is one other thing I would like to say, and perhaps it is the final comment I will be making. There is a lot of talk in Australia at the moment about the necessity for constitutional reform. I believe there is a great need for institutional reform, and one of the institutions which needs to begin to reform itself is this chamber. Like other honourable members, I count it a privilege to have been among the one hundredodd members of Parliament who at any one time make up the numbers in this place. I believe that the Parliament could be far more efficient than it has been in the utilisation of the talents of its members. Immediately Question Time has concluded, on most occasions, this chamber becomes almost empty of members. That is not a very good state of affairs for a parliament. Committees endeavour to meet while the Parliament is sitting. It is a very difficult situation indeed. I believe that much of the more important work of this Parliament, and of this House in particular, has to be carried out to an increasing extent by committees rather than in this chamber.

So I leave, as I say, with a rather sweet and sour feeling about my last day in this place. I value the experience I have gamed here. I must say that I have been moved by the number of people from both sides of this House, and the number of people who work in and around the parliament, who have told me that they will miss me. I do not want to be sentimental and talk about my family but at least they will see a little more of me in the future. Whether they will thank me for my decision remains to be seen.

Mr SHIPTON:
Higgins

-For a few brief minutes I would like to endorse some of the comments that have been made in this chamber tonight. First of all, I thank you, Mr Speaker, for the courtesy you have shown me and for the courtesy you have shown to the House. I think the Prime Minister (Mr Malcolm Fraser) and the honourable member for Fremantle (Mr Beazley) summed up my feelings on the matter. Some who know more than I say that you are perhaps the greatest Speaker the House has known.

I have enjoyed serving with the honourable member for Evans (Mr Abel) both on the back bench and particularly on the government members industry and commerce committee of which he was secretary. He served the back bench well, his constituents well, and that committee well. A great tribute has been paid to the honourable member for Herbert (Mr Bonnett), and I endorse it. I wish to pay tribute also to two members of the Opposition. In this day and age too few Australians realise the things that members on both sides of the chamber have in common. Some people have a vested interest in pointing out our differences. I have had the privilege of serving on two parliamentary committees with the honourable member for Fremantle- the father of the House. They were the House of Representatives Select Committee on Specific Learning Difficulties and the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence. I have enjoyed learning from his experience. I have enormous respect for him. I regard him as a distinguished and great Australian. I made that remark on one occasion at the opening ceremony of a building in my electorate, to which he was properly invited. Many people found it strange that an honourable member on this side of the House would pay a compliment to an honourable member on the other side of the House. As has been demonstrated tonight, there is much more in common between us than perhaps the community realises.

The other honourable member of the House to whom I pay a tribute is an electoral neighbour of mine, the honourable member for Melbourne Ports (Mr Crean). He is a man who understands the needs, the problems and the aspirations of the people of the City of Prahran which we have served jointly. I have never had an argument with him about matters concerned with the electorate. I have received the greatest degree of cooperation from him. He has served his people well and he has served the people of Prahran well. Apart from our differences m political policy and philosophy, the thing that saddens me most is our disagreement about The Glugs of Gosh by C. J. Dennis. Perhaps we can sort out that disagreement in the future.

I also pay a tribute tonight to one of the attendants who has served this House for approximately 14 years. I refer to Harry Ryan who has been an attendant in the public gallery for that period of time. He is a World War I veteran of Gallipoli. He recently returned to Europe on a holiday and, as one of his colleagues said, he picked up a few medals which he was meant to get when he was there the first time. People like Harry Ryan have served this Parliament well. Thank you, Mr Speaker, for giving me the opportunity to speak.

Mr Clyde Cameron:
HINDMARSH, SOUTH AUSTRALIA · ALP

-I rise only because, with the departure of the honourable member for Fremantle (Mr Beazley), I am the longest serving member of the Opposition. I have served with three of the four retiring Labor members during the whole of the period that I have been in the Parliament and for most of the period that they have been here. Mr Beazley - I hope I Will be permitted to break the Standing Orders to call him by name- is without doubt one of the most able debaters this Parliament has ever seen. He has an analytical mind. We will miss him. He will go down in the annals of the parliamentary records as being one of the parliament’s greatest debaters. The same comment can be made of Dr Cairns who was also a great debater with an analytical mind. I wish him and Mr Beazley a happy retirement.

In my view, Mr Crean was the best qualified Treasurer and the best Treasurer this country has seen over the past generation. He was a magnificent Treasurer. He was too much of a gentle.man I think, for the people with whom he was dealing. He should have been tougher but it was not in his nature to be as tough as he should have been on the type of people with whom he was dealing. He was too much of a gentleman for that. I will always remember him as a great elder of the church of which I am a member. He has been a great companion of mine. I wish him a happy retirement. I know he will relish the opportunity of spending more time with his wife, Mary, than it has been possible for him to do in the past.

I come now to you, Mr Speaker. Of aU the people who trampled on the Standing Orders when they were in opposition, I know no one who erred as often and with such relish as you seemed to do. When you were Leader of the Opposition it did not seem to occur to you that you had to get the call before you could rise and start talking. I thought you knew no different. I took pity on you. I felt sorry for you. I thought: ‘He is a nice chap. He is a lawyer. He is a Q.C. He is very clever in aU things except the Standing Orders’. I thought you had a sort of mental blockage with regard to the Standing Orders, until you became Speaker when I found that you were most meticulous in pointing out to members that they had no right to rise and start talking; they had to wait until they got the call. You seemed to hold it against me for the best part of the last two years that I was the one who constantly drew Speaker Cope’s attention to your shortcomings. I did not think you had noticed it at the time but after your appointment I was sure you had noticed it and were determined to make me pay for it. In recent months, I am pleased to say, you seem to have forgiven me. I now get the call occasionally at Question Time; not very often.

In my view, you have proven to be one of the very best Speakers under whom I have served. You have an extraordinary quality about you as Speaker. I have not seen it in anyone else. You know when to be firm. You can be firm without standing and shouting your head off. You can be firm in a voice that is barely audible. You look firm. I think I would look as firm if I had that wig. You are able to defuse periods of great tension. I pay you a very sincere compliment. I have told you this privately, but failed to produce the results for which I was hoping. Now that it cannot be said that I am looking for further favours from you, I say it to you publicly: You are a very great Speaker.

I shall be very sorry to see the honourable member for Mackellar (Mr Wentworth) leave. I hope he is elected to the Senate. The Senate deserves him. We have had to put up with him for 28 years and I think it is only proper that the Senate should have its stint now and have him for six or 12 years. To the electors of New South Wales, to those who are to the extreme Right, to those Liberals who have some doubt about where the present Prime Minister (Mr Malcolm Fraser) stands, as to whether he might be veering deep down in his heart towards socialism, let me say this: If they want to be absolutely certain of having a senator who will never show the slightest sign of weakness towards the Left or even towards the centre, or even to those who are bad enough to be just right of centre, they can do no better than to vote for the honourable member for Mackellar for the Senate because he will never betray them. He will never betray their most conservative wishes, thoughts and aspirations. He will always be there slogging it out for them, saying all the things that they would like to say in the Melbourne Club, Tattersall’s Club and the other places where their ilk meet.

I regret that time and the Standing Orders have not permitted me to point out to the new members, who unfortunately will not be present to hear it in the next Parliament, something about the escapades for which the honourable member for Mackellar is so famous. I refer to the blowing up of the Cronulla Bridge, the capture and holding incommunicado in the Blue Mountains of Sir Thomas Blamey, the presenting of the Illawarra Mercury cup to that dangerous communist Roche, and the way in which he took possession of the Redfern police station by dressing up all his members of the home guard as trammies just as the tramway people were changing their shifts, and instead of taking over the trams he took over the police station to make the point that Australia was in a defenceless state, that was not in a position to defend itself. I think that other members have missed something by not having heard me give what until now has been a ritualistic kind of diatribe, as he called it, to let members know what a magnificent man we have with us. The greatest of all W. C. Wentworths is about to depart this Parliament. I am sorry for that.

I am sorry for the others who are leaving. Altogether 13 members of this Parliament know that they will not be back because they are retiring voluntarily or involuntarily, but they are retiring for certain. Many more will retire involuntarily. We do not know how many. I have made a calculation and I know that there will be at least 24 fewer members on the other side and that there will be 24 new members on this side. The thing about which I am saddened is that out of 27 Federal Ministers in 1975 only 10 remain. Since I became a member of this Parliament I think more than 500 members and senators have come and gone. I think it is very sad to see so many bright young men from the government back benches opposite who have been condemned to sit there for these two years knowing that they could never make it- people who have been unable or unwilling to crawl their way into the Prime Minister’s favour so that they could serve in the Cabinet. I mention only some of them: The honourable member for Diamond Valley (Mr Brown), the honourable member for St George (Mr Neil), the honourable member for Bradfield (Mr Connolly), the honourable member for Parramatta (Mr Ruddock), the honourable member for La Trobe (Mr Baillieu), the honourable member for Eden-Monaro (Mr Sainsbury), the honourable member for Berowra (Dr Edwards), the honourable member for Denison (Mr Hodgman), the honourable member for Murray (Mr Lloyd) and the honourable member for Angas (Mr Giles) who, I think, will be defeated in the pre-selection for Wakefield by Bert Kelly. All of these men are men of very great talent. If there had been an election for Cabinet by the democratic means which the Labor Party follows in the selection of Cabinet, most of them would have been in the Cabinet and some of the no-hopers who are front benchers now would be back where they belong.

Mr BAUME:
Macarthur

-I was one of the 38 newcomers to this House in 1975. We were elected by the people of Australia. Tonight I heard some comment that perhaps the Queen’s representative elected us. I can assure anyone listening that the people of Australia elected us when they gave this Government a record majority. It exceeded by six, I believe, the previous record of 32 in 1966, if one leaves aside the occasion on which the size of the Parliament was greatly increased immediately after the war. We have been called many things. One of the things which we have been called is, of course, oncers. That appellation will be put to the test shortly. There is no doubt, of course, that there is very little job security in this industry. Some of us, I imagine, will find out about that.

However, the reason I have risen tonight is that on behalf of the 38 newcomers of 1975 I would like to thank the older and, if I may say, in most cases much wiser heads on both sides of the House for the guidance and assistance that they have given to us in these two years. I also mention some people who no longer are involved in the running of this House-the former SerjeantatArms, Don Piper, and his assistant, Lynn Berts.

I, too, have suffered at the hands of the distribution commissioners in an electoral redistribution which I find illogical and insupportable. One of the consequences of that redistribution is that about 28,000 people are being taken from my electorate and given to Werriwa. In future these people will have the privilege of having the Leader of the Opposition (Mr E. G. Whitiam) looking after them. I wish them luck. Whether I return here or whether any of us in this chamber return here, of course, depends on the judgment of the electorate. I hope for only one thing- that the people judge us fairly.

Mr MACPHEE:
Minister for Productivity · Balaclava · LP

-Mr Speaker, I will not detain the House for very long. I place on record my respect for the honourable member for Melbourne Ports (Mr Crean). I agree with the sentiments expressed by the honourable member for Higgins (Mr Shipton). I also represent an electorate that adjoins Melbourne Ports. Frank Crean has cooperated with me in all respects in the City of St Kilda, as he has with my colleague in the City of Prahran. It was my privilege to know Frank Crean well before I came into this place. We served together on the Council of Adult Education in Victoria, when he was Chairman. He was Chairman for 20 years. I know him to be a most worthy citizen. It is my hope that future governments, Federal and State, will make use of his great talents, because he is too young to retire from active duty on behalf of the Australian community. He has great experience. I believe that in this Parliament he has raised some very good questions. He has helped to point us a little along the way to finding some of the answers to those almost intractable questions. I, for one, look forward to hearing him express his opinions from time to time. I hope that a number of us are able to give him opportunities to do that

The retiring Government members and the honourable member for Mackellar (Mr Wentworth) know of my respect for them, and I need not amplify that. I have not had the privilege of knowing the honourable member for Fremantle (Mr Beazley), but I believe that what my colleague the honourable member for Higgins has said is widely held. I, from my position, respect him also. I believe that he also still can make a contribution similar to that which the honourable member for Melbourne Ports can make. In conclusion I join with those who have congratulated you, Mr Speaker, on the way in which you have handled the difficult occasions in this Parliament. They erupt quickly and without warning. I believe that you have drawn upon your industrial relations background in conciliating and in defusing situations which someone less wise, less calm and with less sense of humour would have found getting out of hand. I congratulate you, Mr Speaker.

Mr MARTIN:
Banks

-Mr Speaker, in rising on this occasion I should like to pass a few remarks about the unsung heroes of this Parliament. They are the attendants around the Parliament. They are at our beck and call if that is the right phrase to use. They mother us; they look after us. They are respectful to us. Quite frankly, I think there are many times when we are not deserving of that respect. My appreciation must go to the Clerks and the whole of the Parliamentary staff, without whose help this place could not function as an efficient institution. I have heard it said- I do not believe it to be completely truethat the Parliament is a charade. If I thought that were true, I would not waste my time fighting to come back here.

I wish to pay my respects to the retiring members. I will lead off with the honourable member for Mackellar (Mr Wentworth). I think he is dedicated. He is dedicated to his own cause. I do not agree with him most of the time- nearly aU the time- but I do not deny him the right to fight for the cause in which he believes in the manner in which he does it Quite frankly, on the Opposition side of the Parliament we do the same thing. We believe in a cause. We fight for that cause in the manner in which we feel it can best be served.

I pay a tribute also to the honourable member for Fremantle (Mr Beazley). Honestly, when I compare him with some of the past leaders of the Australian Labor Party, I think he should have been leader. I think that had he been leader we would have got into government much earner than 1972. 1 mean that certainly as no reflection on my present leader- none at aU. In my view, the honourable member for Fremantle has the ability and the clearness of mind to portray the real issues which are resolved in this Parliament. In addition, he is a highly moral man. He fought for the cause of Moral Rearmament. He even made me drink apple cider at various dinners to which he invited me. I must admit that on those occasions I enjoyed the apple cider, even though I probably would rather have had a pale ale.

I class the honourable member for Melbourne Ports (Mr Crean) as my mentor. We both served in a very worthy institution, the Taxation Office. The people who serve there are not beloved by everybody. The honourable member for Melbourne Ports left the Taxation Office in 1945. When I came into this Parliament in 1969 he took me under his wing. I say to him that I ap- preciate it The thing I admire about Frank Crean is his humility. He is a true Christian. He is an elder of the Presbyterian Church and I am a practising Catholic. There was no difference of opinion between us on true Christian principles. He played a leading part in an organisation about which very Utile is known outside this Parliament- the Parliamentary Christian Fellowship. He was a fine example to many people in this Parliament, with his attitude of true Christianity.

When I speak of his humility I do not have to go back so very long ago to find an example. Frank Crean had served in very high office. He was Deputy Prime Minister of this country. He was Treasurer, and in my view the best Treasurer we had between 1972 and 1975. He did not consider it a lowering of his prestige to serve as a member of the Public Accounts Committee of this Parliament when he was asked to do so. The Public Accounts Committee is one of the lesser recognised but most able bodies that do the work within the Parliament. Frank Crean was most assiduous and most capable, and, to my knowledge, he never missed a meeting and was always on time.

To you, Frank, on behalf of aU those members of the earlier Public Accounts Committees I say thank you. I note that the honourable member for North Sydney (Mr Graham) is sitting in the chamber. He served as a chairman of those PubUc Accounts Committees with you. On behalf of the present Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, the honourable member for Bradfield (Mr Connolly) I convey our thanks to you for the work you have done not only on that Committee but also on the Standing Committee on Expenditure. I think Frank has had only one disappointment in his parliamentary career. I know that he would have loved to have his son

Simon follow him here, but that was not to be. However, I have no doubt that in the not too distant future there Will be another Crean in this Parliament doing just as good a job as his father did.

Mr SPEAKER:

– I thank aU honourable members for tributes paid to the Clerk and the Clerk ‘s Assistants, to all those people in the Joint House Department who assist us, to the people in the dining room, to the people who service the Library, to the people who make us read better than we sound, to the attendants who look after us, and to the police who guard us. I thank aU honourable members for their expressions of appreciation.

I should like to pay my own tribute to my Deputy, the honourable member for Lyne, Mr Philip Lucock, who has been an outstanding Chairman of Committees. He has served me immensely well. I take this opportunity to pay a public tribute to him and to all the other deputiesMr Armitage, Mr Bonnett, Mr Drummond, Mr Giles, Mr Jarman, Dr Jenkins, Mr Martin and Mr Ian Robinson. I pay a tribute to the Leader of the House, for I have occupied that position and know something of its difficulties. I ay a tribute to him for the manner in which he as performed his duties. I pay a tribute to the Manager of Opposition Business without whose co-operation the Leader of the House could not have discharged his duties.

I often hear complaints that on occasions the Parliament makes noises which people wished they did not hear. I can only say that members are elected here who hold beliefs passionately and when the occasion occurs they express them passionately. This is the place for them to express those beliefs- in the national forum, the fulcrum of parliamentary democracy. If they cannot be expressed here, they will be expressed elsewhere. This is the place for debate, not the streets.

I hear complaints that we ought to behave better. I have seen parliaments in which everybody behaves perfectly, but it is not a parliamentary democracy. Because people are elected here to speak fearlessly, without nope of favour, without threat, we must expect the Parliament to be what it is- a live organism, an institution of which we can be proud, but which nevertheless needs some institutional reform, as the honourable member for Melbourne Ports said.

I have had occasions in the House when I have wondered just what would happen next. Literacy on all occasions I found that honourable members have understood their position in the Parliament and the dignity which they must lend to it. So any tribute paid to me is really only a tribute paid collectively to all of you. I thank you for the privilege I have had to serve you. That is what a Speaker is for- to serve the members of the Parliament Question resolved in the affirmative.

page 3096

ADJOURNMENT

That the House do now adjourn.

Mr SPEAKER:

-The House stands adjourned until a date and hour to be fixed by Mr Speaker, which time of meeting shall be notified by Mr Speaker to each member by telegram or letter.

Motion (by Mr Sinclair) agreed to:

House adjourned at 7.10 p.m.

page 3097

ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS UPON NOTICE

The following answers to questions upon notice

Industrial Production Statistics (Question No. 492)

Mr Hurford:

asked the Treasurer, upon notice, on 23 March 1977:

  1. 1 ) Did he confirm in his reply to a question without notice from the member for Grayndler on IS March 1977 that the January figures for industrial production displayed falls in production outnumbering rises by almost 3 to 1.
  2. Did he say that he had been informed by the Australian Bureau of Statistics that there were problems with seasonal adjustment of the January figures and the Bureau made comment of this fact in the January document.
  3. If so, is it a fact that in the recent January document there is no note from the Bureau regarding seasonal adjustment.
  4. Is the factor, allegedly making seasonal adjustments in January more complicated, such that it would still permit comparisons between January of one year and that of the next
  5. If so, is it a fact that, on this basis, comparisons between production levels in January 1976 and January 1977 are appropriate.
  6. ) If so, what is the explanation for his statement outlined in part (2)
  7. Do comparisons between production levels in January 1976 and January 1977 suggest that, in the last 12 months, more items have had a fall in production than have had a rise.
Mr Lynch:
LP

– The answer to the honourable member’s question is as follows:

(1),(2),(3),(4),(5),(6),(7).

The Statistician has advised that when the preliminary January production statistics were released, the seasonal adjustment factors being used did not properly reflect the introduction of an extra week’s annual leave in January 1975. Those originally published seasonally adjusted production figures for January 1977 have since been revised. The new figures provide a better indication of production of the published items because they have been calculated following an annual re-analysis of the data on which the seasonally adjusted series are based. The re-analysis takes into account aU recent apparent changes in the pattern of production including the changes caused by the general introduction of an extra week’s leave in January 197S.

The revised estimates show that production of IS, not 8 as originally estimated, of the 32 items for which seasonally adjusted figures are available rose in January 1977. For the same number, production was higher in January 1977 than in January 1976.

Tax Reforms: Forgone Revenue (Question No. 508)

Mr FitzPatrick:
DARLING, NEW SOUTH WALES

asked the Minister for Post and Telecommunications, upon notice, on 23 March 1977:

  1. 1 ) Did he say in his speech to the annual conference of the Proprietary Sugar Millers Association on 27 February 1977, that revenue forgone already by tax reforms exceeded $2000m annually. were circulated:
  2. If so, will he provide a breakdown of the forgone revenue in the categories mentioned by him, (a) personal tax indexation, (b) new arrangements for Commonwealth estate duty, (c) the new system of income equalisation deposits for farmers, (d) the 40 per cent investment allowance, (e) incentives for the mining industry, (f) the easing of distribution requirements for private companies and (g) trading stock valuations.
Mr Eric Robinson:
MCPHERSON, QUEENSLAND · LP

– The answer to the honourable member’s question is as follows:

  1. 1 ) In my speech on 28 February 1977 1 said that the total revenue forgone in respect of decisions already taken by the Government exceeded $2000m annually.
  2. The estimated revenue forgone as a result of the application of the various measures for the 1976-77 financial year is as follows:

Australian Capital Territory: Taxes (Question No. 600)

Mr Scholes:

asked the Treasurer, upon notice, on 19 April 1977:

  1. 1 ) Can he say what taxes or charges which are levied by all State governments and local government bodies are not levied in the Australian Capital Territory.
  2. What taxes or charges which are levied in the Australian Capital Territory are not levied in the States.
  3. What is the average per capita sum paid in taxes and Government charges in (a) the ACT ana (b) each of the States.
Mr Lynch:
LP

– The answer to the honourable member’s question is as follows:

  1. 1) Information is not available on all taxes and charges. A list of the significant taxes which were levied in 1 975-76 by all or, in the cases mentioned, the majority of State governments and local government bodies and which are not levied in the Australian Capital Territory is given below. The list does not include minor fees from regulatory services, nor does it include a comparison of departmental charges or the prices set by public trading enterprises such as water supply and electricity undertakings. Further details of taxation by State authorities may be obtained from the appendix to the Australian Bureau of Statistics publication Public Authority Finance: Taxation 1975-76 (ref. No. 5.30).

State estate, gift, probate and succession duties (a); Land tax; Totalisator turnover tax (b); Lottery taxes (including profit of State run lotteries); Stamp duty on motor vehicle registration; Road transport taxes (permits, licences, log book fees, et cetera) (c); Motor vehicle third party insurance surcharge- levied in four States; Road maintenance contributions- levied in five States; Business franchise licences on petrol and/or tobacco- levied in four States; Fire brigades contributions from insurance companies, et cetera; Statutory corporation payments (eg levies on electricity and gas authorities)- levied in five States (d); Agricultural levies (stamp duties and licences) levied in five States.

  1. Australian Capital Territory residents pay Commonwealth taxes levied generally throughout Australia but State Governments collect additional duties. Queensland abolished succession and gift duties from 1 January 1977. Western Australia has announced the abolition of probate duties from 1 January 1980.
  2. Although no specific tax is paid in the Australian Capital Territory a fixed proportion of bets placed with the Australian Capital Territory Totalisator Agency Board is distributed to charitable organisations at the discretion of the Minister.
  3. Queensland has announced the abolition of road transport permit fees on goods from 1 November 1977.
  4. Tasmania has announced that the statutory levy on the Hydro-Electric Commission will be abolished this year.

Transport: Cost to Government (Question No. 773)

Mr Scholes:

asked the Minister for Transport, upon notice, on 28 April 1 977:

  1. 1 ) What is the net cost per annum to public revenue of maintaining the necessary facilities for commercial air transport for the carriage of passengers and freight in each State and Territory.
  2. There are no significant taxes or charges which are levied in the Australian Capital Territory and not in the States.
  3. State, local and territory taxation, (taxes, regulatory fees and fines) per head of mean population in 1 975-76:

Note: these figures relate to State and local and Australian Capital Territory taxation only. Commonwealth taxes levied generally throughout Australia amounted to $1244.61 per head of mean population in 1975-76.

Information is available on Commonwealth taxation collections by State of collection. This information does not represent the incidence of taxation on the residents of each State or territory. For example very small amounts of customs duties, excise duties and sales tax are recorded as collected in the Australian Capital Territory and company tax is usually collected in the State where the head office is located. The income tax on individuals collected in a particular State or territory does not necessarily relate to the residents of the State or territory. Also, for administrative reasons, some taxes may be recorded as collected in a single State or in the Australian Capital Territory.

  1. What net payments per annum are made from public moneys in respect of other forms of transport, e.g., railways, for the carriage of passengers and freight
  2. How many passengers and how much freight is carried by each of these forms oftransport.
Mr Nixon:
Minister for Transport · GIPPSLAND, VICTORIA · LP

– The answer to the honourable member’s question is as follows:

  1. The cost figures quoted in the following answers are those made by the Commonwealth for 1976-77 and do not include any payments made by the State or local governments.
  1. Sea
The Commonwealth contributed $2m as an operating subsidy to the *Empress of Australia* in 1976-77. Payments totalling $16.409m were made under the Tasmanian freight equalisation scheme for 1976-77. Roads Payments totalling $433.788m were made to the States under the National Roads Act 1 974 and the Road Grants Act 1 974 (as amended by the Roads Acts Amendment Act (No. 2) 1 976 and the Roads Acts Amendment Act 1 977. Details of the payments are as follows: Rail The total sums drawn by the Australian National Railways Commission to meet book losses in 1975-76 and 1976-77 were $58. 5m and $46.7m respectively. The amounts of these drawings resulting from losses in passenger and freight operations cannot be quantified. Air The latest available traffic figures for air transport services are for the 12 months ending 31 December 1976 and they include some estimates for the last six months of 1 976. This information is not readily available on a State or Territory basis. Sea Passengers. The *Empress of Australia* carried 1 1 1 ,622 passengers between the mainland and Tasmania in 1976-77. Freight. This information is not readily available. Road Information is not available. Rail {:#subdebate-45-4} #### Natural Gas and Petroleum: Priorities of Use (Question No. 976) {: #subdebate-45-4-s0 .speaker-5J4} ##### Mr Scholes: asked the Minister for National Resources, upon notice, on 30 May 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. Has his Department or any other Government source undertaken a study of, or established a priority scale for, the use of natural gas and petroleum products. 1. If so, what level of priority is given to the use of natural gas for (a) private motor vehicles and (b) the generation of electricity in areas which are sufficient in coal or water resources for the generation of electricity from those sources. {: #subdebate-45-4-s1 .speaker-BU4} ##### Mr Anthony:
NCP/NP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) The Department of National Resources is examining, inter alia, factors affecting Australia's energy balance, including the contribution of natural gas ana petroleum products to Australia's energy requirements. Also, the National Energy Advisory Committee which was established in February 1977, to advise me on matters relating to energy policy, is directing its attention to a number of aspects of the same problem. As I announced to the House on 1 6 August 1 977, 1 am currently preparing a statement which will deal comprehensively with all forms of energy. That statement will be presented to the House as soon as practicable. {: type="1" start="2"} 0. (a) See the answer to Question No. 171, *Hansard,* 4 May 1977, page 1584. {: type="a" start="b"} 0. See (1) Above. {:#subdebate-45-5} #### Relocation of Public Servants (Question No. 1140) {: #subdebate-45-5-s0 .speaker-6U4} ##### Mr E G Whitlam:
WERRIWA, NEW SOUTH WALES · ALP am asked the Minister Assisting the Prime Minister in Public Service Matters, upon notice, on 16 August 1977: >How many public servants were relocated in (a) Canberra and (b) Albury-Wodonga in 1 976-77. {: #subdebate-45-5-s1 .speaker-KVM} ##### Mr Street:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: {: type="i" start="i"} 0. The numbers relocated in 1976-77 were, in Canberra 28, in Albury-Wodonga 16. 1. On 19 December 1976, I announced the Government's decision to relocate some 276 positions in several departments to Canberra from various capital cities in the interests of improved policy co-ordination. The staff involved were guaranteed at least 12 months notice of the move, and it is expected that the bulk of physical transfers of staff will take place at the end of the 1977 calendar year. Some staff have, however, decided to transfer earlier, and, with the agreement of departmental management, 15 officers had effected transfer by 30 June 19777 These are included in (i) above. {:#subdebate-45-6} #### Primary Producers: Loans (Question No. 1451) {: #subdebate-45-6-s0 .speaker-5J4} ##### Mr Scholes: asked the Treasurer, upon notice, on 14 September 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) What financing institutions are available to provide loans to primary producers in each State. 1. What restrictions on loans exist in each case. 2. Which institutions specialise in rural lending. 3. Which schemes result from (a) State and (b) Commonwealth Government initiatives. {: #subdebate-45-6-s1 .speaker-KIM} ##### Mr Lynch:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: ( 1), (2), (3) and (4) The information requested is not readily available in the form sought I would, however, refer the honourable member to two reports prepared by the Bureau of Agricultural Economics in September 1972 and May 1977 entitled respectively, ' Rural Credit in Australia ' and ' A Review of Credit in the Australian Rural Sector'. Attachment D of the 1972 report and Attachment E of the 1977 report contain material summarising the various sources of rural credit and the arrangements in relation thereto. A copy of each of the reports is available from the Parliamentary Library. Committee of Inquiry on the Toomer Case (Question No. 1461) {: #subdebate-45-6-s2 .speaker-5J4} ##### Mr Scholes: asked the Minister Assisting the Prime Minister in Public Service Matters, upon notice, on 14 September 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. Did members of the Committee of Inquiry on the Toomer case participate in the irregular quarantine inspection procedures on the M.V. *Vishna Kalyan* in Sydney. 1. Will he cancel the current inquiry and establish an independent inquiry as recommended by the Royal Commission on Australian Government Administration. {: #subdebate-45-6-s3 .speaker-KVM} ##### Mr Street:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1) **Mr R.** Perriman and **Mr G.** Temme, who are currently conducting an inquiry into the case of **Mr Toomer,** did not participate in any quarantine inspection of the M.V. *Vishna Kalyan.* A special tour of inspection of the vessel was, however, undertaken by them in company with departmental officers on IS June 1977. Their purpose in visiting the vessel (which was not in fact chosen by them) was merely to obtain a background understanding of the circumstances in which the work of the ship inspection service is carried out. No quarantine ship inspection as such was undertaken while **Mr Perriman** and **Mr Temme** were on the ship. Rather, the visit was a demonstration of the parts of a vessel that would normally be examined in such an inspection, and of the nature of the work of a Quarantine Inspector or a Quarantine Assistant. {: type="1" start="2"} 0. No. The statement on this matter which I tabled in the House of Representatives on 1 June 1977 *(Hansard,* page 228 1 ) indicated that the legal position was that an inquiry as envisaged by the Royal Commission on Australian Government Administration could not be properly conducted unless the body conducting the inquiry was vested with powers to compel the attendance of witnesses and the production of documents, and unless that body, and persons appearing before it, had protection from liability for defamation. The statement further indicated that, apart from a Royal Commission (whose formal processes were considered to be quite inappropriate for an inquiry concerned with evaluation of personnel and administrative issues) there was no body independent of the Public Service which had such powers. The inquiry was accordingly established through delegation to Messrs Perriman and Temme by the Public Service Board of its powers under section 19 of the Public Service Act Through this process, the gentlemen (who are senior officers from outside the Board with no prior involvement in the case) have powers to summons any persons, take evidence on oath or affirmation, and require the production of documents, and they are not subject to direction by the Board in any way while exercising their delegated powers. Also, as indicated in the statement tabled in the House, it is intended that a report of the inquiry, incorporating recommendations, opinions and comments made by Messrs Perriman and Temme, and details of any action taken as a result, will be tabled in Parliament. I am satisfied that the conduct of Messrs Perriman and Temme while visiting the M.V. *Vishna Kalyan* was quite proper, and has not in any way compromised the independence of the inquiry. {:#subdebate-45-7} #### Decentralisation (Question No. 1515) {: #subdebate-45-7-s0 .speaker-2E4} ##### Mr Lloyd:
MURRAY, VICTORIA asked the Minister for Environment, Housing and Community Development, upon notice, on 20 September 1977: >How and where will most of the remaining $6.2m provided in the Budget for decentralisation assistance and intended for general decentralisation be spent. {: #subdebate-45-7-s1 .speaker-JVV} ##### Mr Newman:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: >On October 4 1 announced the Government's intention to establish a Commonwealth Decentralisation Advisory Board to advise me on assistance for decentralisation projects and on the general features of the new Commonwealth Decentralisation program. > >The Advisory Board will comprise members from the Government and the business and financial community and will have responsibility for recommending to me on the merits of projects submitted to the Advisory Board which are seeking Commonwealth decentralisation assistance. > >The new program will operate Australia-wide. It will, however, retain the relative cost effectiveness of selective decentralisation by concentrating its assistance on those nonmetropolitan centres which have sound long term growth prospects. The State governments will be consulted on centres eligible for assistance in their own States. > >The Commonwealth will also pay particular attention to those non-metropolitan centres in which the local community has made clear efforts to promote their own rate of development. > >Assistance under this new initiative will be of a capital nature and will be available for community development projects which will encourage the re-location or expansion of stable employment generating activities and also for tertiary and manufacturing industries wishing to expand or re-locate. > >I believe that this is an important initiative which will complement existing State decentralisation assistance and reinforce this government's continuing commitment to nonmetropolitan economic growth and stability. > >The Prime Minister has written to State Premiers conveying details of the features of this new program and seeking nominations from them for membership of the Board. In addition, I am writing to all non-metropolitan local governments advising them of this new initiative. {:#subdebate-45-8} #### American Express International Banking Corporation: Takeover Activity (Question No. 1576) {: #subdebate-45-8-s0 .speaker-AV4} ##### Mr Hurford: asked the Treasurer, upon notice, on 4 October 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1) Has his attention been drawn to a report, in the *Australian Financial Review* of 24 August 1 977 to the effect that the American Express International Banking Corporation had withdrawn a proposal it had submitted to the Government to take over Security Dealers Pry Ltd following a request that it do so. If so, is there any substance in the report. 1. ) If a rquest was made to American Express, who made it. 2. Is the Government now asking fur the withdrawal of non-acceptable foreign investment proposals rather than formally rejecting them. {: #subdebate-45-8-s1 .speaker-KIM} ##### Mr Lynch:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) and (2) An Interim Order in respect of the proposal by American Express International Banking Corporation to take over Security Dealers Pry Ltd was published on 1 9 May 1977 in accordance with the provisions of the Foreign Takeovers Act following consideration of the proposal by the Foreign Investment Review Board and the Government. Particulars beyond those set out in the Order concerning the proposal are confidential. 1. No. However, I might add that it is always open to the parties to a foreign investment proposal to inform the Government, prior to completion of the full process of foreign investment screening, that they wish to withdraw the proposal. {:#subdebate-45-9} #### Cocos (Keeling) Islanders: Rates of Pay (Question No. 1580) {: #subdebate-45-9-s0 .speaker-K9J} ##### Mr Keith Johnson:
BURKE, VICTORIA · ALP asked the Minister representing the Minister for Administrative Services, upon notice, on 4 October 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) Are the rates of pay for Cocos (Keeling) Islanders as follows: {: type="a" start="a"} 0. Headman, Rp 17.50 perweek 1. Junior Headman, Rp 12.00 per week 2. Estate Workers {: type="i" start="i"} 0. aged 25 years and over, Rp 9.00 per week 1. aged 1 7-24 years, Rp 6.00 per week and 2. aged 14-16 years, Rp 3.00 perweek 3. Female workers {: type="i" start="i"} 0. aged 1 8 years and over, Rp 6.00 per week and 1. aged under 1 8 years Rp 4.50 per week. 1. Is the rupiah valued at the equivalent of 40 cents Australian. 2. 3 ) If the position is as stated will the Minister take steps to ensure that more equitable rates of pay are made to workers on Cocos (Keeling) Islands. {: #subdebate-45-9-s1 .speaker-KVM} ##### Mr Street:
LP -- The Minister for Administrative Services has provided the following answer to the honourable member's question: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) Clunies Ross Estate workers are understood to receive payment i n units of token money, described as' rupiahs' , as follows: {: type="a" start="i"} 0. Headman, 20.00 per week {: type="i" start="ii"} 0. Junior headman, 14.00 per week 1. Foreman, 12.00 per week 2. Skilled worker, 10.50 per week 3. v) Semi-skilled worker, 7.50 per week 4. vi) Apprentices/Youths, 4.50 per week 5. Female workers, 6.00 per week. 1. and (3) These tokens are not legal tender. I announced the Government's policy for the Cocos (Keeling) Islands on 16 June 1977 and that policy includes the replacement of tokens by Australian currency. It also includes the progressive introduction of a wages economy appropriate to Cocos conditions. I understand that the value attributed to these units by the Clunies Ross Estate in its transactions with Home Islanders is 3 units to the$A (buying) and 2.6 units to the$A (selling). {:#subdebate-45-10} #### Commonwealth Cars and Hire Cars (Question No. 1598) {: #subdebate-45-10-s0 .speaker-HI4} ##### Mr Morris: asked the Minister representing the Minister for Administrative Services, upon notice, on 5 October 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. What are the guidelines for the provision of private hire cars and taxis in lieu of Commonwealth cars at (a) Canberra and (b) each of the capital cities. 1. Why are Commonwealth car drivers subject to security checks and regular health checks when these checks are not required for hire car drivers anad taxi drivers. {: #subdebate-45-10-s1 .speaker-KVM} ##### Mr Street:
LP -- The Minister for Administrative Services has provided the following answer to the honourable member's question: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) The Commonwealth car fleet is used to the maximum extent practicable, working reasonable overtime. It would be clearly uneconomic to maintain sufficient Commonwealth cars to satisfy every request because of the peaks and troughs in demand. All work beyond the capacity of the Commonwealth fleet is allocated as follows: {: type="a" start="a"} 0. Canberra- To hire cars and taxis. 1. Brisbane, Melbourne, Hobart, Adelaide, Perth- To taxis unless the booking is for a special car service in which case a hire car is chosen. Sydney- To hire cars. If, as occasionally happens, there are insufficient hire cars to accept all surplus work, taxis are used. No special car service requests are allocated to taxis except in an emergency. {: type="a" start="c"} 0. Outside normal working hours, weekends or holidays, a hire car or taxi may be used where it is clearly uneconomic to bring a Commonwealth driver on duty for a short period at penalty rates. {: type="1" start="2"} 0. In addition to driving Ministers, senators, members and officials, Commonwealth car drivers, in the course of their duties, are at times required to convey classified matter and to enter restricted areas such as munitions factories, Defence science and Service establishments. Hire-car and taxi drivers are not utilised to the same extent. Commonwealth drivers have been subject to regular health checks since 1957 based on a code of medical fitness for drivers adopted by the Australian Transport Advisory Council and endorsed by the Department of Health.. Physical standards for hire car and taxi drivers are determined by the appropriate State and Territorial authorities controlling such operations. {:#subdebate-45-11} #### Industries Assistance Commission Reports (Question No. 1669) {: #subdebate-45-11-s0 .speaker-00ATA} ##### Mr Hodges:
PETRIE, QUEENSLAND asked the Minister for Business and Consumer Affairs, upon notice: >Since the Industries Assistance Commission was established, how many final reports has it produced listing (a) the title of the report and (b) whether the principal recommendations were accepted and implemented. {: #subdebate-45-11-s1 .speaker-CG4} ##### Mr Fife:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: >To 26 October 1977 the Industries Assistance Commission had produced 149 reports on matters referred to it These included all interim and final reports of the Commission but not draft reports. Action is yet to be taken on ten reports. Tides of the reports are given in the following table categorised according as to whether the principal recommendations were accepted and implemented. {:#subdebate-45-12} #### Commonwealth Constitution (Question No. 1671) {: #subdebate-45-12-s0 .speaker-DB6} ##### Mr Wentworth: asked the Minister representing the Attorney-General, upon notice, on 5 October 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. Following the passage of certain referenda on 2 1 May 1977 was the Commonwealth Constitution altered in certain respects? 1. Is it a fact that no amended copy of the Constitution is yet available from the Australian Government Publishing Service. If so, what is the reason for the delay, and what does the Minister propose to do about it? {: #subdebate-45-12-s1 .speaker-ZD4} ##### Mr Howard:
LP -- The Attorney-General has provided the following answer to the honourable member's question: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. Yes. 1. Amended copies of the Constitution are not yet available. However, a reprint of the Constitution incorporating the 1977 amendments, which were assented to on 29 July, as wei as up-to-date notes and an index, is in course of preparation. The first proofs of the new reprint have been obtained and are now with the Government Printer for revision. I expect the reprint to be available to the public some time next month. {:#subdebate-45-13} #### Solar Energy Research (Question No. 1719) {: #subdebate-45-13-s0 .speaker-K9M} ##### Mr Les Johnson:
HUGHES, NEW SOUTH WALES · ALP asked the Minister representing the Minister for Science, upon notice, on 1 1 October 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) Is it a fact that research on solar energy is quite uncoordinated in Australia and that most research funds go to the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization which is more oriented to the scientific rather than development and marketing aspects. {: type="1" start="2"} 0. Is it also a fact that Australia is rapidly falling behind other countries such as Israel, Japan and the United States of America in the application of solar energy. 1. Is there an urgent need to bring solar energy into a sharper and more objective perspective and is the Government contemplating any action towards that end. {: #subdebate-45-13-s1 .speaker-ID4} ##### Mr Adermann:
NCP/NP -- The Minister for Science has provided the following answer to the honourable member's question: 1. (a) There is no body that is charged with the responsibility for co-ordinating solar energy research and development in Australia. {: type="a" start="b"} 0. CSIRO does receive most of the Commonwealth funds expended on solar energy research. 1. The research is co-ordinated within the Organization and covers development as well as scientific aspects but excludes marketing. {: type="1" start="2"} 0. Australia is still one of the leading countries in the application of solar energy. For example, the application of solar energy at the soft drink factory in Queanbeyan was among the first industrial applications in the world. This development is shortly to be followed by a similar one at a brewery in Adelaide. 1. The Government agrees that there is a need to bring solar energy research into a sharper and more objective perspective. However, it must be considered in relation to Australia's total energy needs. The National Energy Advisory Committee and the Australian Science and Technology Council have been asked to undertake independent examinations of Australian energy research and development needs and to advise on that matter. When their advice is available, consideration will be given to future energy research and development policies. The report on solar energy prepared by the Senate Standing Committee on National Resources will be taken fully into account. {:#subdebate-45-14} #### Election Campaigns: Expenditure Limits (Question No. 1745) {: #subdebate-45-14-s0 .speaker-6U4} ##### Mr E G Whitlam:
WERRIWA, NEW SOUTH WALES · ALP am asked the Minister representing the Minister for Administrative Services, upon notice, on 12 October 1 977: >Can he bring up to date the answer he gave me on 1 8 May 1976 *(Hansard,* page 2174) on (a) the countries in which limits are imposed on election expenditure by candidates or organisations and (b) the methods for enforcing those limits. {: #subdebate-45-14-s1 .speaker-KVM} ##### Mr Street:
LP -- The Minister for Administrative Services has provided the following answer to the honourable member's question: >On the information currently available to me, there have been no further developments since 18 May 1976 in respect of Canada, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and the United States of America in regard to both parts (a) and (b) of the honourable member's question. {:#subdebate-45-15} #### Election Campaigns: Government Subsidy (Question No. 1746) {: #subdebate-45-15-s0 .speaker-6U4} ##### Mr E G Whitlam:
WERRIWA, NEW SOUTH WALES · ALP am asked the Minister representing the Minister for Administrative Services, upon notice, on 12 October 1977: >Can he bring up to date the answer he gave me on 18 May 1976 *(Hansard,* page 2173) on (a) the countries in which election campaigns are financed in whole or in part from Government funds and (b) the formulae for this funding. {: #subdebate-45-15-s1 .speaker-KVM} ##### Mr Street:
LP -- The Minister for Administrative Services has provided the following answer to the honourable member's question: {: type="a" start="a"} 0. On the basis of the information available to me, the situation in the countries concerned remains as given on 18 May 1976. However, the following recent developments in the United States of America and the United Kingdom, as reported to me, may be of interest to the honourable member. United States of America On 22 March 1977, President Carter sent to Congress a message containing several recommendations dealing with election reform, including government financing of Congressional campaigns (both general and primary). However, on 2 August 1977 the Senate rejected the President's proposal to finance Congressional elections with public money. United Kingdom An independent committee under the Chairmanship of the Rt Hon. Lord Houghton was set up by the United Kingdom Government in May 1975 to consider whether provision should be made from public funds to assist political parties in carrying out their functions outside Parliament. The Committee's Report, which was presented to Parliament in August 1976, recommended that political parties be publicly subsidised by a combination of two schemes, namely: {: type="i" start="i"} 0. Annual grants to be paid from Exchequer funds to the central organisations of the parties for their general purposes, the amount being determined according to the extent of each party's electoral support; and 1. at the local level, a limited reimbursement of the election expenses of parliamentary and local government candidates. However, the Report was not a unanimous report and as yet, no legislative action has been taken on its recommendations. {: type="a" start="b"} 0. I can supply the following additional information in respect of Sweden on the basis of information I have received. Sweden State support for political parties was introduced in 196S, since which time it has been successively increased. The nature of this support was partly restructured in 1972; and the salient features are as follows: National support for political parties amounts to 115,000 SKr annually per seat in the Riksdag. Staff support consists of basic support and additional support. The basic support amounts to 2,025,000 SKr annually to each political party represented in the Riksdag that has received 4 per cent of the votes cast in the latest election. The additional support amounts to 5,650 SKr for each seat held by the party or parties in power and 8,500 SKr for the opposition party or parties. National support is provided for political parties not represented in the Riksdag on the basis of the percentage of votes received by the party in question in the most recent election. For each tenth of 1 per cent above 2.5 per cent, the party in question shall receive 1 1 5,000 SKr When a party gains or loses seats in an election, the consequent change in support amounts is gradual, not abrupt, in order to facilitate activity planning within the parties and ensure employee security. All forms of state support from public funds are paid directly to the national organisations of the parties, unless the party concerned decides otherwise. The sums paid for national party and staff support should be reviewed at short intervals, it being assumed that the relations between the amounts would remain unchanged. The latest review was in the autumn of 1975. A total sum of 53 million SKr in State support for the political parties was proposed by the government for the 1976-77 fiscal year. {:#subdebate-45-16} #### Family Law Act: Child Abductions (Question No. 1754) {: #subdebate-45-16-s0 .speaker-CV4} ##### Mr Jacobi:
HAWKER, SOUTH AUSTRALIA asked the Minister representing the Attorney-General, upon notice, on 12 October 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) Has the Attorney-General's attention been drawn to a statement made by the Minister for Foreign Affairs on 19 September 1977 in relation to child abductions. 1. Because of the continuing frequency of abductions is it most undesirable to have further delay before action is taken in this area. 2. Will the Attorney-General urgently recommend a system of children's visas, whereby no child could leave Australia without the consent of any person with custody or guardianship of, or access to, that child. 3. In addition to the proposal in part (3), what legislative changes does the Attorney-General propose to make to the Family Law Act to prevent children being taken out of jurisdiction. 4. Does the Government intend to set up a joint parliamentary committee to inquire into and report upon the effectiveness and the deficiencies of the Family Law Act. {: #subdebate-45-16-s1 .speaker-ZD4} ##### Mr Howard:
LP -- The Attorney-General has provided the following answer to the honourable member's question: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) The Attorney-General's attention has been drawn to a statement made by the Minister for Foreign Affairs in the House of Representatives on 21 September 1977 in answer to a question by the honourable member concerning child abductions. 1. The Attorney-General agrees that there should be no delay in implementing any action that has been recommended to prevent the removal of children from Australia against the wishes of a parent entitled to custody or access. 2. The question of restricting other than through a Court order under the Family Law Act the right of persons to depart from Australia is the concern of the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Minister for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs, as well as the Attorney-General. As indicated in the statement of the Minister for Foreign Affairs referred to in ( 1) above, the interdepartmental committee that recommended amendments to the Passports Act also recommended further examination of other measures to meet the problem raised by the honourable member. The Attorney-General will see that the honourable member's suggestion is considered in the course of that further examination. 3. Sections 64 and 70 of the Family Law Act already authorise a Court to order the passports of a child or any other person to be delivered up to the Court if there is a possibility of the removal of the child from Australia or the person has deliberately defied a custody or access order. Sections 68 and 69 enable Australia to implement arrangements with other countries for reciprocal enforcement of custody orders. The Government is actively pursuing the possibility of such arrangements with a number of overseas countries with a view to concluding such arrangements. In view of these provisions and the provisions of the Migration Act to which the Minister for Foreign Affairs referred in his statement (see answer to ( 1 ) above), there are no plans to make other amendments to the Family Law Act pending any recommendations as a result of the further examination referred to in ( 3 ) above. 4. In a press release dated 23 September 1977 the Attorney-General stated that 'he proposed that possibly next year, a parliamentary committee should review the Family Law Act to determine whether any changes to the broad principles of the Act should be made. . . .' {:#subdebate-45-17} #### Aged Persons Hostels (Question No. 1759) {: #subdebate-45-17-s0 .speaker-PD4} ##### Mr Brown:
DIAMOND VALLEY, VICTORIA asked the Minister representing the Minister for Social Security, upon notice, on 13 October 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. How many grants have been made or committed for projects under the Aged Persons Hostels Act in the State of victoria in each of the years 1975-76 to 1977-78, inclusive. 1. With respect to each of these grants, (a) what is the name of the organisation undertaking the project, (b) what is the value of the project, (c) what is the amount of the grant, (d) where is the project situated and (e) how many aged persons and staff will the project accommodate. {: #subdebate-45-17-s1 .speaker-GH4} ##### Mr Hunt:
NCP/NP -- The Minister for Social Security has provided the following answer to the honourable member's question: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) Under the Aged Persons Hostels Act 8 grants were approved in Victoria in 1975-76 and 13 grants in 1976-77. Twelve projects have been selected for funding in 1 977-78. 1. The details requested by the honourable member are provided in the following table: {:#subdebate-45-18} #### Aged or Disabled Persons Homes (Question No. 1760) {: #subdebate-45-18-s0 .speaker-PD4} ##### Mr Brown: asked the Minister representing the Minister for Social Security, upon notice, on 13 October 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) How many grants have been made or committed for projects under the Aged or Disabled Persons Homes Act in the State of Victoria in each of the years 1975-76 to 1977-78, inclusive. 1. With respect to each of these grants, (a) what is the name of the organisation undertaking the project, (b) what is the value of the project, (c) what is the amount of the grant, (d) where is the project situated and (e) how many aged or disabled persons and staff will the project accommodate. {: #subdebate-45-18-s1 .speaker-GH4} ##### Mr Hunt:
NCP/NP -- The Minister for Social Security has provided the following answer to the honourable member's question: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) Under the Aged or Disabled Persons Homes Act three ? rants were approved in Victoria in 1975-76 and 16 grants in 976-77. Thirty-two projects have been selected for funding in 1977-78. 1. The details requested by the honourable member are provided in the following table: {:#subdebate-45-19} #### New South Wales Migrant Task Force Committee: Recommendations (Question No. 1764) {: #subdebate-45-19-s0 .speaker-K9M} ##### Mr Les Johnson:
HUGHES, NEW SOUTH WALES · ALP asked the Minister for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs, upon notice, on 13 October 1977: >Which of the recommendations of the New South Wales Migrant Task Force Committee, headed by the honourable member for Prospect, presented to the then Minister for Immigration in June 1973, have been implemented and on what dates were the recommendations acted upon. {: #subdebate-45-19-s1 .speaker-0I4} ##### Mr MacKellar:
Minister for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs · WARRINGAH, NEW SOUTH WALES · LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: >When the Department of Immigration was abolished by the then Government in June 1974 its various functions and records were transferred to a number of different departments. > >The information requested is not, therefore, readily available but it will be sought {:#subdebate-45-20} #### Family Court: Enforcement Officers (Question No. 1766) {: #subdebate-45-20-s0 .speaker-CV4} ##### Mr Jacobi: asked the Minister representing the Attorney-General, upon notice, on 13 October 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) How many enforcement officers have been appointed to the Family Court 1. Will the Attorney-General give consideration to instructing the Commonwealth and/or State Police to locate actively children abducted by a spouse during the course of hearings associated with family break-down or in defiance of custody orders granted by a Court 2. Is it a fact that administrative arrangements at present are such that the Commonwealth Police will not actively move to trace children even when custody orders are violated by a spouse unless an order is made for the arrest of the offending parent. {: #subdebate-45-20-s1 .speaker-ZD4} ##### Mr Howard:
LP -- The Attorney-General has provided the following answer to the honourable member's question: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. No enforcement officers have been appointed to the Family Court of Australia pursuant to sub-section (12) of section 64 of the Family Law Act. However, a Marshall and a number of Deputy Marshalls have been appointed as officers of the Court pursuant to section 37 of the Act. The Marshall and Deputy Marshalls are aU members of the Commonwealth Police. 1. and (3) The Commonwealth Police come under the administration of the Minister for Administrative Services. The Minister has advised that the Commonwealth Police will endeavour to locate children named in warrants issued under section 64 of the Family Law Act. {:#subdebate-45-21} #### Department of Administrative Services: Capital Works Expenditure (Question No. 1786) {: #subdebate-45-21-s0 .speaker-0F4} ##### Mr Braithwaite:
DAWSON, QUEENSLAND asked the Minister representing the Minister for Administrative Services, upon notice, on 13 October 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) What was the amount of expenditure through his Department on capital works within the electoral divisions of Leichhardt, Herbert, Kennedy and Dawson during each of the years 1973-74 to 1976-77, inclusive. 1. What was the total expenditure by his Department during the same years. {: #subdebate-45-21-s1 .speaker-KVM} ##### Mr Street:
LP -- The Minister for Administrative Services has provided the following answer to the honourable member's question: >I refer the honourable member to the answer provided by the Minister for Construction to House of Representatives Question No. 1793 *(Hansard,* 27 October 1977, pages 2579-80). {:#subdebate-45-22} #### Road Freight Rates: Northern Territory (Question No. 1801) {: #subdebate-45-22-s0 .speaker-HI4} ##### Mr Morris: asked the Minister for Transport, upon notice, on 18 October 1977: >What were the road freight rates applicable in the Northern Territory by category of goods or livestock as at (a) 30 June 1 975, (b) 30 June 1976 and (c) 30 June 1977. {: #subdebate-45-22-s1 .speaker-009OD} ##### Mr Nixon:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: >Road freight rates are liable to vary from operator to operator. In addition, rates actually charged for particular consignments may not necessarily coincide with published rates. In these circumstances, it is not possible to provide meaningful information about the freight rates prevailing on the specific dates. {:#subdebate-45-23} #### North Australia Railway (Question No. 1802) {: #subdebate-45-23-s0 .speaker-HI4} ##### Mr Morris: asked the Minister for Transport, upon notice, on 1 8 October 1 977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) How many persons were employed in each category of employment by North Australia Railways as at (a) 30 June 1976 and (b) 30 June 1977. 1. What are the future services proposed to be provided by North Australia Railways. 2. What is the present state of repair of (a) workshops and buildings at each location and (b) railway tracks which were under the control of North Australia Railways as at 30 June 1976. 3. What was the expenditure and income of North Australia Railways in 1976-77, and what are the estimated comparative figures for 1977-78. {: #subdebate-45-23-s1 .speaker-009OD} ##### Mr Nixon:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) Number of employees, North Australia Railway: {: type="1" start="2"} 0. Services on the North Australia Railway have been replaced by the more efficient co-ordinated rail/road service to Darwin since 30 June 1976. It is not proposed to reintroduce rail services on this line unless sufficient traffic develops to warrant it. However, the Government will continue to provide the best transport facility possible to cater for the needs of the people of the Northern Territory. 1. (a) Workshops buildings in Darwin are in good repair and will be leased as vacated. Administrative offices in Darwin require repair after Cyclone Tracy but have been handed over to the Department of Administrative Services for attention and leasing as approved for occupation. Transportable and prefabricated buildings and equipment from all locations are being transferred south for use elsewhere on Australian National Railways. Because of their remoteness houses at line locations are difficult and expensive to maintain and are not generally in suitable places for other than railway purposes. But efforts are being made to arrange tenancies at minimal rentals provided houses are satisfactorily maintained. {: type="a" start="b"} 0. The railway tracks are in a minimum condition of repair. However, should sufficient traffic develop to warrant reintroduction of rail services, I am advised that the track will be brought back to a safe working standard for the volume of traffic that might eventuate. 2. Expenditure on the North Australia Railway totalled $1,440,100 in 1976-77 and covered a gradual staff reduction program commensurate with the necessity of transferring locomotives, rolling stock and equipment to other parts of the ANR system. It is anticipated that winding down operations will be finalised in 1977-78 and expenditure for this year is estimated at $450,000. Income in 1976-77 of $92,042 was derived mainly from rem producing properties, and is expected to approximate the same level in 1 977-78. {:#subdebate-45-24} #### South Australian and Territorial Air Services (Question No. 1804) {: #subdebate-45-24-s0 .speaker-HI4} ##### Mr Morris: asked the Minister for Transport, upon notice, on 18 October 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. Further to Question No. 1425 *(Hansard,* 30 November 1976, page 301 1), what were the results of the investigations into complaints he received from the Aus.tralian Federation of Air Pilots in respect of the operation of air services by South Australian and Territorial Air Services. 1. What action has he taken following the completion of the investigation. {: #subdebate-45-24-s1 .speaker-009OD} ##### Mr Nixon:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. The investigation into the complaints raised by the Australian Federation of Air Pilots in respect of the operation of air services by South Australian and Territorial Air Services has been completed. At my direction, a detailed summary of the findings of that investigation was sent to the Australian Federation of Air Pilots on 9 December 1976. Briefly, the investigation revealed several breaches of flight and duty time limitations in the case of a pilot previously employed by the operator. Of these breaches, only two were regarded as serious. {: type="1" start="2"} 0. These matters have been taken up with the operator to ensure that breaches of these limitations are avoided in the future. {:#subdebate-45-25} #### Northern Territory Air Services (Question No. 1805) {: #subdebate-45-25-s0 .speaker-HI4} ##### Mr Morris: asked the Minister for Transport, upon notice, on 18 October 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) Further to his answer to question No. 1427 *(Hansard,* 30 November 1976, page 30 1 1 ), is he able to say if the interdepartmental inquiry into the future of air services in the Northern Territory has been completed. 1. If so, what were the results of the inquiry. 2. Will he table in the Parliament the report of the inquiry. If not, why not {: #subdebate-45-25-s1 .speaker-009OD} ##### Mr Nixon:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: (1)Yes {: type="1" start="2"} 0. and (3) The interdepartmental committee on air links in the area currently served by Connair Pry Ltd was established by the Government to look into the demand for air services in the area served by Connair and to recommend to me how that demand might best be satisfied. This the committee did, and its report to me was most comprehensive, providing a useful basis for the decisions in regard to future air services in the area which the Government has subsequently taken. The honourable member will know that those decisions secure the continued existence of Connair through the grant of substantial Commonwealth financial assistance, so that it may continue as a viable enterprise to cater to the needs of the area it serves. He will know that the Government is also looking at the provision of alternative air services to those communities from which, for reasons of economy Connair may find it necessary to withdraw, and the provision by operators other than Connair of services which are not now operated but for which demand is apparent It has, of course, been the Government's position that the people of remote areas of Australia should enjoy the best possible air services while keeping the cost to the taxpayer of subsidies at a reasonable level. The decisions which the Government has taken are consistent with that position and are designed to give it practical effect The report of the interdepartmental committee was a report to me, and I do not intend to table it in the Parliament The decisions of the Government, which are based to some extent on the report and the recommendations contained therein, are open to parliamentary scrutiny and judgment {:#subdebate-45-26} #### Apparel Imports: Quota Holders (Question No. 1820) {: #subdebate-45-26-s0 .speaker-CJ4} ##### Mr Shipton: asked the Minister for Business and Consumer Affairs, upon notice, on 19 October 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) Who are the quota holders, and what are their respective entitlements by category, for the imports of apparel since the introduction of quotas in July 1 976! 1. Have any quotas been transferred. If so, to whom and on what terms and conditions. {: #subdebate-45-26-s1 .speaker-CG4} ##### Mr Fife:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) There are in excess of 7,000 quota holders for all commodities. Their names and more particularly their entitlements to quota have not been published to date. However with the recent change in import quota arrangements to provide for the transferability of quota instruments in most circumstances, consideration is now being given to publishing the names of quota holders. At the same time, consideration will be given to the publication of individual entitlements. {: type="1" start="2"} 0. Quotas for apparel have only been transferred by' reason of one company taking over another company. {:#subdebate-45-27} #### Textile Imports: Quota Holders (Question No. 1821) {: #subdebate-45-27-s0 .speaker-CJ4} ##### Mr Shipton: asked the Minister for Business and Consumer Affairs, upon notice, on 19 October 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. Who are the quota holders, and what are their respective entitlements by category, for the import of textiles since the introduction of quotas in December 1 974. 1. Have any quotas been transferred; if so, to whom and on what terms and conditions. {: #subdebate-45-27-s1 .speaker-CG4} ##### Mr Fife:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) See answer to question No. 1 820, part ( 1 ). 1. Quotas for textiles have only been transferred by reason of one company taking over another company. {:#subdebate-45-28} #### Footwear Imports: Quotas (Question No. 1822) {: #subdebate-45-28-s0 .speaker-CJ4} ##### Mr Shipton: asked the Minister for Business and Consumer Affairs, upon notice, on 19 October 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. How many pairs of shoes have been allowed to be imported into Australia under quota in each of the years since footwear has been subject to quota in October 1974? 1. What are the names of persons, companies and businesses who presently hold quotas for footwear, and what were their respective entitlements in each year from October 1974? 2. Have any quotas been transferred; if so, to whom, and on what terms and conditions? {: #subdebate-45-28-s1 .speaker-CG4} ##### Mr Fife:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. The ceilings of allowable imports in respect of shoes since the introduction of import licensing in October 1974 are: {: type="1" start="2"} 0. and (3) See answer to question No. 1820, part ( 1 ). 1. Quotas for footwear have only been transferred by reason of one company taking over another company. {:#subdebate-45-29} #### Passenger Motor Vehicle Imports: Quotas (Question No. 1823) {: #subdebate-45-29-s0 .speaker-CJ4} ##### Mr Shipton: asked the Minister for Business and Consumer Affairs, upon notice, on 19 October 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. How many cars were allowed to be imported into Australia under quota during the periods when quotas were in operation in 1976 and 1977, inclusive of the quotas which became effective on 13 October 1977? 1. What are the quotas by make or category of car? 2. Who are the quota holders for quota periods during the years 1976 and 1977? 3. How many cars were in bond, and what were their makes or categories, during the relevant quota periods? 4. How many cars by make or category which were in bond at the time of the announcement of quotas subsequently became part of quotas? 5. Have any quotas been transferred; if so, to whom, and on what terms and conditions? {: #subdebate-45-29-s1 .speaker-CG4} ##### Mr Fife:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. The allowable imports of passenger motor vehicles under quota in each of 1976 and 1977 were 90,000 units, the latter on a pro-rata basis for the period of licensing operation in that year. 1. ) and ( 3 ) See answer to question No. 1 820, part ( 1 ). 2. This information is not held in the Department's data base. 3. This information is not available from the Department's data base but all vehicles in bond at the time of introduction of the quota restrictions were required to be covered by quota. 4. Quotas for vehicles have been transferred by reason of one company taking over another company; in addition, under the recent introduction of transferability of licences, one transfer has been approved. As to advice of details of transfers, see answer to Question No. 1 820, part ( 1 ). {:#subdebate-45-30} #### Sydney Airport: Automatic Landing Navigation Approach Beam (Question No. 1870) {: #subdebate-45-30-s0 .speaker-JVS} ##### Mr Neil:
ST GEORGE, NEW SOUTH WALES asked the Minister for Transport, upon notice, on 20 October 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) Is a record kept of whether or not pilots of aircraft lock on to the automatic landing navigation approach beam at Sydney Airport. 1. If so, will he provide figures of the heights at varying distances from the airport on the approach from the south, and, in particular, provide the height of the beam above Hurstville, Bexley and Arncliffe. 2. Are any records kept of variations from the beam and any requirements to order aircraft to either adjust to the beam or make another approach. 3. When locked on to the beam, within what tolerance of the specified angle are aircraft allowed to operate on the landing approach. {: #subdebate-45-30-s1 .speaker-009OD} ##### Mr Nixon:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. There is no record kept at Sydney Airport as to whether pilots lock on to the instrument landing system (ILS) during final approach. However, nearly all approaches into Sydney Airport on any one of the three runways equipped with an ILS would use the ILS and/or the visual approach guidance system for final approach. 1. (a) For the approach on to runway 07 which tracks over or near the suburbs mentioned, the height in feet above mean sea level of the glide path at a distance in nautical miles measured by the Distance Measuring Equipment sited on the airport is as follows: {: type="a" start="b"} 0. For the specific suburbs mentioned, the following are the heights in feet that an aircraft tracking accurately on the ILS along the extended centreline of runway 07 would be above these places: {: type="1" start="3"} 0. There arc no records kept of any aircraft which has varied from the normal glide path nor of any aircraft being asked to adjust to the glide path if they have varied from it. There is no equipment on the airport which is capable of monitoring or recording this type of information. There is a requirement for aircraft to be on the glide path when using the ILS. There are occasions when a departmental aircraft will fly lower than the normal glide path angle when the system is being checked and this would occur approximately every three months. {: type="1" start="4"} 0. The allowable tolerance for licence purposes for pilots to be able to use an ILS is + or - 0. 1 5 0 from the actual glide path. Normally pilots would manually fly to less than this tolerance and an aircraft locked on to the approach beam using its automatic equipment would certainly vary much less than this tolerance. {:#subdebate-45-31} #### Pensioners: Rent Allowance (Question No. 1891) {: #subdebate-45-31-s0 .speaker-NF4} ##### Mr Cohen:
ROBERTSON, NEW SOUTH WALES asked the Minister representing the Minister for Social Security, upon notice, on 25 October 1977: >What would be the annual cost of increasing the rent allowance for pensioners to $ 10 per week. {: #subdebate-45-31-s1 .speaker-GH4} ##### Mr Hunt:
NCP/NP -- The Minister for Social Security has provided the following answer to the honourable member's question: >It is estimated that the annual cost of increasing the rent allowance (supplementary assistance) for social security pensioners from $5 to $ 10 a week would be some $8Sm. {:#subdebate-45-32} #### Homes Savings Grant (Question No. 1896) {: #subdebate-45-32-s0 .speaker-EE4} ##### Mr Uren: asked the Minister for Environment, Housing and Community Development, upon notice, on 25 October 1977: >On how many houses within the following purchase price ranges was the homes savings grant paid during 1976-77: (a) Less than $14,000, (b) $14,000-$ 16,000, (c) $16,000-$18,000, (d) $18,O00-$2O,O00, (e) $20,000-$22,000, (f) $22,000-$24,000, (g) $24,000-$26,000, (h) $26,000-$28,000, (l) $28,000-$30,000, (j) $30,000-$32,000, (k) $32,000-$34,000, (1) $34,000-$36,000, (m) $36,000-538,000, (n) $38,000-$40,000, (o) greater than $40,000. {: #subdebate-45-32-s1 .speaker-JVV} ##### Mr Newman:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: >During 1976-77, 5,251 grants were approved under the Homes Savings Grant Act 1964 in respect of the purchases and construction of houses and home units with values up to $22,500. > >Between 1 January 1977 and 30 June 1977, 8,447 grants were approved under the Homes Savings Grant Act 1976. A sample of these cases showed the following distribution of purchase prices for houses and home units: (a) Up to $20,000-6 per cent, (b) $20,001 to 25,000-10 per cent, (c) $25,001 to $30,000-27 per cent, (d) $30,001 to $35,000-28 per cent, (e) $35,00 1 to $40,000-20 per cent, (f) $40,00 1 to $45,000-5 per cent, (g) $45,001 to $50,000-3 per cent, (h) over $50,000- 1 per cent. > >Statistics compiled have not been in the ranges requested by the honourable member. {:#subdebate-45-33} #### Upgrading and Construction of Roads (Question No. 1899) {: #subdebate-45-33-s0 .speaker-HI4} ##### Mr Morris: asked the Minister for Transport, upon notice, on 26 October 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1) Has he received a request to upgrade the road from Darwin to Boulia, and the building of a new road link to Tibooburra, New South Wales. 1. If so, what are the names and employing agencies of each of the individuals who made representations to him seeking the road link, and when were the representations made. 2. Has he agreed to undertake to upgrade and construct the road link. If not, why not. 3. What is the projected cost of the road link. {: #subdebate-45-33-s1 .speaker-009OD} ##### Mr Nixon:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. Yes. 1. Representations were made to me and to other Ministers in late 1975 and early 1976 mainly by the North South Highway Committee which is based in Mildura with a branch at Broken Hill. In 1977 I have received representations from the North South Highway Committee, the Federal Inland Development Organisation, **Mr P.** S. Fisher, M.P., **Dr E.** N. Stack, Mayor of Darwin, the National Party of Victoria, Cr. L. S. Andriske, Mayor of Mildura, and the Boulia Shire Council. 2. In view of the interest in the proposed road, I commissioned the former Bureau of Roads to investigate its possible development. The Bureau's report, which I tabled on 5 May 1976, found that development of the proposed North South Highway was not justified at that time. In the circumstances I nave not agreed to undertake to upgrade and construct the road link. 3. The Bureau found that the estimated cost in 1976 prices to develop the road from Mt Isa to Broken Hill was $160m to national highway standards, $65m to beef road standards and $40m to unsealed standard with minimal waterway crossing improvements. {:#subdebate-45-34} #### Shipbuilding Industry, Whyalla: Redundant Employees (Question No. 1911) {: #subdebate-45-34-s0 .speaker-KWZ} ##### Mr Wallis:
GREY, SOUTH AUSTRALIA asked the Minister for Transport, upon notice, on 26 October 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) Has his attention been drawn to the employment problems facing tradesmen and other employees as a result of the rundown of the ship building industry at Whyalla. 1. Is Australian National Railways at Port Augusta short of tradesmen in a number of classifications. 2. If so, is this shortage capable of being overcome by using employees from Whyalla made redundant by the shipyard situation, if the staff ceilings in operation on ANR which restrict the ability of that organisation to recruit additional tradesmen, et cetera, to meet their requirements, were lifted. 3. Will he consider lifting staff ceilings on ANR to enable further recruitment of staff, and by doing so, assist in resolving an unemployment problem created m that area of South Australia by the abandonment of the Australian shipbuilding industry at Whyalla. {: #subdebate-45-34-s1 .speaker-009OD} ##### Mr Nixon:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) Yes. 1 am well aware of the problems facing the people of Whyalla 1. Yes. There are vacancies for tradesmen in certain areas. 2. No. Tradesmen have been recruited from Whyalla and others may be engaged as further vacancies occur. However, I am advised by the Australian National Railways Commission that large scale recruiting is not contemplated, irrespective of staff ceilings. 3. While the application of a staff ceiling has created some minor problems in certain categories of employment, in general I am assured the Commission can work within the ceilings. {:#subdebate-45-35} #### Coober Pedy: Rail and Road Service (Question No. 1923) {: #subdebate-45-35-s0 .speaker-KWZ} ##### Mr Wallis: asked the Minister for Transport, upon notice, on 1 November 1977: >As the construction of the new Tarcoola-Alice Springs railway line has reached a point north of Coober Pedy, are there any plans in hand by the Australian National Railways to provide rail services as far as Manguri Siding to serve the township of Coober Pedy, now dependent on the extremely unreliable Stuart Highway. {: #subdebate-45-35-s1 .speaker-009OD} ##### Mr Nixon:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: >Australian National Railways expect to introduce a twice weekly goods service to Manguri in December. The possibility of a co-ordinated road service being provided between Manguri and Coober Pedy by road transport operators is also being investigated. Weisscredit: **Mr Renzo** di Piramo (Question No. 561) {: #subdebate-45-35-s2 .speaker-6U4} ##### Mr E G WHITLAM:
WERRIWA, NEW SOUTH WALES · ALP am asked the AttorneyGeneral, upon notice, on 30 March 1977: >Have any authorities for which he is ministerially responsible had inquiries (a) from Switzerland or (b) from any other country about (i) the operations of Weisscredit in Australia or (ii) the whereabouts of **Mr Renzo** di Piramo? {: #subdebate-45-35-s3 .speaker-ZD4} ##### Mr Howard:
LP -- The Attorney-General has provided the following answer to the honourable member's question: >I am informed that the answer to the honourable member's question is no. {:#subdebate-45-36} #### Children of Turkish Citizens: Language Tuition (Question No. 677) {: #subdebate-45-36-s0 .speaker-6U4} ##### Mr E G Whitlam:
WERRIWA, NEW SOUTH WALES · ALP am asked the Minister for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs, upon notice, on 21 April 1977: >What steps have the Australian authorities taken under Article 22 of the Agreement between Australia and Turkey, which entered into force on 5 October 1967, to give the children of Turkish citizens the opportunity of tuition in the Turkish language. {: #subdebate-45-36-s1 .speaker-0I4} ##### Mr MacKellar:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: >The Australian Government, in co-operation with the Turkish Government and the State governments of Victoria and New South Wales, entered into an arrangement in 1974 for five Turkish teachers employed by the Turkish Government to come to Australia to teach the Turkish language and culture to Turkish children in some schools in those States. Arrangements are currently being made for another three Turkish teachers to come to Australia, on contracts they have with the Turkish Government, to continue this work in Victorian Government schools. Turkish children also are able to learn Turkish in ethnic schools established by the ethnic community. The survey of ethnic schools conducted by the Committee on the Teaching of Migrant Languages in Schools produced a response from two Turkish schools, one in Victoria and one in New South Wales. > >The Commonwealth also funds special bridging courses for teachers trained in migrant source countries at the State College of Victoria, Toorak, and the Sydney Teachers' College. Eight Turkish teachers have enrolled in these courses. In addition, a number of bi-lingual and multi-lingual projects have been funded through the special projects program of the Schools Commission to encourage the exploration of the principles involved in this kind of development. Yugoslav Citizens in Australia: Language Tuition (Question No. 678) {: #subdebate-45-36-s2 .speaker-6U4} ##### Mr E G Whitlam:
WERRIWA, NEW SOUTH WALES · ALP am asked the Minister for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs, upon notice, on 21 April 1977: >What steps have the Australian authorities taken > >Under Article 10 of the Agreement between Australia and Yugoslavia on the Residence and Employment of Yugoslav citizens in Australia, which entered into force on 20 May 1970, to promote faculties and establish classes to assist Yugoslav workers and their families to acquire knowledge of the English language; and > >Under Article 1 1 of the Agreement to facilitate the integration of children of Yugoslav workers into the Australian education system and give them the opportunity of learning their mother tongue. {: #subdebate-45-36-s3 .speaker-0I4} ##### Mr MacKellar:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: >The Agreement between Australia and Yugoslavia on the o Residence and Employment of Yugoslav citizens in Australia came into force on 20 May 1970 but has not been implemented because of procedural difficulties which arose subsequent to the signing of the Agreement Nevertheless, Yugoslav migrants have the same opportunity as other migrants to participate in English language courses and classes provided under the adult migrant and the multi-cultural education programs. The Commonwealth provides special funding for these programs. The Commonwealth also funds special bridging courses for teachers trained in migrant source countries at the State College of Victoria, Toorak, and at the Sydney Teachers' College. Two Yugoslav teachers have enrolled in these courses. A number of bi-lingual and multi-lingual projects also have been funded under the special projects program of the Schools Commission to encourage the exploration of the principles involved in this kind of development {:#subdebate-45-37} #### Maltese Migrants: Language Tuition (Question No. 679) {: #subdebate-45-37-s0 .speaker-6U4} ##### Mr E G Whitlam:
WERRIWA, NEW SOUTH WALES · ALP am asked the Minister for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs, upon notice, on 21 April 1977: >What steps have the Australian authorities taken under Article 11 of the Migration and Settlement Agreement between Australia and Malta, which entered into force on 1 July 1970, to promote facilities and establish classes to assist Maltese migants including their families to acquire knowledge of the English language and to facilitate the integration of the children of Maltese migrants into the Australian education system and give them the opportunity of learning the Maltese language. {: #subdebate-45-37-s1 .speaker-0I4} ##### Mr MacKellar:
LP -The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: >English classes are available for adult Maltese migrants as part of the overall adult migrant education program. Special funds are provided through the Schools Commission to education authorities in the States for migrant and multi-cultural education including English language classes for migrant children from non-English speaking backgrounds. The report of the Committee on the Teaching of Migrant Languages in Schools shows that a primary school in Victoria provides a course in the Maltese language. In addition, the Commonwealth funds special bridging courses for teachers trained in migrant-source countries at the State College of Victoria, Toorak, and the Sydney Teachers ' College and one Maltese teacher has enrolled for this course. A number of bilingual and multi-lingual projects also have been funded through the special projects program of the Schools Commission to encourage the exploration of the principles involved in this kind of development {:#subdebate-45-38} #### Italian Workers and Families: Language Tuition (Question No. 680) {: #subdebate-45-38-s0 .speaker-6U4} ##### Mr E G Whitlam:
WERRIWA, NEW SOUTH WALES · ALP am asked the Minister for Immigation and Ethnic Affairs, upon notice, on 21 April 1977: >What steps have the Australian authorities taken (a) under Article 2 1 of the Migration and Settlement Agreement between Australia and Italy, which entered into force on 8 July 1971, to promote facilities and establish classes to assist Italian workers and their families to acquire knowledge of the English language and to facilitate the integration of the children of Italian workers into the Australian education system and give them the opportunity of tuition in the Italian language and (b) under Article 2 of the Agreement of Cultural Co-operation between Australia and Italy, which entered into force on 28 May 197S, to facilitate the integration of Italian children into the Australian community while maintaining their cultural ties with their country of origin. {: #subdebate-45-38-s1 .speaker-0I4} ##### Mr MacKellar:
LP -The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: >English classes are available for adult Italian migrants as part of the overall migrant education program. Special funds also are provided through the Schools Commission to education authorities in the States for migrant and multi-cultural education including English language classes for migrant children from non-English speaking backgrounds. Surveys conducted by the Committee on the Teaching of Migrant Languages in Schools indicate that there are 41 courses in Italian in primary schools in Australia while 184 secondary schools offer Italian language courses. Italian children may also be taught in ethnic schools and a survey conducted by the Committee produced a response from 101 ethnic schools (37 in New South Wales, 56 in Victoria and eight in Western Australia). > >The Commonwealth also funds special bridging courses for teachers trained in migrant-source countries at the State College of Victoria, Toorak, and at the Sydney Teachers' > >College. In addition, discussions are taking place with Italian authorities about a possible pilot primary teacher exchange project. {:#subdebate-45-39} #### National Disaster Insurance Scheme (Question No. 1137) {: #subdebate-45-39-s0 .speaker-CV4} ##### Mr Jacobi: asked the Treasurer, upon notice, on 16 August 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. With reference to his answer to question No. 145 *(Hansard,* 5 May 1977, page 1675) can he say what progress has been made on the matter of natural disaster mitigation and the establishment of a natural disaster insurance scheme. 1. Has his attention been drawn to the symposium on natural hazards held in Canberra from 26 to 29 May 1976, at which the most authoritative papers on this subject were considered and discussed. 2. If so, (a) did a Minister of the present Government officiate at the symposium, (b) did any officers of his Department attend the symposium, (c) what Departments were represented at the symposium and (d) was an evaluation of the symposium compiled by officers of his Department or officers of other departments; if so, will he table their findings; if not, why not 3. In particular, was his attention drawn to question 3 (c) for consideration by the working groups of experts at the symposium, namely, how can any insurance scheme discourage unwarranted exposure to risk. 4. In view of his reply to question No. 145 that careful planning and research is necessary to identify the expertise required from within government and elsewhere to provide advice on the subject of disaster mitigation, in so far as it is of relevance to the development of a natural disaster insurance scheme, did the symposium fail to provide sufficient expertise. 5. Did the volume *Report on Cyclone Tracy- Effect on Buildings* by G. R. Walker to the then Department of Housing and Construction in December 1974, provide sufficient technical information for the Government to relate cyclone mitigation to a natural disaster insurance scheme. 6. Does the Government agree with A. Askew and D. Pilgrim in a paper presented to the symposium entitled 'Identifying Flood Plain Hazards- A National Program of Flood Plain Mapping' that one piece of information basic to all measures for alleviating the effects of floodings is a map showing areas which will be inundated with various frequencies. 7. 8 ) If so, will he take steps perhaps through the Australian Water Resources Council as suggested in the paper, to produce flood plain maps, as a preliminary measure to the establishment of effective natural disaster mitigation measures. 8. Will the Government also take steps to evaluate the probability of earthquake risk, particularly in the Sydney area, as has been evaluated and reported upon in so far as the Adelaide area is concerned. 9. 10) When is the flood mitigation Wivenhoe Dam on the Brisbane River due for completion. 10. Will the Government provide extra assistance to expedite construction of the dam as another flood in Brisbane of 1 974 magnitude would cause more than $200m damage. 11. When will he table the Government's proposed natural disaster insurance scheme. {: #subdebate-45-39-s1 .speaker-KIM} ##### Mr Lynch:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. The arrangements for the establishment of a mitigation committee, which will be bringing together and assessing material on mitigation measures with regard to their implications for a natural disaster insurance scheme, are well advanced and it is hoped that the committee will be providing advice to the working party in the near future. As to the overall task of establishing a scheme, work is proceeding in accordance with the steps outlined in the discussion paper tabled in the House of Representatives on 8 December 1976 by my colleague, the Minister for Post and Telecommunications and Minister Assisting the Treasurer. While good progress has been made it should be stressed that, because of the inherent complexities involved, a considerable amount of work is necessary before final decisions can be taken and a scheme implemented. 1. Yes. 2. (a) Yes. The symposium was officially opened by my colleague, the Minister for Defence. {: type="a" start="b"} 0. and (c) Representatives of the following departments attended the symposium or part thereof: Department of Construction Department of Defence Department of Environment, Housing and Community Development Department of Health Department of National Resources Department of the Northern Territory Department of Science Department of Treasury {: type="a" start="d"} 0. I am informed that papers presented at the symposium were of interest and value to a number of departments and authorities in connection with various activities associated with natural hazards. So far as I am aware no overall evaluation of the symposium has been prepared. {: type="1" start="4"} 0. I am informed that this matter was discussed by participants in the Symposium. 1. As indicated above, the material from the symposium has proved to be of interest and value in a number of areas. In respect to the establishment of a natural disaster insurance scheme, however, expertise is required on a longer-term basis than that provided by the symposium and concentrating on matters specifically related to the development of a scheme. This includes the compilation and analysis of particular information on present and prospective policies and procedures (such as risk assessment, land use planning and building codes) which can affect either exposure to risk or the damages from natural hazards. The mitigation committee will be addressing itself to these matters. 2. . (7), (8) and (9) It is expected that the mitigation committee will be investigating matters such as the adequacy of technical information available on natural hazards including their probability of occurrence, and that the committee's investigations will extend to information of the kind given in the documents referred to by the honourable member. In relation to the question of producing flood plain maps, the Commonwealth and State governments through the Aus.tralian Water Resources Council are at present preparing a report on a national program of flood plain mapping and this report is expected to be available in the not too distant future. {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 10) and ( 1 1 ) The Wivenhoe Dam, to be built on the Brisbane River by State and local authorities, is a multi-purpose water storage facility, the main purposes of which is to augment water supplies and provide flood mitigation protection for Brisbane and the general region. The Commonwealth is not providing assistance for the scheme. Although I understand the project is due for completion early in the 1980s further information might be obtained from appropriate State Ministers. 1. 12) At this stage of the developmental work it is not possible to provide a firm indication of when final decisions on this matter might be made. {:#subdebate-45-40} #### Department of Immigration and Ethnic Affairs: Overseas Staff (Question No. 1178) {: #subdebate-45-40-s0 .speaker-6U4} ##### Mr E G Whitlam:
WERRIWA, NEW SOUTH WALES · ALP am asked the Minister for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs, upon notice, on 16 August 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. How many (a) Australian-based and (b) locally.engaged persons are employed in each of his Department's overseas offices. 1. How many persons made inquiries at each office in 1976-77. 2. How many persons migrated from the area for which each office is responsible in 1976-77. {: #subdebate-45-40-s1 .speaker-0I4} ##### Mr MacKellar:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: (1), (2) and (3) As at 30 June 1977, 144 Australia based staff as well as 419 locally engaged staff were employed at offices of the Department of Immigration and Ethnic Affairs overseas. The locally engaged staff are, in fact, employed by the Department of Foreign Affairs. The table below lists staffing by posts. Some posts have responsibility for migration matters for two or more countries. The numbers of arrivals shown in the table are related to settler arrivals from the country in which any post is located and from any other countries for which it has responsibility. These figures include arrivals of nominated persons and of direct applicants. However, the workload involved in handling nominations from Australia is not reflected in the numbers of inquiries listed in the table. The 'numbers of inquiries' relate to aU countries within a post's jurisdiction. Such levels, however, are not indicators of the actual workloads since figures are maintained overseas only in respect of first migration inquiries. They do not, for instance, cover subsequent inquiries or the very extensive work related to applications for entry to Australia for visits or temporary residence. {:#subdebate-45-41} #### Registered Unemployed, Wynnum Area (Question No. 1418) {: #subdebate-45-41-s0 .speaker-RK4} ##### Mr Hayden: asked the Minister for Employment and Industrial Relations, upon notice, on 13 September 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) How many persons were registered as unemployed in the Employment Office area of Wynnum, Queensland, at the end of August 1975, August 1976 and August 1977. 1. What percentage of the persons was (a) males and (b) females (i) under 2 1 years of age and (ii) 2 1 years of age and over. 2. What were the principal work categories of the persons registered as unemployed. {: #subdebate-45-41-s1 .speaker-KVM} ##### Mr Street:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: (1), (2) and (3) In view of the volume of requests for detailed labour market information and the time involved in extracting and preparing such information, I have arranged for local offices of the Commonwealth Employment Service, when requested by a member of parliament, to provide readily available raw data which may be relevant to the question. I suggest that the honourable member contact the Officer-in-charge of the CES office concerned. {:#subdebate-45-42} #### Registered Unemployed, Woolloongabba Area (Question No. 1419) {: #subdebate-45-42-s0 .speaker-RK4} ##### Mr Hayden: asked the Minister for Employment and Industrial Relations, upon notice, on 13 September 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. How many persons were registered as unemployed in the Employment Office area of Woolloongabba, Queensland, at the end of August 1975, August 1976 and August 1977. 1. What percentage of the persons was (a) males and (b) females (i) under 21 years of age and (ii) 2 1 years of age and over. 2. What were the principal work categories of the persons registered as unemployed. {: #subdebate-45-42-s1 .speaker-KVM} ##### Mr Street:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: (1), (2) and (3) In view of the volume of requests for detailed labour market information and the time involved in extracting and preparing such information, I have arranged for local offices of the Commonwealth Employment Service, when requested by a member of parliament, to provide readily available raw data which may be relevant to the question. I suggest that the honourable member contact the Officer-in-charge of the CES office concerned. {:#subdebate-45-43} #### Registered Unemployed, Woodridge Area (Question No. 1420) {: #subdebate-45-43-s0 .speaker-RK4} ##### Mr Hayden: asked the Minister for Employment and Industrial Relations, upon notice, on 13 September 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) How many persons were registered as unemployed in the Employment Office area of Woodridge, Queensland, at the end of August 1975, August 1976 and August 1977. 1. What percentage of the persons was (a) males and (b) females (i) under 2 1 years of age and (ii) 2 1 years of age and over. 2. What were the principal work categories of the persons registered as unemployed. {: #subdebate-45-43-s1 .speaker-KVM} ##### Mr Street:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: (1), (2) and (3) In view of the volume of requests for detailed labour market information and the time involved in extracting and preparing such information. I have arranged for local offices of the Commonwealth Employment Service, when requested by a member of parliament, to provide readily available raw data which may be relevant to the question. I suggest that the honourable member contact the Officer-in-charge of the CES office concerned. {:#subdebate-45-44} #### Registered Unemployed, West End Area, Queensland (Question No. 1421) {: #subdebate-45-44-s0 .speaker-RK4} ##### Mr Hayden: asked the Minister for Employment and Industrial Relations, upon notice, on 13 September 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) How many persons were registered as unemployed in the Employment Office area of West End, Queensland, at the end of August 1975, August 1976 and August 1977. 1. What percentage of the persons was (a) males and (b) females (i) under 2 1 years of age and (ii) 2 1 years of age and over. 2. What were the principal work categories of the persons registered as unemployed. {: #subdebate-45-44-s1 .speaker-KVM} ##### Mr Street:
LP -The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: (1), (2) and (3) In view of the volume of requests for detailed labour market information and the time involved in extracting and preparing such information, I have arranged for local offices of the Commonwealth Employment Service, when requested by a member of parliament, to provide readily available raw data which may be relevant to the question. I suggest that the honourable member contact the Officer-in-Charge of the CES office concerned. {:#subdebate-45-45} #### Registered Unemployed, Mount Gravatt Area (Question No. 1422) {: #subdebate-45-45-s0 .speaker-RK4} ##### Mr Hayden: asked the Minister for Employment and Industrial Relations, upon notice, on 13 September 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. How many persons were registered as unemployed in the Employment Office area of Mount Gravatt, Queensland, at the end of August 1975, August 1976 and August 1977. 1. What percentage of the persons was (a) males and (b) females (i) under 2 1 years of age and (ii) 2 1 years of age and over. 2. What were the principal work categories of the persons registered as unemployed. {: #subdebate-45-45-s1 .speaker-KVM} ##### Mr Street:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: (1), (2) and (3) In view of the volume of requests for detailed labour market information and the time involved in extracting and preparing such information, I have arranged for local offices of the Commonwealth Employment Service, when requested by a member of parliament, to provide readily available raw data which may be relevant to the question. I suggest that the honourable member contact the Officer-in-Charge of the CES office concerned. {:#subdebate-45-46} #### Registered Unemployed, Inala Area (Question No. 1423) {: #subdebate-45-46-s0 .speaker-RK4} ##### Mr Hayden: asked the Minister for Employment and Industrial Relations, upon notice, on 13 September 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) How many persons were registered as unemployed in the Employment Office area of Inala, Queensland, at the end of August 1975, August 1976 and August 1977. 1. What percentage of the persons was (a) males and (b) females (i) under 2 1 years of age and (ii) 2 1 years of age and over. 2. What were the principal work categories of the persons registered as unemployed. {: #subdebate-45-46-s1 .speaker-KVM} ##### Mr Street:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: (1), (2) and (3) In view of the volume of requests for detailed labour market information and the time involved in extracting and preparing such information, I have arranged for local offices of the Commonwealth Employment Service, when requested by a member of parliament, to provide readily available raw data which may be relevant to the question. I suggest that the honourable member contact the Officer-in-Charge of the CES office concerned. {:#subdebate-45-47} #### Registered Unemployed, Annerley Area (Question No. 1424) {: #subdebate-45-47-s0 .speaker-RK4} ##### Mr Hayden: asked the Minister for Employment and Industrial Relations, upon notice, on 13 September 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. How many persons were registered as unemployed in the Employment Office area of Annerley, Queensland, at the end of August 1975, August 1976 and August 1977. 1. What percentage of the persons was (a) males and (b) females (i) under 2 1 years of age and (ii) 2 1 years of age and over. 2. What were the principal work categories of the persons registered as unemployed. {: #subdebate-45-47-s1 .speaker-KVM} ##### Mr Street:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: (1), (2) and (3) In view of the volume of requests for detailed labour market information and the time involved in extracting and preparing such information, I have arranged for local offices of the Commonwealth Employment Service, when requested by a member of parliament, to provide readily available raw data which may be relevant to the question. I suggest that the honourable member contact the Officer-in-Charge of the CES office concerned. {:#subdebate-45-48} #### Beef Stabilisation Scheme (Question No. 1447) {: #subdebate-45-48-s0 .speaker-5J4} ##### Mr Scholes: asked the Minister for Primary Industry, upon notice, on 14 September 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. Has he informed beef greyer organisations that the Government will back any stabilisation scheme agreed upon by the States. 1. If so, did he indicate the basis of the support. 2. What limits will be placed on the quantity of beef accepted at guaranteed prices. 3. Has the Government indicated what approximate level of financial assistance will be available from the Commonwealth for a beef stabilisation and classification scheme. 4. If not, will the industry and the States be disadvantaged in discussions on a stabilisation scheme if this basic information is not available during the planning stages. {: #subdebate-45-48-s1 .speaker-5E4} ##### Mr Sinclair:
NCP/NP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) and (2) No. I have, however, given an assurance that if all States can get together on a domestic price stabilisation scheme then the Commonwealth will introduce the necessary supporting legislation. (3), (4) and (5) The Government is not yet committed to any form of beef stabilisation scheme. A working party has been set up by the Australian Agricultural Council to make a comprehensive assessment of all domestic and export price support proposals and I have requested that study be made of stabilisation arrangements of a buffer fund character. Until such time that there is agreement on a specific stabilisation scheme it is not possible to say what quantity of beef might be covered or what levels of financial assistance from the Commonwealth might be involved. Certainly the State governments and the beef industry will be consulted before any stabilisation proposal is finalised. I announced on 22 September that the Commonwealth will provide up to $6m towards the establishment and capital costs of implementing carcass classification in beef cattle chains. {:#subdebate-45-49} #### Registered Unemployed, Greensborough (Question No. 1512) {: #subdebate-45-49-s0 .speaker-ZJ4} ##### Mr Willis:
GELLIBRAND, VICTORIA asked the Minister for Employment and Industrial Relations, upon notice, on 20 September 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1) How many persons were registered as unemployed in the Employment Office area of Greensborough, Victoria, at the end of (a) August 1975 (b) August 1976 and (c) August 1977. 1. What percentage of the persons was (a) males and (b) females (i) under 2 1 years of age and (ii) 2 1 years of age and over. 2. What were the principal work categories of the persons registered as unemployed. {: #subdebate-45-49-s1 .speaker-KVM} ##### Mr Street:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: (1), (2) and (3) In view of the volume of requests for detailed labour market information and the time involved in extracting and preparing such information, I have arranged for local offices of the Commonwealth Employment Service, when requested by a member of parliament, to provide readily available raw data which may be relevant to the question. I suggest that the honourable member contact the Officer-in-charge of the CES office concerned. Australian Wool Corporation: Interest on Borrowings (Question No. 1697) {: #subdebate-45-49-s2 .speaker-2E4} ##### Mr Lloyd: asked the Minister for Primary Industry: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. Why does the Australian Wool Corporation have to pay 1 1.73 per cent interest on money borrowed to support the reserve price scheme, while other statutory commodity bodies pay almost 2 per cent less. 1. As the Government guarantee provides a no risk situation for any lender, it is considered that the interest rate should be lower. {: #subdebate-45-49-s3 .speaker-5E4} ##### Mr Sinclair:
NCP/NP -- The Minister for Primary Industry has provided the following answer to the honourable member's question: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) Presumably the honourable member is referring to the generally lower rate of interest charges on funds advanced by the Rural Credits Department of the Reserve Bank, in relation to particular current commercial overdraft rates. It is necessary to bear in mind that the Australian Wool Corporation does not acquire and market a product on a seasonal basis, returning the proceeds of a season's production within 12 months. Some of the wool purchased by the Wool Corporation under its reserve price policy has had to be held for more than three years. The role of the Rural Credits Department of the Reserve Bank is the provision of short-term credit for seasonal finance during the disposal of a season's crop or other produce. Accordingly, loans are limited by statute to a period of twelve months. The nature of the Wool Corporation's activities are such that it has been considered that advances required by the Corporation would not fall within the statutory provisions for Rural Credits Department advances. {: type="1" start="2"} 0. The Government has guaranteed repayment of principal and interest on loans obtained from the banks, thus enabling the Corporation to secure a rate of interest that is less than would be expected to apply for a private borrower (having regard to the magnitude of the amounts involved and the timing of repayments). That rate of interest has been applied also to borrowings made by the Corporation from both Government and grower sources. {:#subdebate-45-50} #### Guided Missile Frigates (Question No. 1718) {: #subdebate-45-50-s0 .speaker-K9M} ##### Mr Les Johnson:
HUGHES, NEW SOUTH WALES · ALP asked the Minister for Defence, upon notice, on 1 1 October 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. Was the estimated cost of 2 guided missile frigates with spares support $330m as at January 1 976. 1. Did this price escalate to $4 14m at January 1977 prices. 2. If so, how much of this increase can be attributed to (a) devaluation in exchange fluctuations and (b) other reasons. {: #subdebate-45-50-s1 .speaker-4U4} ##### Mr Killen:
Minister for Defence · MORETON, QUEENSLAND · LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. Yes. 1. Yes. 2. a. (i) devaluation and exchange rate changes amount to $45. 1 m; (ii) prices escalated by $26m. {: type="a" start="b"} 0. other reasons $ 1 3m. Army and Navy Work-boats (Question No. 1734) {: #subdebate-45-50-s2 .speaker-KYU} ##### Dr Richardson:
TANGNEY, WESTERN AUSTRALIA asked the Minister for Defence, upon notice, on 12 October 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. Has his attention been drawn to a report in the *West Australian* of S October 1977, in which Government spokesmen are reported as stating that a bid from a Western Aus.tralian firm for the contract for the 22 new work-boats to be built in Australia for the Army and Navy had been refused because the Navy considered that single screw boats could be dangerous in some situations, and that the Navy preferred aluminium hulls to fibreglass; if so, does the statement represent defence requirements. 1. If the statement represents defence requirements why did the tender documents state that boats could be manufactured from aluminium, GRP (fibreglass), wood; steel, or any other approved material, and why was the tender not restricted to twin screw vessels. 2. ) Has the Navy let contracts for any vessels to be made of fibreglass in the past; if so, of what size. 3. Does each of the vessels to be manufactured by North Queensland Engineers and Agents Pty Ltd meet the tender requirements in that it is (a) a tried and proven vessel unaltered in any way or (b) a commercial boat containing minor modifications only to meet Naval requirements; if so, which category applies, and where may this vessel be inspected. {: #subdebate-45-50-s3 .speaker-4U4} ##### Mr Killen:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member 's question is as follows: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. Yes. 1. By allowing aU designs and material types, the widest possible response from tenderers was available and did not exclude the opportunity for the Commonwealth to benefit from technological development. Navy's past experience with small craft indicates aluminium hulls are preferable to conventional fibreglass hulls for the duties planned for the 12 metre craft. However, none of the fibreglass designs offered had qualities which met the Navy requirement for hull construction necessary for the arduous duties planned for these craft Thirteen of the craft will be employed in support of diving operations. For this role the increased manoeuvrability and reliability provided by twin screw craft was considered highly desirable as it gives an improved degree of safety. The Navy design included this feature and tenderers of commercial boats were advised they would be in competition with tenders for the Navy design. {: type="1" start="3"} 0. Yes. Sizes range from 26 to 33 feet in length and were built in Victoria and Western Australia. They are not used as work boats. 1. The tender of North Queensland Engineers and Agents Pry Ltd meets the tender requirements for the Navy designed boat. {:#subdebate-45-51} #### Preston Institute of Technology (Question No. 1756) {: #subdebate-45-51-s0 .speaker-PD4} ##### Mr Brown: asked the Minister representing the Minister for Education, upon notice, on 13 October 1977: >What grants have been provided to the Preston Institute of Technology in each of the years 1975-76 to 1977-78, inclusive. {: #subdebate-45-51-s1 .speaker-EE6} ##### Mr Viner:
Minister for Aboriginal Affairs · STIRLING, WESTERN AUSTRALIA · LP -- The Minister for Education has provided the following answer to the honourable member's question: >Commonwealth funds are provided to the Preston Institute of Technology under States Grants (Advanced Education) legislation on a calendar year and not a financial year basis. > >The Commonwealth sums provided in respect of 1975, 1976 and 1977 are tabulated below, together with the estimated provision for 1978. {:#subdebate-45-52} #### La Trobe University (Question No. 1757) {: #subdebate-45-52-s0 .speaker-PD4} ##### Mr Brown: asked the Minister representing the Minister for Education, upon notice, on 13 October 1977: >What grants have been provided to the La Trobe University in each of the years 1975-76 to 1977-78, inclusive. {: #subdebate-45-52-s1 .speaker-EE6} ##### Mr Viner:
LP -- The Minister for Education has provided the following answer to the honourable member's question: >Commonwealth funds are provided to La Trobe University under States grants legislation on a calendar year and not a financial year basis. > >The Commonwealth sums provided in respect of 1 975 and 1976 are tabulated below, together with the estimated provisions for 1977 and 1978. {:#subdebate-45-53} #### Department of Defence: Capital Works Projects in Queensland (Question No. 1788) {: #subdebate-45-53-s0 .speaker-0F4} ##### Mr Braithwaite: asked the Minister for Defence, upon notice, on 13 October 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. What was the amount of expenditure through his Department on capital works within the electoral divisions of Leichhardt, Herbert, Kennedy and Dawson during each of the years 1973-74 to 1976-77 inclusive 1. What was the total expenditure by bis Department during the same years. {: #subdebate-45-53-s1 .speaker-4U4} ##### Mr Killen:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) Details of my Department's capital works expenditure authorised through the Department of Construction in the electoral divisions of Leichhardt, Herbert, Kennedy and Dawson for each of the years 1973-74 to 1976-77 are as follows: {: type="1" start="2"} 0. In addition to the above amounts, Department of Defence incurred directly, expenditure of $27,000 during 1973-74 in the electoral division of Dawson for works at Townsville. 1. The total expenditure on works by the Department of Defence over the past four years, including expenditures on capital works, repairs and maintenance and furniture and fittings was $421. 532m. {:#subdebate-45-54} #### Tobacco Industry Trust Account (Question No. 1815) {: #subdebate-45-54-s0 .speaker-JNG} ##### Dr Cass:
MARIBYRNONG, VICTORIA asked the Minister for Primary Industry, upon notice, on 18 October 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) What is the current breakdown in expenditure from the Tobacco Industry Trust Account for research and extension. 1. What percentage of this expenditure went on (a) tobacco plant diseases, (b) tobacco marketing, (c) tobacco manufacturing processes and (d) research which could be described as aimed at reducing the harmful effects of smoking, during the last five years. 2. What percentage of this Trust Account is provided by the Commonwealth Government. 3. What are the other sources of revenue for the account. {: #subdebate-45-54-s1 .speaker-5E4} ##### Mr Sinclair:
NCP/NP -- The answer to the honourable member's questions is as follows: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. The following are the 1977-78 allocations from the Tobacco Industry Trust Account to the States for research and extension: {: type="1" start="2"} 0. 1 refer the honourable member to my reply to question No. 1 135 by **Dr Klugman** printed on page 1690 of *Hansard* of 5 October 1977. The answer given for that question would be relevant for the past rive years. {: type="1" start="3"} 0. As with other rural industry trust funds, the Commonwealth provides matching funds equal to expenditure of industry contributions from the Trust Account. In 1976-77 the Commonwealth provided $373,300, which for that year was 35.5 per cent of the total income of the Trust Account 1. Other sources of revenue for the Trust Account were from- levies paid by growers on all Australian tobacco leaf sold to a manufacturer levies paid by manufacturers on all Australian tobacco leaf purchased direct contributions from the State Governments of New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland income from rents, sale of produce and assets interest on investments. The statement of receipts in the 22nd Annual Report of the Tobacco Industry Trust Account for the year ended 30 June 1977, which was tabled in this House on Wednesday 26 October, shows the following: The abnormally high figure for income from rent, sale of produce and assets reflects the proceeds of sale of the Tobacco Research Institute, Mareeba, Queensland and some of its equipment {:#subdebate-45-55} #### Foreign Investment Review Board (Question No. 1919) {: #subdebate-45-55-s0 .speaker-6U4} ##### Mr E G Whitlam:
WERRIWA, NEW SOUTH WALES · ALP am asked the Treasurer, upon notice, on 27 October 1977: >When did the Government refer to the Foreign Investment Review Board the question of giving it a statutory basis *(Hansard,* 9 December 1976, page 37 14, question No. 1 576; 18 October 1977, page 2127, question No. 1572). {: #subdebate-45-55-s1 .speaker-KIM} ##### Mr Lynch:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: >In pursuance of my public statements of 1 and 8 April 1976 on foreign investment matters, the Board has had the question of statutory backing for its operations under notice since its establishment. Following advice given by the Board, I have agreed that this matter should be considered as part of the broader task of examining the need for and scope of more comprehensive legislation in respect of foreign investment. The question of such broader legislation has to be considered in the light of experience with the administration of foreign investment policy under present arrangements. {:#subdebate-45-56} #### Registered Unemployed: Queensland Electoral Divisions (Question No. 1926) {: #subdebate-45-56-s0 .speaker-RK4} ##### Mr Hayden: asked the Minister for Employment and Industrial Relations, upon notice, on 2 November 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) How many persons were registered as unemployed in Commonwealth Employment Service offices covering the electoral divisions of (a) Lilley, (b) Brisbane, (c) Herbert and (d) Bowman at the end of (i) August 1975, (ii) August 1976 and (iii) August 1977. 1. What percentage of those registered was (a) male, (b) female, (c) under 2 1 years of age and (d) 2 1 years of age and over. 2. What were the principal work categories of persons registered as unemployed. {: #subdebate-45-56-s1 .speaker-KVM} ##### Mr Street:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: (1), (2) and (3) In view of the volume of requests for detailed labour market information and the time involved in extracting and preparing such information, I have arranged for local offices of the Commonwealth Employment Service, when requested by a member of parliament, to provide readily available raw data which may be relevant to the question. I suggest that the honourable member contact the Officers-in-charge of the CES offices concerned. {:#subdebate-45-57} #### Registered Unemployed: Queensland Electoral Divisions (Question No. 1927) {: #subdebate-45-57-s0 .speaker-RK4} ##### Mr Hayden: asked the Minister for Employment and Industrial Relations, upon notice, on 2 November 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) How many persons were registered as unemployed in the Commonwealth Employment Service offices covering the electoral divisions of (a) Capricornia, (b) Leichhardt, (c) Dawson and (d) Griffith at the end of (i) August 1975, (ii) August 1976 and (iii) August 1977. 1. What percentage of those registered was (a) male, (b) female, (c) under 2 1 years of age and (d) 2 1 years of age and over. 2. What were the principal work categories of persons registered as unemployed. {: #subdebate-45-57-s1 .speaker-KVM} ##### Mr Street:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. (2) and (3) In view of the volume of requests for detailed labour market information and the time involved in extracting and preparing such information, I have arranged for local offices of the Commonwealth Employment Service, when requested by a member of parliament, to provide readily available raw data which may be relevant to the question. I suggest that the honourable member contact the Officers-in-Charge of the CES offices concerned. {:#subdebate-45-58} #### Consumer Price Index (Question No. 1928) {: #subdebate-45-58-s0 .speaker-JVS} ##### Mr Neil: asked the Treasurer, upon notice, on 2 November 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) Does the consumer price index take into account home repayments to financial institutions, or does it only include a measure of the initial purchasing price of homes. 1. To what extent have either of these measures of price movement risen or fallen in comparison with the total CPI. {: #subdebate-45-58-s1 .speaker-KIM} ##### Mr Lynch:
LP -The following reply has been provided to the honourable member's question: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. The consumer price index does not include home repayments to financial institutions. The house price component of the index measures changes in the prices of new houses. 1. During the period 1966-67 to 1976-77, for the weighted average of six State capital cities, the house price component of the CPI showed a price increase of 154.8 per cent compared with an increase of 120.0 per cent in the CPI All Groups index. {:#subdebate-45-59} #### Consumer Price Index (Question No. 1929) {: #subdebate-45-59-s0 .speaker-JVS} ##### Mr Neil: asked the Treasurer, upon notice, on 2 November 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. Does any expenditure class of the consumer price index take into account air fares. 1. If so, was the 23 per cent reduction in air fares to the United Kingdom by the Minister for Transport on 27 January 1 977 taken into account when compiling subsequent indices; if so, by how much did it affect each index. {: #subdebate-45-59-s1 .speaker-KIM} ##### Mr Lynch:
LP -- The following reply has been provided to the honourable member's question: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. Domestic, that is within Australia, air fares have been included in the public transport fares sub-group of the consumer price index since September quarter 19/6, but overseas air fares are not included in the consumer price index. 1. Changes in overseas air fares have no effect on the index. {:#subdebate-45-60} #### Children's Services Program (Question No. 1378) {: #subdebate-45-60-s0 .speaker-KRR} ##### Mr McLean: asked the Minister representing the Minister for Social Security, upon notice, on 7 September 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) Did he say in answer to my question without notice on 30 May 1977 *(Hansard,* page 2097), regarding child care programs, that a number of research studies have been funded in previous years under the Children's Services Program, some of them relating to psycho-social development of children; if so, which of these studies researched the matter raised in my question. 1. Have any of these studies confirmed the findings of certain prominent British psychiatrists who have found that children under the age of 3 years and who constantly lose the care of their mothers through hospitalisation or regular attendance at child care institutions, suffer long term psychological and emotional damage. 2. If no similar studies have been undertaken in Australia, will the Minister for Social Security give consideration to funding this research. {: #subdebate-45-60-s1 .speaker-GH4} ##### Mr Hunt:
NCP/NP -- The Minister for Social Security has provided the following answer to the honourable member's question. {: type="1" start="1"} 0. Three research reports which have some bearing on the issues you have raised have been funded under the auspices of the Children's Services Program. These are: {: type="a" start="a"} 0. A comparative study of attachment patterns in creche and home reared two year olds; 1. Distribution of attention to familiar and novel stimulation in day care and home infants; 2. Three studies of language and communications in pre-school children at home and in day care centres. These studies have been distributed and a copy of each is available in the National Library in Canberra. {: type="1" start="2"} 0. There is nothing in the findings of these studies which would indicate that children in regular attendance in day care or related services suffer long term psychological and emotional damage. The World Health Organisation Chronicle recently made reference to a Report of the WHO Expert Committee on Mental Health in an article 'Child Development- Separating Fact from Fancy'. This article stated: 'Children are not inevitably damaged by receiving day care outside the home or by having mothers who go out to work, as was mistakenly argued by some previous WHO expert groups. It has been demonstrated that good quality day care can have positive psycho-social benefit, especially for children from seriously disadvantaged or disordered homes'. {: type="1" start="3"} 0. The findings of various research studies conducted both here and overseas indicate that there is a need for further research into the effects of environment on the psycho-social development of young children. {:#subdebate-45-61} #### Pre-School Funding (Question No. 1407) {: #subdebate-45-61-s0 .speaker-KSF} ##### Mr Les McMahon:
SYDNEY, NEW SOUTH WALES · ALP asked the Minister representing the Minister for Social Security, upon notice, on 8 September 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. Are pre-schools in New South Wales poised to increase fees by more than 200 per cent because of the Government's inadequate funding for pre-schools. 1. If so, will pre-schools in the inner city area of Sydney face fee rises from $5 to about $17 a week from 12 September 1977 onwards which will force most inner city children away from the pre-schools, because their parents just cannot afford to pay the fees. 2. Will the likely result of these fee rises be either the replacement of inner city children by children of wealthier parents or the closure of many of the pre-schools. 3. Is the Minister pursuing a course which will mean that pre-schools will once again become restricted to those who can afford them rather than being made available to those who need them; if not, what is the Minister prepared to do about the situation. {: #subdebate-45-61-s1 .speaker-GH4} ##### Mr Hunt:
NCP/NP -- The Minister for Social Security has provided the following answer to the honourable member's question: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. to (4) As from 1 January 1977, recurrent assistance to pre-schools has been paid in the form of block grants to the States. The conditions attached to the block grants are that funding can be differentially provided between centres to ensure access to services for children from low income families and children in special need and that the States are required to distribute the funds even-handedly between Community and State sponsored pre-schools. The block grant makes a contribution towards the recurrent costs of pre-school services and for 1977-78 the Commonwealth has provided the States with funds which will maintain a contribution equal to that which was provided in 1976-77. In addition, the Commonwealth makes general funds available which the States can allocate according to their own priorities. Through its tax sharing legislation, the Federal Government has provided the States and local government authorities with predictable and reasonable shares of national revenues and freedom to order their own priorities. The total funds available to New South Wales for expenditure in 1976-77 was S8.67m. The funds available for New South Wales from the 1977-78 Budget together with the advance for 1977-78 that has already been paid total $8.80m. {:#subdebate-45-62} #### Company Income Remitted Overseas (Question No. 1435) {: #subdebate-45-62-s0 .speaker-AV4} ##### Mr Hurford: asked the Treasurer, upon notice, on 14 September 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. What proportion of net private investment Australia was funded by overseas investment in each year since 1971-72. 1. How much and what percentage of total company income, and income from the raining industry and manufacturing industry were payable overseas in each year since 1971-72. 2. How much and what proportion of total company income, and income from the mining industry, and the manufacturing industry, were actually paid overseas in each year since 1971-72. {: #subdebate-45-62-s1 .speaker-KIM} ##### Mr Lynch:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) The estimates of the proportion of net private investment expenditure funded by overseas investment in Australia shown in the following table have been derived using the methodology established in the Treasury Economic Paper No. 1 of May 1972 entitled 'Overseas Investment in Australia'. The figures presented are consequently subject to the same Qualifications as were set out on pages 45-48 of that paper. It should also be noted that the figures do not equate with the contribution to net capital expenditure o£ foreign owned or controlled companies operating in Australia. The figures derive from a comparison of net capital inflow into companies with net private investment expenditure and as such exclude locally raised funds raised by foreign controlled companies and include overseas borrowings raised by Australian controlled companies. No aggregate figures are available for the proportion of net private investment expenditure met by foreign controlled companies operating in Australia. 1. and (3) The estimates shown in the following table have been compiled in the Australian Bureau of Statistics from both published and unpublished data. As some of the basic data required to obtain separate estimates for the mining and manufacturing industries are not available, the figures shown are to some extent based on assumptions and approximations. The estimates of income payable and paid overseas are derived from data for ENTERPRISE GROUP units classified according to the CLASSIFIED LIST OF INDUSTRIES 1966 whereas the estimates of total company income relate to ENTERPRISE units classified according to the AUSTRALIAN STANDARD INDUSTRIAL CLASSIFICATION. Hence the reliability of the estimates shown in this table is severely limited, both as regards absolute levels and year to year movements, by the lack of consistency on an industry basis, between the income payable (and paid) overseas series and the total company income series, and by the assumptions and approximations involved. {:#subdebate-45-63} #### Beef Producers: Taxable Income (Question No. 1450) {: #subdebate-45-63-s0 .speaker-5J4} ##### Mr Scholes: asked the Minister for Primary Industry, upon notice on 14 September 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. Based on current official estimates, how many beef producers will have taxable incomes between $3,500 and 6,000 during 1977-78. 1. Will the marginal tax rate on additional, Le. non-farm income for these beef growers increase from 27 cents in the dollar to 32 cents in the dollar under the tax scales to apply from 1 February 1978. {: #subdebate-45-63-s1 .speaker-5E4} ##### Mr Sinclair:
NCP/NP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) Estimates of the levels of taxable incomes of beef producers in 1977-78 are not available. The closest approximations are measures of net cash incomes estimated from recent survey of the Australian grazing industry undertaken by the Bureau of Agricultural Economics. Latest BAE figures indicate that in 1977-78 some 14,000 specialist beef producers win have net cash incomes of between zero and $5,000. A further 5,600 beef specialists will have net cash incomes between $5,000 and $ 10,000. 1. Under the tax scales to apply from 1 February 1978 the standard rate of tax payable by taxpayers generally is to be 32c in the dollar and is to apply to the part of a taxpayer's taxable income between $3,750 and $16,000. Under the 1977-78 pre-Budget scale the rate of tax on the part of a taxpayer's taxable income between $2,506 and $6,266 was 27 per cent. The increase in the marginal rate of tax on the part of the taxable income between $3,750 and $6,266 will be more than off-set by the substitution of a nil rate of tax on the first $3,750 of taxable income for the existing rates of 20 per cent and 27 per cent and the general concessional rebate of $676 as indexed for 1977-78. For primary producers (including beef producers) who are., subject to averaging, the new rates of tax including the nil rate on the first $3,750 are to apply in calculating the average rate of tax appropriate to the average income. The increase in the marginal rate applicable to the part of the average income between $3,750 and $6,266 will be more than off-set by the application of the nil rate to the first $3,750 of the average income. Where a primary producer's taxable income is greater than his average income this will confer a substantial benefit as under pre-Budget arrangements the general concessional rebate was not taken into account in the average rate calculation but was deducted only after the average rate was applied to the taxable income. A primary producer whose taxable income is less than his average income will be taxed at ordinary rates of tax. {:#subdebate-45-64} #### Antarctic Icebergs (Question No. 1474) {: #subdebate-45-64-s0 .speaker-CV4} ##### Mr Jacobi: asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs, upon notice, on 20 September 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) Is the exterior limit to the Antarctic Territory at the edge of (a) the continental land mass or (b) the ice mass. 1. Who owns unattached icebergs within (a) the territorial sea, (b) the economic zone and (c) the high seas. 2. Does it make any difference whether the territorial source of the iceberg is, or is not, known. 3. What aspects of international maritime law apply to the towing of icebergs. 4. What are the potential international liabilities for any ecological or other damage due to the harvesting or transportating of icebergs. {: #subdebate-45-64-s1 .speaker-MI4} ##### Mr Peacock:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: >The questions raised by the honourable member involve complex issues of law that in many respects are unsettled. It would therefore not be appropriate for me to canvass these legal problems at this stage. {:#subdebate-45-65} #### Public Telephone Vandalism (Question No. 1510) {: #subdebate-45-65-s0 .speaker-JVS} ##### Mr NEIL:
ST GEORGE, NEW SOUTH WALES · LP asked the Minister for Post and Telecommunications, upon notice, on 20 September 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. Are statistics available showing the extent of public telephone vandalism; if so, what form do they take. 1. Are these statistics available for the electoral division of St George or areas which include that division; if so, will he provide them. 2. What is the annual cost of vandalism to public telephones in Australia 3. What are the corresponding figures for 'red phones '. {: #subdebate-45-65-s1 .speaker-KZL} ##### Mr Eric Robinson:
MCPHERSON, QUEENSLAND · LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. Telecom Australia advises that statistics showing the incidence of public telephone faults attributable to vandalism are maintained on a Telecommunications District basis. 1. The St George electoral division covers about half of the Newtown and Sutherland Telecommunications Districts. Public telephones in these two Districts average eight vandalism faults per unit per year with the rate on some units being up to 30 faults per year. 2. Approximately $3m. 3. Statistics on vandalism are not maintained for Red phones but generally vandalism is not a significant problem as most are installed at the premises of, and supervised by, lessees. {:#subdebate-45-66} #### Imported Plants and Flowers: Quarantine Procedures (Question No. 1514) {: #subdebate-45-66-s0 .speaker-2E4} ##### Mr Lloyd: asked the Minister for Health, upon notice, on 20 September 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1) Is there a double standard with quarantine procedures for plants brought in by hand and for commercially imported cut flowers. 1. Are flowers allowed in without adequate checks for possible diseases or pests. 2. Is he satisfied with the procedures for cut flowers imported for resale. {: #subdebate-45-66-s1 .speaker-GH4} ##### Mr Hunt:
NCP/NP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) There is no double standard. Different quarantine procedures are justified for plants brought in by hand, and commercially imported cut flowers. Live plants brought in by hand for propagation undergo fumigation, treatment and observation in quarantine. Imported cut flowers, not capable of being grown, are inspected and treated if necessary. 1. No. 2. Yes. The quarantine procedures for import of cut flowers into Australia are stricter than anywhere else in the world. However, arrangements have been made to check to see if any further quarantine precautions are justified. {:#subdebate-45-67} #### Political Parties: Australian Broadcasting Commission News Coverage (Question No. 1547) {: #subdebate-45-67-s0 .speaker-JTW} ##### Mr Calder: asked the Minister for Post and Telecommunications, upon notice, on 22 September 1977: >What were the daily totals of lines of coverage given to the Australian Labor Party and the Country-Liberal Party by both the Australian Broadcasting Commission National and Territory Regional News Services between 1 August 1977 and midnight on 1 1 August 1977. {: #subdebate-45-67-s1 .speaker-KZL} ##### Mr Eric Robinson:
MCPHERSON, QUEENSLAND · LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: {: type="a" start="a"} 0. National radio news bulletins: Television news is counted in minutes and seconds. The figures for Territory regional television news bulletins between 1 August and 1 1 August were: CLP 16 minutes 6 seconds; ALP 15 minutes 7 seconds. {:#subdebate-45-68} #### Treasurer: Meetings with Mr John Bracey (Question No. 1555) {: #subdebate-45-68-s0 .speaker-6U4} ##### Mr E G Whitlam:
WERRIWA, NEW SOUTH WALES · ALP am asked the Treasurer, upon notice, on 22 September 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. On what date, at what place and in whose company has he met **Mr John** Bracey. 1. Has he spoken to him by telephone; if so, when. 2. On what occasions has he (a) sent communications himself or through others to him, or (b) received communications himself or through others from him. 3. On what occasions and at what addresses have former or present members of his staff met him. 4. On what occasions have former or present members of his staff themselves or through others (a) sent communications to **Mr Bracey,** or (b) received communications from him. {: #subdebate-45-68-s1 .speaker-KIM} ##### Mr Lynch:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) The honourable gentleman will recall that, because his Government sought at every turn to cover up its attempts to borrow through unorthodox channels billions of dollars from overseas, many people provided information to the then Opposition, including a number who were themselves negotiating certain loan raising propositions with the former Government. **Mr Bracey** was one such person. I met with him in Sydney as Deputy Leader of the Opposition on 4 June 1 975 in the company of my Principal Private Secretary. 1. No. 2. I am informed that, prior to 11 November 197S, a number of telephone conversations took place between my Principal Private Secretary and **Mr Bracey.** I am also informed that, on each occasion that **Mr Bracey** has contacted my office since 11 November 1975, the matter has been referred to the Treasury in accordance with the procedures made public in my press statement of 17 December 1975. On 21 January 1976, the First Assistant Secretary, Revenue, Loans and Investment Division, Department of the Treasury, telephoned **Mr Bracey** at the request of my Principal Private Secretary and advised **Mr Bracey** of my Press statement of 17 December 1975 and of the Government's guidelines in relation to unsolicited loan proposals. A copy of that Press statement together with the guidelines was forwarded by the Department of the Treasury to **Mr Bracey** on the same day. On 14 May 1976, the then Acting Assistant Secretary, Loans and Debt Management Branch, Revenue, Loans and Investment Division, telephoned **Mr Bracey** at the request of my Principal Private Secretary and again reminded **Mr Bracey** of the Press statement of 1 7 December 1 975 and that any unsolicited loan proposals would need to be submitted in writing to the Treasury where they would be assessed against the guidelines attached to that statement. The foregoing is in marked contrast to what occurred under the former Government and no doubt the honourable gentlemen will recall sacking two of his Ministers for their role in the 1975 'loans scandal', thereby making them scapegoats for his own complicity. I remind him of what I said in answering one of his previous questions on notice: namely that the network of intermediaries and conmen that was involved in his Government's clandestine attempts to borrow massive amounts of money from overseas was built up, not only because of the desire of his Government to deceive the Australian public, but also because the administrative arrangements which were then in force were not being observed by Ministers. {: type="1" start="4"} 0. See (1) above. 1. See (3) above. Recognition of the Australian Antarctic Territory (Question No. 1564) {: #subdebate-45-68-s2 .speaker-6U4} ##### Mr E G Whitlam:
WERRIWA, NEW SOUTH WALES · ALP am asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs, upon notice, on 4 October 1977: >What changes have other countries made in their recognition or non-recognition of Australia's claim to the Australian Antarctic Territory since' **Mr Casey's** answer to me on 9 April 1977 *(Hansard,* page 678). {: #subdebate-45-68-s3 .speaker-MI4} ##### Mr Peacock:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: >There have been no changes in the situation since **Mr Casey's** answer on 9 April 1957. Without wishing to exaggerate the significance of it, it is worth noting, however, that, with only one' exception (the United States of America), there was no response from any state when Australia extended to the AAT the Convention of the World Meteorological Organisation in 1955 and the Universal Postal Convention in 1959. Determinants of Australia's Foreign Policy (QuestionNo.1588) {: #subdebate-45-68-s4 .speaker-JTS} ##### Mr Kevin Cairns:
LILLEY, QUEENSLAND · LP asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs, upon notice, on 4 October 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. When has a particular conception of human rights represented the sole determinant of Australian foreign policy since World War II. 1. Does it explain the official Government attitude towards China, Russia, Vietnam or Cambodia; if so, when was this made clear. 2. Did it ever explain the Australian attitude towards Indonesia on a Government to Government basis. 3. Did **Dr Evatt** rely on these principles to explain Australian-Indonesian relationships in 1947; if so, has it applied in subsequent Australian-Indonesian relationships. 4. Can the Government indicate that this narrowly based conception of Australia's overseas relations will not be allowed to poison the necessarily dose and friendly relations with the Association of South East Asian Nations considered individually and collectively. {: #subdebate-45-68-s5 .speaker-MI4} ##### Mr Peacock:
LP -- The answers to the honourable member's questions are as follows: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) It is unlikely that it could be said that a particular conception of human rights has represented the sole determinant of Australian foreign poliCy at any time towards any country. 1. The official Government attitude towards China, the USSR, Vietnam and Cambodia has been stated in the Parliament on various occasions by the Prime Minister and by me, including in my ministerial statement of 1 5 March 1977. 2. See answer to ( 1 ) above. 3. The present government cannot speak on behalf of a previous government 4. The government is dearly on record in its wish to maintain and develop the CloSest possible relations with ASEAN countries individually and collectively. {:#subdebate-45-69} #### Minister for Industry and Commerce: Overseas Travel (Question No. 1613) {: #subdebate-45-69-s0 .speaker-HI4} ##### Mr Morris: asked the Minister representing the Minister for Industry and Commerce, upon notice, on 5 October 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) On what occasions and for what purposes has the Minister travelled overseas during the period 1 1 November 1975 to date. 1. What was the name, classification and salary of all persons who accompanied the Minister on each occasion. 2. What was the cost of (a) travel, (b) accommodation and (c) other expenditure, and what was the total cost incurred in respect of the Minister and each person who travelled with him on each journey overseas. 3. Which airlines and/or other means of transport were utilised during each journey overseas. {: #subdebate-45-69-s1 .speaker-ZD4} ##### Mr Howard:
LP -- The Minister for Industry and Commerce has provided the following answer to the honourable member's question: >I refer the honourable member to the Prime Minister's answer to Senate Question No. 1 1 1 6. Minister for Veterans' Affairs: Overseas Travel (Question Na 1633) {: #subdebate-45-69-s2 .speaker-HI4} ##### Mr Morris: asked the Minister for Veterans' Affairs, upon notice, on S October 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) On what occasions and for what purposes has he travelled overseas during the period 1 1 November 1975 to date. 1. What was the name, classification and salary of all persons who accompanied him on each occasion. 2. What was the cost of (a) travel, (b) accommodation and (c) other expenditure, and what was the total cost incurred in respect of himself and each person who travelled with him on each journey overseas. 3. Which airlines and/or other means of transport were utilised during each journey overseas. {: #subdebate-45-69-s3 .speaker-K9L} ##### Mr Garland:
Minister for Veterans' Affairs · CURTIN, WESTERN AUSTRALIA · LP -- The answer to the honourable members 's question is as follows: >I refer the honourable member to the answer given by the Minister representing the Prime Minister to Senate Question No. 11 16. {:#subdebate-45-70} #### Assistance to Non-Government Schools: Queensland Electoral Divisions (Question No. 1664) {: #subdebate-45-70-s0 .speaker-00ATA} ##### Mr Hodges: asked the Minister representing the Minister for Education, upon notice, on 5 October 1977: >What sums were paid in direct assistance to nongovernment schools as a result of recommendations of the Schools Commission in the electoral divisions of (a) Bowman, (b) Griffith, (c) Lilley (d) Moreton, (e) Oxley, (f) Petrie and (g) Ryan during 1976-77. {: #subdebate-45-70-s1 .speaker-EE6} ##### Mr Viner:
LP -- The Minister for Education has provided the following reply to the honourable member's question: >The following tables provide details of payments made in the calendar years 1976 and 1977. {:#subdebate-45-71} #### Assistance to Non-Government Schools- Division of Bowman (Question No. 1692) {: #subdebate-45-71-s0 .speaker-MH4} ##### Mr Jull: asked the Minister representing the Minister for Education, upon notice, on 6 October 1977: >What Commonwealth funding has been made to each non-government school in the electoral division of Bowman in each of the years 1976-77 and 1977-78. {: #subdebate-45-71-s1 .speaker-EE6} ##### Mr Viner:
LP -- The Minister for Education has provided the following reply to the honourable member's question. The following tables provide details of payments made in the calendar years 1976 and 1977. Information of this nature is maintained on a calendar year basis rather than on a financial year basis. {:#subdebate-45-72} #### Pre-Schools: Commonwealth Funding (Question No. 1703) {: #subdebate-45-72-s0 .speaker-JVS} ##### Mr Neil: asked the Minister, representing the Minister for Social Security, upon notice, on 6 October 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1) How many pre-schools within the electoral divisions of St George, Lang and Banks are funded by the Department of Social Security 1. What is the level of funding for the various preschools. {: #subdebate-45-72-s1 .speaker-GH4} ##### Mr Hunt:
NCP/NP -- The Minister for Social Security has provided the following answer to the honourable member's question: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) and (2) Recurrent funds for pre-schools in the electorates of St George, Lang and Banks, and those in existence prior to the Commonwealth's involvement in pre-school funding are provided under the block funding arrangements. The exact level of funds provided to individual pre-schools within these electorates is not known as the distribution of the funds is the responsibility of the New South Wales State Government. Raids on Church Organisations in South Africa (Question No. 1716) {: #subdebate-45-72-s2 .speaker-AV4} ##### Mr Hurford: asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs, upon notice, on 1 1 October 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. Did he say in reply to my question No. 389 *(Hansard,* 19 April 1977, page 988), regarding reports of raids by the South African Government on the offices of the South African Council of Churches and the Christian Institute, that the Australian Embassy in Pretoria would be instructed to inform the South African authorities of the concern being expressed in Australia about action being taken against these organisations. 1. If so, is it a fact that this expression of concern was not made to South African authorities until September. 2. If the position is as stated, what was the reason for this delay. {: #subdebate-45-72-s3 .speaker-MI4} ##### Mr Peacock:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. Yes. 1. and (3) The South African authorities were informed of these representations in writing by the Australian Ambassador on 26 July. It would of course have been desirable for the representations to have taken place at an earlier date, but the essential fact is that they have been made. {:#subdebate-45-73} #### Central Australian Aboriginal Services (Question No. 1720) {: #subdebate-45-73-s0 .speaker-JTW} ##### Mr Calder: asked the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, upon notice, on 1 1 October 1977: >In respect of (a) the Central Australian Aboriginal Medical Service, (b) the Central Australian Aboriginal Legal Aid Service, (c) the Central Australian Aborigines Congress and (d) the Aboriginal Hostels Ltd, Alice Springs, Northern Territory, (i) how many persons are employed by each organisation, (ii) what titles, remuneration and other employment benefits are given to or received by employees of each organisation, (iii) who is responsible for the hiring and firing of employees, (iv) are each organisation's financial records and expenditure subject to any audit requirements, if so, what are the requirements, and (v) are vehicle records and logbooks kept; if so, who is responsible for keeping the records and logbooks. {: #subdebate-45-73-s1 .speaker-EE6} ##### Mr Viner:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: {: type="a" start="i"} 0. Central Australian Aboriginal Legal Aid Service, $260,000; Central Australian Aborigines Congress (including Medical Service), $512,500; Aboriginal Hostels Limited, $477,000 (including $244,000 capital works). On the basis of the salary component contained in those approvals, provision was made for the employment of the following number of persons: Central Australian Aboriginal Legal Aid Service, 1 1; Central Australian Aborigines Congress (including Medical Service), 50; Aboriginal Hostels Limited, 18. The organisations are autonomous bodies and free to engage additional staff or otherwise re-organise levels of staff providing the allocation of funds for salaries is not overspent. Finance from independent sources may be obtained over which my Department has no control. {: type="i" start="ii"} 0. See (i) 1. This information is contained in the Constitutions or Articles of each organisation and these may be examined at the Company's office at Canberra and Darwin respectively. 2. Central Australian Aboriginal Legal Aid Service, Yes- Quarterly certified returns and annual audited statements; Central Australian Aborigines Congress (including Medical Service), Yes- Quarterly certified returns and annual audited statements; Aboriginal Hostels Limited, Yes- Quarterly certified returns and annual audited statements. 3. Central Australian Aboriginal Legal Aid Service, Yes; Central Australian Aborigines Congress (including Medical Service), Yes; Aboriginal Hostels Limited, Yes. Each organisation is responsible for controlling its own vehicle usage. {:#subdebate-45-74} #### Rhodesian Information Services (Question No. 1742) {: #subdebate-45-74-s0 .speaker-2E4} ##### Mr Lloyd: asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs, upon notice, on 12 October 1 977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. In which countries is there, or has there been, a Rhodesia Information Service. 1. What action has been taken by the governments of these countries on the continued operation of official information centres in those countries. 2. 3 ) What are the major arguments in favour of the closure of the centre in Australia. {: #subdebate-45-74-s1 .speaker-MI4} ##### Mr Peacock:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1) Other than the Rhodesia Information Centre in Sydney, there is a similar office in Washington and until recently one in Paris. 1. The French Government, in January 1 977, took action by decree to close the Rhodesian Information Office in Paris. With regard to the Rhodesian Information Office in Washington, I understand that it is the United States Administration's firm intention to give effect under United States law to the resolution which it co-sponsored in the Security Council on this question. 2. Australia is bound by the terms of Security Council resolution (No. 409) which was adopted unanimously on 27 May 1977. The Government has made it clear that in meeting the terms of this resolution legislation will be drafted so as to avoid infringing the civil liberties of Australian citizens. Children involved in Custody Proceedings: Withdrawal of Passports (Question No. 176S) {: #subdebate-45-74-s2 .speaker-CV4} ##### Mr Jacobi: asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs, upon notice, on 1 3 October 1977: >Will he arrange, in conjunction with his colleagues, for the withdrawal of the passports of any citizen or citizens who appear before the Family Court in relation to child custody matters to ensure that children are not removed from jurisdiction. {: #subdebate-45-74-s3 .speaker-MI4} ##### Mr Peacock:
LP -- Australian courts already have the power to order a parent or guardian involved in a custody suit to surrender a travel document in which a child 's name appears. The illegal removal of children from Australia is of continuing concern to the Government and the procedure for the issue of passports taking into account the danger of child abduction is under active review involving appropriate Ministers and departments. {:#subdebate-45-75} #### Department of Health: Capital Works Expenditure (Question No. 1790) {: #subdebate-45-75-s0 .speaker-0F4} ##### Mr Braithwaite: asked the Minister for Health, upon notice on 13 October 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. What was the amount of expenditure through his Department on capital works within the electoral divisions of Leichhardt, Herbert, Kennedy and Dawson during each of the years 1973-74to 1976-77, inclusive. 1. What was the total expenditure by his Department during the same years. {: #subdebate-45-75-s1 .speaker-GH4} ##### Mr Hunt:
NCP/NP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: >I refer the honourable member to the answer provided by the Minister for Construction to question No. 1793 *(Hansard,* 27 October 1977, page 2579). International Year of the Child (Question No. 1799) {: #subdebate-45-75-s2 .speaker-6U4} ##### Mr E G Whitlam:
WERRIWA, NEW SOUTH WALES · ALP am asked the Minister, representing the Minister for Social Security, upon notice, on 13 October 1977: >When did the Prime Minister commence negotiations with the Premiers on co-operative arrangements with the States in planning Australia's observance of the International Year of the Child, 1979, adopted by the General Assembly on 21 December 1976. {: #subdebate-45-75-s3 .speaker-GH4} ##### Mr Hunt:
NCP/NP -- The Minister for Social Security has provided the following answer to the honourable member's question: >The Prime Minister initially wrote to Premiers on 22 August 1977. Further communication is now taking place with Premiers and with those Ministers nominated by Premiers to be the point of contact for the Minister for Social Security. The Government considers that planning for the International Year of the Child should be co-ordinated between Commonwealth and State governments at ministerial level to ensure maximum participation of non-government organisations. International Year of the Child (Question No. 1800) {: #subdebate-45-75-s4 .speaker-6U4} ##### Mr E G Whitlam:
WERRIWA, NEW SOUTH WALES · ALP am asked the Minister, representing the Minister for Social Security, upon notice, on 13 October 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. Which departments are represented on the interdepartmental committee established to plan Australia's observance of the International Year of the Child in 1 979. 1. ) What are the committee 's terms of reference. 2. When was the committee established. 3. When is it expected or required to report. 4. Will the report be tabled in the Parliament {: #subdebate-45-75-s5 .speaker-GH4} ##### Mr Hunt:
NCP/NP -- The Minister for Social Security has provided the following answer to the honourable member's question. {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) to (4) Officers of the Departments of Health, Finance, Education, Aboriginal Affairs, Foreign Affairs, Immigration, Ethnic Affairs and Social Security have met to ensure cooperative preliminary planning for the International Year of the Child. They first met on 27 May 1977. As a Committee of Ministers has now been set up to supervise Commonwealth involvement in the International Year of the Child, it will be possible to formalise the membership and terms of reference of the Inter-Departmental Committee. {: type="1" start="5"} 0. No. {:#subdebate-45-76} #### Pre-School Funding (Question Na 1833) {: #subdebate-45-76-s0 .speaker-6U4} ##### Mr E G Whitlam:
WERRIWA, NEW SOUTH WALES · ALP am asked the Minister, representing the Minister for Social Security, upon notice, on 19 October 1977: >If, as the Minister told me on 1 1 October 1977 *(Hansard,* page 1880), it has not been necessary to establish separate consultative mechanisms for each State on pre-school funding since the introduction of block grants to the States on 1 January 1977, why did she tell me as late as 2 June 1977 *(Hansard,* page 2602) that the form of consultative arrangements had not been finalised in any State. {: #subdebate-45-76-s1 .speaker-GH4} ##### Mr Hunt:
NCP/NP -- The Minister for Social Security has provided the following answer to the honourable member's question. Consultative mechanisms have been established in both Territories and are to be established in each State, for both community groups and officials to advise on the entire range of activities under the Children's Services Program. The honourable member's question of 16 August 1977 concerned consultative arrangements on pre-school funding. The answer I gave to that question is correct. Decisions on Antarctic Resources (Question Na 1876) {: #subdebate-45-76-s2 .speaker-2E4} ##### Mr Lloyd: asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs, upon notice, on 20 October 1 977: >What decisions have the 13 members of the Antarctica Treaty Organisation made on the exploitation and/or conservation of the natural resources in the Antarctic, particularly in respect of oil exploration and the harvesting of krill. {: #subdebate-45-76-s3 .speaker-MI4} ##### Mr Peacock:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: >The decisions which have been made by the 13 Antarctic Treaty Consultative Parties on Antarctic resource questions are contained in separate recommendations on mineral resources and marine living resources adopted by them especially at the Ninth Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting in London (29 September-7 October 1977). The recommendations adopted at this meeting include the most important decisions made by the Consultative Parties on exploitation and conservation questions in relation to Antarctica's natural resources. > >In the recommendation adopted at the Ninth Consultative Meeting on mineral resources, the Consultative Parties recommended to their Governments that they urge thennationals and other States to refrain from all exploration and exploitation of Antarctic mineral resources, while making progress towards the timely adoption of an agreed regime concerning Antarctic mineral resource activities. The Consultative Parties also recommended that their Governments study the content of a future regime based on principles to be agreed upon, but including the following principles elaborated at the Special Preparatory Meeting on Antarctic minerals exploitation in Paris last year > >the Consultative Parries will continue to play an active and responsible role in dealing with the question of mineral resources of Antarctica; > >the Antarctic Treaty must be maintained in its entirety; > >protection of the unique Antarctic environment and of its dependent ecosystems should be a basic consideration; > >the Consultative Parties, dealing with the question of mineral resources in Antarctica, should not prejudice the interests of all mankind in Antarctica. > >The Consultative Parties also recommended to their Governments that they continue to study the environmental implications of mineral resource activities in the Antarctic Treaty area and to hold a meeting of ecological, technical and other related experts with a view to developing scientific programs aimed at improving predictions of the impact of possible technologies for mineral exploration and exploitation in the Antarctic and developing measures for the prevention of damage to the environment. > >In the recommendation on marine living resources the Consultative Parties recommended that a definitive regime for their conservation should be concluded before the end of 1978 and that a Special Consultative Meeting be convened in order (a) to determine the form of the definitive regime; (b) to prepare, if necessary, draft rules of procedure for a subsequent decisive meeting for the establishment of the definitive regime; and (c) to decide on participation in such a meeting. > >Pending the entry into force of the definitive regime for Antarctic marine living resources, the Consultative Parties recommended to their Governments that they observe the following interim guidelines: > >they cooperate as broadly and comprehensively as possible in the mutual exchange of statistics relating to catch of Antarctic marine living resources; > >they should show the greatest possible concern and care in the harvesting of Antarctic marine living resources so that it does not result in depletion of stocks of Antarctic marine species or in jeopardising the Antarctic marine ecosystem as a whole; > >they urge those Governments which are not parties to the Antarctic Treaty and which engage in activities involving the use of the marine living resources of Antarctica to take account of these guidelines. > >The Consultative Parties also recommended that their Governments cooperate broadly and comprehensively in scientific investigation and in the exchange of information relating to the Antarctic marine environment, and that they intensify as far as possible scientific research related to Antarctic marine living resources. {:#subdebate-45-77} #### Department of Health: Senior Personnel (Question No. 1881) {: #subdebate-45-77-s0 .speaker-2E4} ##### Mr Lloyd: asked the Minister for Health, upon notice, on 20 October 1977: >Has his Department instituted a policy of exchanging senior personnel for a limited period with those of similar status and standard in the private sector or State Government Departments; if not, why not. {: #subdebate-45-77-s1 .speaker-GH4} ##### Mr Hunt:
NCP/NP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: >Exchanges of staff both professional and clerical have been under consideration by my Department on various occasions over recent years. However, due in part to difficulties associated with aspects such as staff ceilings and release and replacement of staff no proposal has yet proceeded to finality. New arrangements tor staff ceilings for officers on exchange have now been instituted. I am hopeful that appropriate exchanges can now be negotiated in the interests of officers of my Department and the public and private sectors generally. {:#subdebate-45-78} #### Private Employee Superannuation Funds (Question No. 1893) {: #subdebate-45-78-s0 .speaker-JUS} ##### Mr McVeigh: asked the Treasurer, upon notice, on 25 October 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) Has his attention been drawn to an ambitious scheme to advise on how the union movement can win control of private employee superannuation funds and establish a large ACTU run financial institution. 1. If so, can he say whether the scheme is masterminded by the legal firms Holding, Ryan and Redlich of Melbourne, Geoffrey Edwards and Co. of Sydney, and Cocks, Duncan and Co. of Adelaide. 2. Is he able to say if (a) the former leader of the Victorian Labor Party Opposition, **Mr C.** Holding, (b) the former Chairman of the Victorian Labor Party, **Mr P.** J. Redlich and (c) **Mr M.** G. Terry, former private secretary to the Honourable E. G. Whitlam, are members of the firm Holding, Ryan and Redlich. 3. Is he also able to say if the South Australian AttorneyGeneral, **Mr Peter** Duncan, is a partner in Cocks, Duncan and Co. 4. Is it considered in the best interests of private employee superannuation funds to be taken over by the political and industrial arms of the Labor movement along any lines of advice offered by the comprehensive legal resources of these firms from different States. {: #subdebate-45-78-s1 .speaker-KIM} ##### Mr Lynch:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) to (4) There is no information available to me on this matter other than that which is available to the honourable member from public sources. The matters referred to fall outside the ambit of existing Commonwealth legislation and administration. 1. As this question is hypothetical and calls for an expression of opinion, I am not able to provide an answer to it. Treasurer: Meetings with **Mr John** Bracey (Question No. 1894) {: #subdebate-45-78-s2 .speaker-6U4} ##### Mr E G Whitlam:
WERRIWA, NEW SOUTH WALES · ALP am asked the Treasurer, upon notice, on 25 October 1977: >Why will he not answer question No. 1SSS about **Mr John** Bracey as promptly as the Minister for National Resources answered question No. 1554 about him *(Hansard,* 18 October 1977, page 2126). {: #subdebate-45-78-s3 .speaker-KIM} ##### Mr Lynch:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: >I refer the honourable gentleman to my answer to question on notice No. 1SSS. {:#subdebate-45-79} #### Assistance to Lone Fathers (Question No. 1916) {: #subdebate-45-79-s0 .speaker-KUX} ##### Mr Stewart:
LANG, NEW SOUTH WALES asked the Minister representing the Minister for Social Security, upon notice, on 27 October 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) How many lone fathers are there in (a) each State, (b) the Northern Territory and (c) the Australian Capital Territory, and how many of them are in receipt of social security pensions. 1. Are any special benefits payable to lone fathers; if so, what are the benefits. 2. Do any organisations exist whose responsibility it is to advise and assist lone fathers; if so, what are these organisations. 3. What action has been taken by the Government to alleviate the problems of lone fathers. {: #subdebate-45-79-s1 .speaker-GH4} ##### Mr Hunt:
NCP/NP -- The Minister for Social Security has provided the following answer to the honourable member's question. {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 refer the honourable member to my answer to Senate Question No. 919 (Senate *Hansard,* 3 June 1977, page 2118). Statistics of lone fathers in receipt of age or invalid pension are not available. 1. Special benefit may be paid under discretionary provisions in section 124 of the Social Services Act to a lone father who is required to care for a sick or young child providing assistance is not available from friends, relatives, nursery or creche. The rate of benefit is the same as unemployment benefit and is subject to the income test applied to unemployment benefit. As from 1 November 1977 the rate of benefit is $49.30 a week plus $7.50 a week for each child. Special benefit will cease to be payable to a lone father when he becomes eligible for a supporting fathers benefitsee answer to (4). {: type="1" start="3"} 0. All organisations and governmental authorities which deliver family welfare services will advise and assist lone fathers. The names, contract points, and addresses of organisations which have been established with the principal aim of assisting single parent families, including lone fathers; are: New South Wales-Mr Max Wood, State President Parents Without partners (NSW) Inc., 32 Grosvenor Street, Sydney. (The organisation has 57 branches in NSW); **Mr Ron** Doyle, Lone Fathers Association, Room 405, Angel House, Ash Street, Sydney; **Mr R.** Wood, Australian Birthright Movement, Angel House, Ash Street, Sydney. Australian Capital Territory-Mr Ted Dimmick President, Parents Without Partners (ACT) Inc., P.O. Box 923, Civic Square, ACT. (The organisation has 4 branches in the ACT.) Victoria- **Ms Barbara** Steen, Parents Without Partners (Via) Inc., 164 Flinders Street, Melbourne. (The organisation has approximately 43 branches in Victoria); **Mr Alan** Hamer, Lone Fathers of Australia, c/o Brotherhood of St Laurence, 167 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy, Vic.; **Mr John** Austin, Lone Fathers Assistance Group, 2 Bulleen Avenue, Mitcham, Vic Queensland- **Mrs Gay** McDougall, State Secretary, Parents Without Partners (Qld) Inc., 21 Adelaide Street, Brisbane. (The organisation has approximately 26 branches in Queensland); Lone Parents Self Action Group of Australia, c/o **Mrs J.** Kelly, 21 Thuruna Street, Stafford; Lone Fathers Action Committee, c/o **Mr Harold** Fallon, 28 Hampton Street, Wooloongabba. South Australia-Ms Carol Carr, Secretary, Parents Without Partners (SA) Inc. Cresco House, 110 North Terrace, Adelaide. (The organisation has 21 branches in South Australia); **Mr Hedger,** The Supporting Fathers Association, 324 Crossroads, Clarence Park, SA. Western Australia-Parents Without Partners (WA) Inc., 27 James Street, Perth; **Mr Ken** Gaunt, Supporting Fathers Association, 292 Onslow Road, Shenton Park, WA. Tasmania- **Ms Shirley** Neverton Secretary, Parents Without Partners (Tas.) Inc, Room 12, Bank Arcade, Hobart (The organisation has 5 branches in Tasmania); **Mr Peter** Blackwell Secretary, Lone Fathers Association of Tasmania, 10 Barana Street, Mornington, Tas. (The organisation has 3 branches in Tasmania. ) Northern Territory-Ms Josie Coppens Secretary, Parents Without Partners (NT) Inc, P.O. Box 4290, Darwin 5794. Australia-wide-Mr Brian Wyllie, Chairperson, Lone Parent Federation of Australia c/o ACOSS, P.O. Box N 199, Grosvenor Street, Sydney. {: type="1" start="4"} 0. The Social Services Act is being amended to provide for payment of a benefit to supporting fathers on the same basis as supporting mothers. Treasurer: Pecuniary Interests in Land (Question No. 1921) {: #subdebate-45-79-s2 .speaker-6U4} ##### Mr E G Whitlam:
WERRIWA, NEW SOUTH WALES · ALP am asked the Treasurer, upon notice, on 27 October 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) Has he had pecuniary interests in land which has been purchased by the Victorian Housing Commission with funds appropriated by the Federal Parliament 1. If so, what have been the extent, nature, location and duration of those interests. 2. Will he answer this question as promptly as the Minister for Primary Industry answered a question on his interests *(Hansard,* 23 August 1977, page 545). {: #subdebate-45-79-s3 .speaker-KIM} ##### Mr Lynch:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) No. I can inform the honourable gentleman that a private company owned by a family trust, the beneficiaries of which are my wife and three children, and in respect of which I have no shares or beneficial interests and am not a director or trustee, made an investment in residential land when the Liberal and National Country parties were in Opposition. This transaction was in no way connected with land purchased by the Victorian Housing Commission and currently subject to inquiry in Victoria. The land in question has always been privately owned- never at any time purchased by any statutory authority-and was, in fact, subdivided as long ago as 1922. In accordance with the Prime Minister's instructions to Ministers concerning their pecuniary interests, details were provided in writing by me covering the family trust to which I have referred and its involvement in the above mentioned investment 1. and (3) See reply (1). {:#subdebate-45-80} #### Trade With Philippines (Question No. 1969) {: #subdebate-45-80-s0 .speaker-6U4} ##### Mr E G Whitlam:
WERRIWA, NEW SOUTH WALES · ALP am asked the Minister for Overseas Trade, upon notice, on 8 November 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) Has his attention been drawn to a report in the Manila *Times Journal* of '25 August 1977 that the Governor-General had agreed with the President of the Philippines at their meeting in Manila on 24 August that the Philippines and Australia would soon eliminate trade barriers for thenmutual benefit 1. Did the Government authorise His Excellency to make such an agreement 2. What steps has the Government since taken to honour this agreement between the two Heads of State. {: #subdebate-45-80-s1 .speaker-BU4} ##### Mr Anthony:
NCP/NP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: >Earlier this year, **Sir John** Kerr made a private visit to the Philippines to attend the International Law Conference. Whilst in Manila he paid a call on President Marcos and during their conversation, **Sir John** asked the President for his views on Philippines-Australia trade. However, **Sir John** offered no comments of his own on the subject and entered into no commitments. > >Suggestions to the contrary seem to be based on an inaccurate newspaper report which appeared in Manila shortly after the protocol call and which was substantially reprinted in the *Financial Review of 21* October 1977. > >The story cited by the honourable member contains the same inaccuracy. Home Business Scheme {: #subdebate-45-80-s2 .speaker-6I4} ##### Mr Macphee:
LP **- Mr Antony** Whitlam asked me, as Minister representing the Attorney-General, the following question, without notice, on 25 October 1977: Is the Minister representing the Attorney-General aware that the Trade Practices Commission has recently contacted over 700 Australians about losses totalling $ 120,000 suffered by them in a fraudulent home-operated business scheme called Contra-Pac systems? Has the Commission referred to the Australian Legal Aid Office the hundreds of applications for legal aid which it has subsequently received. Can the honourable gentleman give an assurance that adequate legal assistance will be given promptly to the many people who lost their savings in this fraudulent scheme? The Attorney-General has provided the following answer to the honourable member's question: >The Australian Legal Aid Office has received a large number of applications for legal assistance under the Trade Practices Act from persons who have paid money in relation to a home-operated business venture initially known as 'Contra-Pac Systems ' and later as 'Duffs Contract Packers '. I have authorised the Director of the Australian Legal Aid Office to decide upon the applications in accordance with Section 170 of the Trade Practices Act. {:#subdebate-45-81} #### Income Tax: Family Allowances (Question No. 188) {: #subdebate-45-81-s0 .speaker-KN9} ##### Mr Martin: asked the Treasurer, upon notice: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. What is the additional amount which has been collected in PA YE income tax instalments since the introduction of the new family allowances scheme and the discontinuance of the tax deduction for dependent children. 1. What period does this cover. 2. What is the expected expenditure during the year ended 30 June 1 977 under the family allowances scheme. 3. What would have been the expected expenditure under the previous rates payable for child endowment {: #subdebate-45-81-s1 .speaker-KIM} ##### Mr Lynch:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) and (2) Available statistics do not reveal the numbers of employees who claimed rebates for dependent children and students in reduction of their tax instalment deductions. It is estimated, however, that employees would have been entitled to rebates of $530m in assessments in respect of the 1976-77 income year if rebates had been allowed at the levels that applied for 1975-76. 1. The total outlay on family allowances in the 1976-77 financial year was $ 1 ,027.2m. 2. The estimate provided by the Department of Social Security is that, on the assumption that the previous conditions of eligibility as well as the previous rates of child endowment had been maintained, the full-year cost of child endowment would have been some $230m. This cost estimate is based on the estimated number of families with children under 16 years of age and families with student children aged 16 years to 20 years at 30 June 1977. Minister for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs: Meetings with **Mr Massimino** Del Prete (Question No. 743) {: #subdebate-45-81-s2 .speaker-6U4} ##### Mr E G Whitlam:
WERRIWA, NEW SOUTH WALES · ALP am asked the Minister for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs, upon notice, on 27 April 1977: >On what occasions and for what purposes has he: > >met **Mr Massimino** Del Prete, > >spoken to him, > >sent, communications himself or through others to him, and > >received communications from him directly or through others. {: #subdebate-45-81-s3 .speaker-0I4} ##### Mr MacKellar:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: {: type="a" start="a"} 0. To the best of my knowledge and recollection I first met **Mr Massimino** Del Prete in the latter half of 1975. Since then I have met and spoken to him on some three or four occasions. On all occasions the discussion centred on matters relating to the ethnic Press. {:#subdebate-45-82} #### Sales Tax (Question No. 1041) {: #subdebate-45-82-s0 .speaker-JT9} ##### Mr Bungey: asked the Treasurer, upon notice: >What would be the estimated cost to revenue for a full financial year if sales tax was not applied to 4-wheel drive vehicles purchased by bona fide farmers, fishermen and miners. {: #subdebate-45-82-s1 .speaker-KIM} ##### Mr Lynch:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: >Statistics are not available to enable a reliable estimate to be made of the cost in respect of such vehicles that are not already exempt from sales tax. {:#subdebate-45-83} #### Imported Water: Quarantine Precautions (Question No. 1045) {: #subdebate-45-83-s0 .speaker-JT9} ##### Mr Bungey: asked the Minister for Health, upon notice, on 2 June 1 977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. What procedures have been established to ensure that water imported into Australia for religious and other purposes does not constitute a quarantine risk to Australia. 1. Is all water tested or sampled; if not, on what basis are tests made. 2. Do current instructions to quarantine staff require only visual examination of certain importations of water; if so, when is visual examination considered adequate. 3. When were the procedures concerning quarantine checking of importations of water to Australia last comprehensively reviewed. 4. What quantities of water have been imported into Australia during the last two years, and what proportion of consignments has been fully sampled and tested. {: #subdebate-45-83-s1 .speaker-GH4} ##### Mr Hunt:
NCP/NP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: >(D- > >Potable drinking waters, including mineral and spa waters: > >Before importation is permitted certification is required as follows: an up-to-date certificate of potability from the health authority of the country of origin. a recent certificate of a full mineral and bacteriological analysis by a recognised public analyst detailed information as to the source of the water. > >If claims are made on the label, approval may be required before sale from State and Territory health authorities and from authorities controlling trade practices and labelling. > >Holy water > >Such water may be released to travellers at the ports of entry at the discretion of the Commonwealth hector of Health for the State concerned without requiring written application to import. This approval refers strictly to consignments of water imported for the personal use of the traveller and his family and does not extend to consignments which may, by virtue of quantities or for other reasons, be considered as being for commercial purposes. In the latter case of course normal quarantine procedures apply. > >Water imported with aquarium fish: > >Procedures provide that if the water is clear and free from sand, soil, plants or other extraneous matter, and if within a clear plastic bag it is to be treated by the importer before disposal. An approved treatment must be employed, usually addition of copper sulphate, and treatments are monitored by an ad hoc on-the-spot checks by quarantine officers. Under any other circumstances appropriate quarantine procedures are to be completed under quarantine supervision. {: type="a" start="d"} 0. Water samples brought in for testing, usually for industrial requirements: Such waters are entered under quarantine import permits. While conditions of handling laid down in these permits vary according to the source and nature of the material it is usual that they contain appropriate conditions to prevent the possible dissemination of disease such as the use of secure approved containers, and restriction to in-vitro laboratory studies. {: type="1" start="2"} 0. No; ad hoc sampling and tests are carried out. In relation to water intended for consumption, the certification requirements are regarded as sufficient for safety purposes. 1. Samples of water for industrial testing and aquarium water may be imported following visual examination. In the case of holy water, visual examination is considered adequate only in the case of small lots accompanying travellers entering the country. In any other case normal quarantine procedures apply. 2. May 1976. 3. No record is kept of the quantities of water imported into Australia and permits are frequently issued subject to the requirements (1) (a) above for unspecified amounts of spa and other mineral waters intended for drinking purposes. {:#subdebate-45-84} #### Medical Claims (Question No. 1108) {: #subdebate-45-84-s0 .speaker-SH4} ##### Dr Klugman:
PROSPECT, NEW SOUTH WALES asked the Minister for Health, upon notice, on 16 August 1977: >What was the total value of medical claims paid by (a) the Commonwealth, (b) private health funds and (c) Medibank, during each of the years 1973-74, 1974-75, 1975-76 and 1 976-77 or any pan thereof. {: #subdebate-45-84-s1 .speaker-GH4} ##### Mr Hunt:
NCP/NP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: Canberra and Woden Valley Hospitals: Staff upon notice, on 1 6 August 1 977: Entitlement (Question No. 1 1 17) O ) What is the present staff entitlement and level of salar ied medical officers and specialists for Canberra and Woden {: #subdebate-45-84-s2 .speaker-SH4} ##### Dr Klugman: asked the Minister for Health, Valley hospitals. {: type="1" start="2"} 0. How many of the specialists attend both hospitals. {: #subdebate-45-84-s3 .speaker-GH4} ##### Mr Hunt:
NCP/NP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: (0 These compare favourably with the situation that applied at 30 November 1975, at the end of the Whitlam Government's term of office. (2)26. {:#subdebate-45-85} #### Nuclear Facilities: Safeguards (Question No. 1146) {: #subdebate-45-85-s0 .speaker-6U4} ##### Mr E G Whitlam:
WERRIWA, NEW SOUTH WALES · ALP am asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs, upon notice, on 16 August 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. How many nuclear facilities are in operation in each member-country of the European Community? 1. In respect of how many of those facilities in each country has a subsidiary agreement been made providing for the attachment of safeguards to those facilities under the Safeguards Agreement between Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, Federal Republic of Germany, Italy, Ireland, Luxembourg, the European Atomic Energy Community and the International Atomic Energy Agency? {: #subdebate-45-85-s1 .speaker-MI4} ##### Mr Peacock:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. European Communities Information Research and Development pamphlet 9/77 states that in 1976 there were the following numbers of nuclear installations in the civil nuclear industries of the nine member States of the European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM): 35 preparation and frabrication plants 71 power reactors 117 research reactors 13 reprocessing plants 211 research centres, laboratories, stores, enrichment plants and others. I understand that some of these installations were still being constructed in 1976, rather than in operation. The figures for the numbers of nuclear installations are at present available publicly only on a European Communities basis, rather than on a national basis, because of the role of the European Atomic Energy Community in relation to the nuclear industries in the nine member States. {: type="1" start="2"} 0. Australia is not a party to the Safeguards Agreement concerned. The subsidiary arrangements, including facility attachments, to be concluded under the Safeguards Agreement, define the technical procedures for the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to implement its safeguards on a permanent basis in the seven non-nuclear-weapon States of the European Atomic Energy Community. They are confidential to the parties to the Safeguards Agreement Pending finalisation of the subsidiary arrangements, the IAEA is applying safeguards to nuclear facilities in the seven non-nuclear-weapon States of the European Atomic Energy Community by means of ad hoc safeguards inspections under the terms of the Safeguards Agreement As I said on 22 July, the Government wants to see early resolution of the subsidiary arrangements between the European Atomic Energy Community authorities, the national Governments of the seven non-nuclear-weapon States that are members of the Community and the International Atomic Energy Agency. The Australian delegation reiterated this view at the meeting of the IAEA Board of Governors in September, when the Director-General of the IAEA reported that progress was being made in the negotiation of subsidiary arrangements. Incentives for the Arts (Question No. 1313) {: #subdebate-45-85-s2 .speaker-6U4} ##### Mr E G Whitlam:
WERRIWA, NEW SOUTH WALES · ALP am asked the Minister Assisting the Prime Minister in the Arts, upon notice, on 25 August 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. When was the report received from the interdepartmental committee of representatives of the Departments of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, Administrative Services and the Treasury set up in October 1975 to investigate taxation concessions or other incentives to encourage the arts and their patrons *(Hansard),* 15 February 1977, page 83). 1. When will the report be tabled. 2. Has consideration been given to (a) allowing gifts of works of art for exhibition in parks or squares or buildings open to the public as deductions for income tax purposes or (b) exempting bequests of this kind from estate duty. *(Hansard,* 9 December 1971, page 4631, question No. 4213 (4) and (6) ). 3. Has the Australia Council made its recommendations to the Department of Environment, Housing and Community Development on the list of Australian Government building projects where an arts component could be included in the costs; if so, when will the list be published *(Hansard,* 15 February 1977, page 83). 4. Which States now grant exemption from death and probate duties in respect of bequests to the Australian National Gallery. {: #subdebate-45-85-s3 .speaker-GY5} ##### Mr Staley:
Minister for the Capital Territory · CHISHOLM, VICTORIA · LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 16 May 1977. 1. In conformity with the practice of previous Government, IDC reports are not normally made public. 2. (a) and (b) Yes. The Government is in sympathy with the idea and is considering it 3. The Australia Council has received several lists of building projects over the last three years from appropriate Commonwealth Departments and authorities. Discussions have taken place progressively between appropriate officers and recommendations have been made within the funds available. Since the Australia Council's role is advisory only, it is not considered appropriate to publish its recommendations. 4. No State specifically exempts bequests to the Australian National Gallery from death and probate duties. State death duties are not now levied in Queensland. It is possible that bequests to the Australian National Gallery could be exempt from Western Australian death duty under a general provision which applies to bequests to a public educational institution in Australia that is wholly or in pan dependent on any State or Commonwealth grant or subsidy. Department of Science: Libraries Question No. 1368) {: #subdebate-45-85-s4 .speaker-JT9} ##### Mr Bungey: asked the Minister representing the Minister for Science the following question, on notice on 6 September 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) How many libraries are in the Department of Science, where is each located and what is the mam purpose of each. 1. How many (a) books, (b) publications and (c) periodicals (i) have been acquired in (A) 1974-75, (B) 1975-76 and (C) 1976-77, (ii) are currently in the library and (iii) will be acquired under budget provisions for 1977-78. 2. 3 ) What is the annual cost of running each library. 3. What staff are employed in each library and what major staffing changes have occurred in the past three years, or are contemplated. 4. When were the provision, number and purpose of libraries in the Department of Science last reviewed by the Department and/or the Public Service Board, and what recommendations were made at that time. 5. Which libraries are open to the public, and what is the extent of public usage. {: #subdebate-45-85-s5 .speaker-ID4} ##### Mr Adermann:
NCP/NP -- The Minister for Science has provided the following answer to the honourable member's question: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. The Department of Science maintains 16 libraries. These range from specialised technical libraries under the control of professional staff to unstaffed reference collections. The purpose of all libraries in the Department is to provide information and to collect publications to support the work of that section of the Department in which it is located. These libraries are attached to the various divisions of the Department and are located in all States as well as in the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory. The Central Office of the Department of Science has a small library located in Woden, Australian Capital Territory. The Bureau of Meteorology has a library located within its head office in Melbourne. The Bureau also has a small reference library in each of its eight regional offices; Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Hobart, Darwin and Canberra. The Australian Government Analytical Laboratories have four libraries serving their regional laboratories in Sydney, Adelaide, Hoban and Perth. The Melbourne laboratory is served by the Bureau of Customs library located in the same building. Publications purchased for the Melbourne Laboratory are paid for by this Department and are registered as the property of this Department. The Antarctic Division and the Ionospheric Prediction Service each maintain one library located in Melbourne and Sydney respectively. {: type="1" start="2"} 0. and (3) The level of acquisitions, current holdings, annual costs, and the number of staff are shown on the table below. {: type="1" start="4"} 0. In the past three years the number of positions staffed in the Bureau of Meteorology libraries has decreased. There are now 10 positions vacant in libraries throughout the Bureau. Two positions have been created within the last three years, both in the New South Wales regional laboratory of the Australian Government Analytical Laboratories. Creation of these positions was necessitated by the transfer of responsibility for the library to this Department in 1 976. In future it is proposed to add a new position to the Antarctic Division Library. Staffing figures are set out in the table above. {: type="1" start="5"} 0. There has been no overall review of all the libraries in the Department. However, several reviews of individual libraries have been undertaken. The Central Office Library was reviewed by the Public Service Board in 1 972 when it was established. The Bureau of Meteorology Libraries were reviewed in 1 970 by the Public Service Board. At that time the Board approved action to restructure the Bureau 's Head Office library and created a position in a number of the regional offices to be responsible for that regional library's holdings. The Australian Government Analytical Laboratories New South Wales regional library was reviewed by the Public Service Board in 1976 when the library was separated from the Department of Customs library. Other AGAL libraries have not been formally reviewed. The Ionospheric Prediction Service and Antarctic Division libraries have not been reviewed recently. {: type="1" start="6"} 0. All departmental libraries are open to the public and all lend material to other libraries. The libraries in the Department are small, very specialised and technical in nature. Use of these libraries is generally restricted to specialised users. Public usage is minimal. {:#subdebate-45-86} #### Department of Productivity: Libraries (Question No. 1371) {: #subdebate-45-86-s0 .speaker-JT9} ##### Mr Bungey: asked the Minister for Productivity, upon notice, on 6 September 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. How many libraries are in his Department, where is each located and what is the main purpose of each. 1. How many (a) books, (b) publications and (c) periodicals (i) have been acquired in (A) 1974-75, (B) 975-76 and (C) 1976-77, (ii) are currently in the library and (iii) will be acquired under budget provisions for 1977-78. 2. 3 ) What is the annual cost of running each library 3. What staff are employed in each library and what major staffing changes have occurred in the past three years, or are contemplated. 4. When were the provision, number and purpose of libraries in the Department last reviewed by the Department and/or the Public Service Board, and what recommendations were made at that time. 5. Which libraries are open to the Public and what is the extent of public usage. {: #subdebate-45-86-s1 .speaker-6I4} ##### Mr Macphee:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. There are 16 libraries in my Department The main purpose of each individual library is to meet the reference ana information needs of the establishment which it serves. In addition the Central Office library acts as a central coordinating unit for the provision of information services to Australian Industry through the Australian Industry Information Network and provides advice and systems support to other departmental libraries A complete list of Productivity libraries and their locations follows {: type="1" start="3"} 0. Information regarding the annual cost is as detailed below. It is the sum of the purchase by the library of books, publications and periodicals and the salaries of library staff but does not include any overheads. 4. (a) The total number of staff currently employed in each Productivity Library is as detailed below. {: type="a" start="b"} 0. **Major changes** that have occurred in the past 3 years include the loss of 4 staff from the Central Office Library to Department of Industry and Commerce Commodity Digest Groups in 1977 as well as the employment of part time (in lieu of full time staff) in several libraries 1. The changes that are contemplated provide for the upgrading of a position to the professional level in those libraries which employ only full time clerical staff. The Victorian Regional Office Library contemplates engaging three additional professional staff to provide for the extra workload which has ensued from the transfer of control of the Working Environment Division Library from the Department of Employment and Industrial Relations. {: type="1" start="5"} 0. A review of Productivity libraries was commenced shortly after the creation of the Department in November 1 976. This review is continuing and will take into account the development of the Department's new responsibilities the co-ordination of information services within the Department, and the need to develop a unified service to industry. 1. Only the Patents, Trade Marks and Design Office Library is open to the public. Approximately 800 persons per year use the library but an additional 2,600 requests in writing are handled. The inter-library loan system provides access by the public to unclassified books in all libraries {:#subdebate-45-87} #### Unsworn Statements (Question No. 1232) {: #subdebate-45-87-s0 .speaker-KJO} ##### Mr James:
HUNTER, NEW SOUTH WALES asked the Attorney-General, upon notice on 18 August 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1) Has his attention been drawn to an article in the *Australian Financial Review* of 17 August 1977 in which a most senior and experienced Crown Prosecutor in New South Wales, **Mr Wallace,** Q.C., has advocated the abolition particularly in respect of corporate crime charges, of the privilege presently available to accused persons in criminal trials of making unsworn statements from the dock which are not subject to cross-examination. 1. If so, will he give consideration to the abolition of this unfair privilege to accused persons, particularly in relation to charges of corporate crime and, even more particularly, in relation to persons charged with serious drug offences. {: #subdebate-45-87-s1 .speaker-ZD4} ##### Mr Howard:
LP -- The Attorney-General has provided the following answer to the honourable member's question: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1. The administration of the criminal law and procedures is not the responsibility of the Commonwealth alone. The responsibility is shared by the Commonwealth and the States. The procedure whereby accused persons in criminal trials make unsworn statements from the dock which are not subject to cross-examination is of longstanding. Any change to this procedure, whether in relation to particular offences, such as the honourable member mentions, or in relation to all offences, is a matter which needs to be fully considered by Governments responsible. This procedure has recently been examined in England and Scotland but no changes have been made. The Government is maintaining a close watch on developments in this area. {:#subdebate-45-88} #### Magistrates: Shortage (Question No. 1256) {: #subdebate-45-88-s0 .speaker-ZE4} ##### Mr Lionel Bowen: asked the Minister representing the Attorney-General, upon notice, on 23 August 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. Has **Mr Kilduff,** Chief Stipendiary Magistrate, Canberra, been unable to hear argument on the issue of bench warrants on charges of criminal conspiracy against Ian Viner, Malcolm Fraser and Joh Bjelke-Petersen because of the acute shortage of magistrates in Canberra. 1. If so, is the informant Daniel Bruce Munro being prejudiced by this delay. 2. wm he take urgent action to grant **Mr Kilduff** magisterial assistance to enable him to hear legal argument immediately so that these charges can be dealt with as expeditiously as aU other cases before the Canberra Court of Petty Sessions and not especially delayed as has happened until now. 3. Will he ensure that a hearing of the charges can take place by 15 September 1977 at a time suitable to the counsel for the informant {: #subdebate-45-88-s1 .speaker-ZD4} ##### Mr Howard:
LP -- The Attorney-General has provided the following answer to the honourable member's question: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) to (4) The proceedings to which the honourable member refers came before the Chief Magistrate on 21 July 1977 for the purpose of fixing a date for their hearing. The date then fixed was 7 October 1977. The proceedings were part heard on 7 October 1977 and adjourned, the Chief Magistrate having reserved his decision on several submissions that had been made. A Stipendiary Magistrate was appointed on 22 September 1977 to fill an existing vacancy on the Court On that date a Special Magistrate was also appointed. These appointments will help relieve the workload of the Court and are expected to make significant inroads into the number of cases awaiting hearing. I am informed that the Chief Magistrate has since invited practitioners and parties to apply to him for expedited hearing of urgent matters. {:#subdebate-45-89} #### Education: Schools (Question No. 1270) {: #subdebate-45-89-s0 .speaker-6U4} ##### Mr E G Whitlam:
WERRIWA, NEW SOUTH WALES · ALP am asked the Minister representing the Minister for Education, upon notice, on 23 August 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. In which of the cases where schools were closed or amalgamated in 1974, 1975 and 1976 was the Government consulted before the school authorities sold or otherwise disposed of the facilities for which the Government grants had been made *(Hansard,* 16 August 1977, page 260). 1. In which of those cases have the school authorities been required, or will they be required, to reimburse the Government, and what reimbursement has been, or will be, required in each case. {: #subdebate-45-89-s1 .speaker-EE6} ##### Mr Viner:
LP -- The Minister for Education has provided the following reply to the honourable member's question: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. and (2) In most cases, the government has not been consulted before the school authorities concerned sold or otherwise disposed of facilities. The Schools Commission has been advised, however, of what has happened to facilities and equipment in the case of the following schools: New South Wales Mt St Mary's School, Katoomba, is now used for field excursion accommodation under the Disadvantaged Schools Program. Its library bookstock has been distributed amongst other Catholic schools in the area. SCEGGS Moss Vale is currently on the market but has not yet been sold. The Schools Commission is consulting with the school authority so as to determine whether the circumstances warrant a recovery of grants paid. The school's equipment has been distributed amongst other SCEGGS and other schools in the Moss Vale area. SCEGGS Wollongong, is presently for sale. The Illawarra Grammar School will be using the school until 1 5 December 1977. As in the case of SCEGGS, Moss Vale, consultations are taking place with the school authority. Equipment has either been transferred or bought by the Illawarra Grammar School. St Vincent's School, Redfern, is now being used as the Aboriginal Medical Centre which is being funded by the Department of Aboriginal Affairs. Library bookstock has been transferred to other Catholic schools in the Archdiocese. Holy Name Primary School, Urunga, is now used as a community centre. Library bookstock has been distributed amongst other Catholic schools. St Clement's College, Galong, is now a Catholic education conference centre. Library bookstock has been distributed amongst other Catholic schools in the area. St Joseph's School, Bungendore, is being used by the New South Wales Department of Technical Education for temporary accommodation. Library bookstock has been distributed amongst other Catholic schools in the area. St Joseph's School, Camperdown, has transferred its library bookstock to other Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Sydney. The school is now a child care centre. St Mary's School, Adaminaby, has been taken over by the New South Wales Department of Education for senior primary school accommodation. The library bookstock has been transferred to St Patrick's, Cooma. St Mary's School, Inverell, operated partly in a church. This part has reverted to the church and the remainder is used as a teachers' centre. The library bookstock was transferred to the Holy Trinity School, Inverell. St Thomas's School, Goolagong library bookstock transferred to St Joseph 's School, Grenfell Argyle School, Goulburn, was purchased by the New South Wales Department of Technical Education. The school is still being used for educational purposes. Trinity Memorial Grammar School, Orange, was operated as both a pre-school and junior infants school. The preschool still operates and the junior infants school children transferred to Kinross- Wolaroi College, Orange. The appropriate bookstock has remained at the pre-school and the remainder has been transferred to Kinross- Wolaroi. Victoria Mount Carmel College, Rutherglen, is now St Mary's Primary School. The science room built with the aid of the Commonwealth Government grant has been refurbished to provide a preparatory grade classroom and staff facilities. St Euphrasia 's Secondary School, Abbotsford, has been taken over by the Victorian Education Department Bookstock has been distributed amongst those schools to which children of St Euphrasia 's have now been sent St John's School, Hawthorn, is now operated as a coeducational primary school. Queensland Mater Dei Secondary School, Toowoomba, is now Mater Dei Primary School. The former science room is being used as a classroom; science equipment was transferred to other schools in the area. Sacred Heart College, Booval, is now operated as St Peter Claver Primary School. St Ursula 's College, Dutton Park, is now used as a teacher training college by the Queensland Catholic Education Commission. South Australia St Francis Xavier School, Whyalla, has combined with St John's Primary School, and is on a new site. All equipment and bookstock have been transferred to the new school. St Columba's School, Yorktown, has reopened after requests from parents. Western Australia Koobeelya CEGGS Katanning, has become part of Penrhos College, Como. Our Lady of Victories School, Wembley, has amalgamated with St Joseph's School. Both sites are still used even though the schools operate under the one board and principal. Presentation School, Corrigin, and St Patrick's School, West Perth, have closed and their bookstock has been distributed by the Western Australian Catholic Education Office to those Catholic schools which were high on the priority list for bookstock upgrading, resulting in smaller grants being needed in the future to bring these schools to acceptable bookstock levels. New South Wales (amalgamation) St Ursula's College, Armidale, has amalgamated with De La Salle College and equipment and bookstock has been transferred. All these schools received grants under legislation enacted prior to 1 976. That legislation did not contain provisions that enabled a condition to be imposed on a grantee school that facilities provided with the assistance of grant moneys must not be sold or otherwise disposed of without prior consultation with the Commonwealth Government. From 1974 the grant offer sought to impose this condition. However, advice received from the Attorney-General's Department in 1975 was that a condition imposed in this way did not enable the Government to recover moneys. Legislation was accordingly enacted during 1976 which included a provision that payment of grant moneys will not be made by the State unless the school agrees with the State to be bound by conditions specified in the approval of the project by the Minister. The condition referred to earlier has applied to grants made under this legislation and has been made more explicit in the legislation for grants in 1978 now before the Parliament. {:#subdebate-45-90} #### Australia Post: Survey of Employees (Question No. 1287) {: #subdebate-45-90-s0 .speaker-KDV} ##### Mr Jones:
NEWCASTLE, VICTORIA asked the Minister for Post and Telecommunications, upon notice, on 25 August 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. Is the Australian Bureau of Statistics carrying out a survey of Australia Post employees called *'Survey of Earnings and Hours, May 1977'.* 1. If so, does this survey require answers to headings a through to j with sectional questions under each heading. 2. Is this survey being conducted of all employees. 3. Are employees being requested to complete their own form or is it being completed secretly and without their knowledge. 4. Does the Bureau of Statistics have the authority to ask for this information. 5. Can there be any guarantee or assurance that names will not remain part of the data. 6. Is it possible that unscrupulous persons or organisations may be interested in the information. 7. Since the recent census, is there any justification for this survey. 8. Why is this survey needed now when it was not needed prior to 1977. 9. 10) How many of these types of surveys are being conducted by the Government. 10. As access to the storage of information raises the question of individual freedom in a democratic society, can these invasions of privacy be restrained by Government order. {: #subdebate-45-90-s1 .speaker-KZL} ##### Mr Eric Robinson:
MCPHERSON, QUEENSLAND · LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) The Australian Bureau of Statistics conducted a survey of earnings and hours in May 1977 from a sample of employers including Australia Post 1. Yes. 2. Only a sample of employees was surveyed. 3. The survey forms were completed by employers from payroll and other records. 4. The Bureau collected the information under the authority of the Census and Statistics Act 1 905. 5. To enable the information reported on the forms to be verified with the employer, some form of employee identification was required. It was pointed out to employers that it was not necessary to include the name of employees if some other form of identification such as a payroll or personnel number could be used. The identification used was shown on a detachable slip on the top of each form so that it could be destroyed at the completion of the survey. The identification of the employee was not recorded on any file. 6. The provisions of the Census and Statistics Act 1905 provide that the contents of the returns are confidential and are to be used for statistical purposes only. 7. The survey was developed to provide details annually of the distribution and composition of earnings and hours. The Population Census is conducted only once every five years and in any case does not collect these details. 8. The first survey was conducted in May 1 974. 9. The May survey of earnings and hours (distribution and composition) is the only one of its type conducted by the Bureau in that employers selected are requested to supply relevant details, on separate questionnaires, for a sample of employees. 10. 1 1 ) See answers to parts 6 and 7. It is not considered that the survey involves an invasion of privacy. {:#subdebate-45-91} #### Australian Capital Territory Radio Stations (Question No. 1286) {: #subdebate-45-91-s0 .speaker-KOB} ##### Mr Haslem: asked the Minister for Post and Telecommunications, upon notice, on 25 August 1977: >What is: > >the radiated power and > >the frequency band width of the ACT radio stations: > >2CN/JJ 1440 kHz, > >2CY850kHz, > >2CA 1050 kHz, > >2CC 1210 kHz and > >2XX 1010 kHz. {: #subdebate-45-91-s1 .speaker-KZL} ##### Mr Eric Robinson:
MCPHERSON, QUEENSLAND · LP -- The answers to the honourable member's questions are as follows: {: type="a" start="b"} 0. All broadcasting stations in Australia operate with a nominal audio frequency bandwidth of 10 kHz. {:#subdebate-45-92} #### Attorney-General's Department: Libraries (Question No. 1359) {: #subdebate-45-92-s0 .speaker-JT9} ##### Mr Bungey: asked the Attorney-General, upon notice, on 6 September 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) How many libraries are in his Department, where is each located and what is the main purpose of each. 1. How many (a) books, (b) publications and (c) periodicals (i) have been acquired in (A) 1974-75, (B) 1975-76 and (C) 1976-77, (ii) are currently in the library and (iii) will be acquired under budget provisions for 1977-78. 2. ) What is the annual cost of running each library. 3. What staff are employed in each library and what major staffing changes have occurred in the past three years, or are contemplated. 4. When were the provision, number and purpose of libraries in the Department last reviewed by the Department and/or the Public Service Board, and what recommendations were made at that time. 5. Which libraries are open to the public, and what is the extent of public usage. {: #subdebate-45-92-s1 .speaker-ZD4} ##### Mr Howard:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) There are 1 1 main library systems under the aegis of the Attorney-General. These are:- {: type="I" start="I"} 0. Attorney-General's Department Central Office Library in Canberra with branches in the Deputy Crown Solicitor's Offices in the States and Territories. 1. Australian Legal Aid Office Central Library in Canberra with Branches and Regional Offices in the States and Territories. 2. High Court of Australia, which has a library in Melbourne and Sydney. 3. Institute of Legislative Drafting Library, Canberra. {: type="A" start="V"} 0. Australian Law Reform Commission Library, Sydney. 4. ACT Supreme Court Library, Canberra. 5. Northern Territory Supreme Court Library. Branches are located in Alice Springs and Darwin. 6. Australian Institute of Criminology, Canberra. 7. Administrative Appeals Tribunal Library, Canberra. 8. Family Court of Australia. The Central Library is located in Sydney, and Branches are located in each State. 9. Federal Court of Australia. Small collections of material are held in each State. The main purpose of these libraries is to provide collections of legal material for use of members of the Judiciary and legal officers employed by the Commonwealth, and to provide a reference and research service. I-Attorney-General's Department Central Office Library. Canberra {: type="1" start="2"} 0. The number of books (accessioned items over the limit of $5 per item) acquired in:- 1974- 75-4,169 1975- 76-3,370 1976- 77-6,203 1977- 78-6,000 (estimated) The number of new Periodical and Publication titles including law reports acquired in:- 1974- 75-96 1975- 76-150 1976- 77-113 1977- 78-100 (estimated) Total Current Book Stock: 60,000 vols. Total Periodical and Publication Titles: 1,200. {: type="1" start="3"} 0. Estimated Annual Cost of running the Library: {: type="1" start="4"} 0. Staff employed in the Library: 1 x Librarian Class 3 1 x Librarian Class 2 1 x Librarian Class 1 1 x Library Officer Grade 3 1 x Library Officer Grade 2 lx Clerk Class 4 4 x Assistant Library Officers 1 x Clerical Assistant Grade 4 3 x Clerical Assistants Grade 3 3 x Clerical Assistants Grade 2 1 x Clerical Assistant Grade 1 unstaffed lx Typist Grade 1 Total 19. No major staff changes have occurred in the Library in the past 3 years and none are contemplated. {: type="1" start="5"} 0. The Central library was last reviewed in 1973 by the Public Service Board. At this time the present structure of the Library was established. The Library was reviewed Departmentally in 1975, when new accounting procedures were instituted. 1. The general public may read in the Library but may not borrow books. The Library is used regularly by officers of other Departments. Deputy Crown Solicitor's Office Libraries: Adelaide, Alice Springs, Brisbane, Darwin, Hobart, Melbourne, Perth, Sydney, and Townsville. {: type="1" start="2"} 0. The number of books (accessioned items over the limit of $5 per item) acquired in total for these libraries in:- 1974- 75-1,448 1975- 76-1,064 1976- 77-2,169 1977- 78-1,560 (estimated) The number of new Periodical and Publication titles, including law reports, acquired in:- 1974- 75-45 1975- 76-41 1976- 77-38 1977- 78-40 (estimated) Total Current Book Stock: 3 1 ,068. Total Periodical and Publication Titles: 588. {: type="1" start="3"} 0. Estimated Annual Cost of running these libraries: {: type="i" start="i"} 0. Budget allocation 96,150 1. Salaries........... 63,556 {: type="1" start="4"} 0. Staff employed in these libraries: 1 x Library Officer Grade 2 2 x Library Officer Grade 1 4 x Clerical Assistants Grade 3 1 x Clerical Assistant Grade 2 Total 8. No major staff changes have occurred in these libraries over the past 3 years, and none are contemplated. {: type="1" start="5"} 0. These libraries have not been reviewed by the Public Service Board in the last 3 years but a review of their adequacy is at present being undertaken within the Department II.- Australian Legal Aid Office Central Office Library, Canberra {: type="1" start="2"} 0. The number of books (accessioned items over the limit of $5 per item) acquired in: 1974- 75-329 1975- 76-163 1976- 77-95 1977- 78-95 (estimated) The number of Periodical and Publication titles, including law reports acquired in: 1974- 75-96 1975- 76-31 1976- 77-12 1977- 78-12 (estimated) Total Current Book Stock: 3,700 vols. Total Periodical and Publication Titles: 139. {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 3 ) Estimated Annual cost of running the library: {: type="1" start="4"} 0. Staff employed in the Library: 1 x Librarian, Class 2 1 x Library Officer, Grade 2 1 x Clerical Assistant, Grade 4 Total 3. The staff employed by the Library have been reduced over the past three years by two staff members. {: type="1" start="5"} 0. The Library was established in 1974. 1. These libraries are not open to the public for borrowing purposes. However, they do lend to other libraries when possible. Also material can be consulted on the premises with either the permission of the Librarian, Central Office or the Officer-in-Charge at the Branch and Regional Offices. Central Library assists individuals interested in legal aid. Some legal officers at the Regional Offices have assisted lawyers from the private profession who have consulted some of their legal material. Australian Legal Aid Office Branch Libraries: Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Darwin, Hobart, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney Each of these collections is similar in size, and all material is acquired in Central Office Library. Figures have been given for one branch library. {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 2 ) The number of books ( accessioned items over the limit of $5 per item) acquired in: 1974- 75-218 1975- 76-76 1976- 77-33 1977- 78-33 (estimated) The number of Periodical and Publication titles, including law reports, acquired in: 1974- 75-32 1975- 76-10 1976- 77-7 1977- 78-7 (estimated) Current Book Stock of one Branch Library: 1 ,900 vols. Current Periodical and Publication Titles of one Branch Library: 49. Total Current Book Stock of aU Branch Libraries: 15,200 vols. Total Current Periodical and Publication titles of Branch Libraries: 392. {: type="1" start="3"} 0. Estimated Annual Cost of running these libraries: {: type="1" start="4"} 0. No staff are employed in these libraries. They are maintained from the Central Office Library. 1. No reviews have been made in the last 3 years. 2. As for reply given for Australian Legal Aid Central Office Library. Australian Legal Aid Office Regional Office Libraries: Alice Springs, Bankstown, Blacktown, Brunswick, Burnie, Cairns, Elizabeth, Fairfield, Fremantle, Geelong, Glenroy, Inala, Ipswich, Launceston, Leichhardt, Lismore, Mackay, Midlands, Newcastle, Orange, Rockhampton, Ryde, Southport, Sunshine, Tamworth, Townsville, Wollongong Each of these collections is similar in size and all material is acquired in Central Office Library. Figures have been given for one regional office library {: type="1" start="2"} 0. The number of books (accessioned items over the limit of $5 per item) acquired in: 1974- 75-35 1975- 76-30 1976- 77-10 1977- 78-10 (estimated) The number of new Periodical and Publication tides, including law reports, acquired in: 1974- 75-9 1975- 76-12 1976- 77-9 1977- 78-9 (estimated) Current Book Stock of one Regional Office Library: 470. Current Periodical and Publication Tides of one Regional Office Library: 30. Total Book Stock of all Regional Office Libraries: 12,690 vols. 'Total Periodical and Publication Titles of all Regional Office Libraries: 810. {: type="1" start="3"} 0. Estimated Annual Cost of running these libraries: {: type="1" start="4"} 0. No staff are employed in these libraries. They are maintained from the Central Office Library. 1. No reviews have been made in the last three years. 2. As for reply given for Australian Legal Aid Central Office Library Ill-High Court of Australia Sydney, Melbourne {: type="1" start="2"} 0. The number of books (accessioned items over the limit of $5 per item) acquired in: 1974- 75-607 1975- 76-541 1976- 77-410 1977- 78-600 (estimated) The number of new Periodical and Publication titles, including law reports, acquired in: 1974- 75-97 1975- 76-100 1976- 77-127 1977- 78-125 (estimated) Total Current Book Stock: 80,000 vols. Total Periodical and Publication Tides: 1,581. {: type="1" start="3"} 0. Estimated Annual Cost of running the library: {: type="1" start="4"} 0. Staff employed in the library 1 x Librarian Class 2 1 x Library Officer Grade 1 3 x Clerical Assistants Grade 3 1 x Clerical Assistant Grade 1 Total: 6. No major staff changes have occurred in the library in the last 3 years and none are contemplated. {: type="1" start="5"} 0. No reviews of these libraries have been carried out in the last three years. 1. The High Court libraries are not open to the public or the legal profession, they are for the sole use of the Justices. Material which can be photocopied is however available on inter-library loan. IV institute of Legislative Drafting Canberra {: type="1" start="2"} 0. ) The number of books ( accessioned items over the limit of $5 per item) acquired in: 1974- 75-687 1975- 76-390 1976- 77-35 1977- 78-NU (Estimated) The number of new Periodical and Publication titles, including law reports, acquired in: 1974- 75-60 1975- 76-20 1976- 77-5 1977- 78-NU (estimated) Total Current Book Stock: 1 ,752 vols. Total Periodical and Publication Titles: 85. {: type="1" start="3"} 0. Estimated Annual Cost of running this library $3,000. 1. NU. 2. The library was established in 1974. 3. This library is not open to the public V.- Australian Law Reform Commission Sydney {: type="1" start="2"} 0. The number of books (accessioned items over the limit of $5 per item) acquired in: 1974- 75-NU 1975- 76-3,500 1976- 77-4,000 1977- 78-1,000 (estimated) The number of new Periodical and Publication titles, including law reports, acquired in: 1974- 75-NU 1975- 76-150 1976- 77-200 1977- 78-100 (estimated) Total Current Book Stock: 7,500. Total Periodical and Publication Titles: 380. {: type="1" start="3"} 0. Estimated Annual Cost of running the Library: {: type="1" start="4"} 0. Staff Employed in the Library: 1 x Librarian Class 2. No major staff changes have occurred in the library and none are contemplated. {: type="1" start="5"} 0. No reviews of the library have been carried out in the last 3 years. 1. The Library is open to the general public by appointment. The actual office space available is extremely limited, with only one desk for a reader available at a time. The library also participates fully in the inter-library loan system which exists between a large number of libraries including government, university, college, public libraries etc. The aim of the library is not to restrict access to its information resources but rather, wherever possible, to allow loans through the inter-library loan network and access through individuals telephoning requests or visiting the Commission. V1.-A.C.T. Supreme Court Library Canberra {: type="1" start="2"} 0. The number of books (accessioned items over the limit of $5 per item) acquired in:- 1974/75-232 1975/76-137 1976/77-156 1977/78-160 (estimated) The number of new Periodical and Publication titles, including law reports, acquired in:- 1974/75-2 1975/76-1 1976/77-1 1977/78-5 (estimated) Total Current Book Stock: 4,000 vols. Total Periodical and Publication Titles: 208. {: type="1" start="3"} 0. Estimated Annual Cost of running the Library: {: type="1" start="4"} 0. Staff employed in the Library: 1 x Librarian Class 1 2 x Clerical Assistants Grade 3 Total 3. No major staff changes have occurred in the library in the last 3 years and none are contemplated. {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 5 ) No reviews have been carried out in the last 3 years. 1. The library is open to all legal practitioners and to members of the Police' Force. An average of 20 members of the public use the library , daily. The library, does not lend books to the public. VII.-Northern Territory Supreme Court Libraries Darwin, Alice Springs {: type="A" start="A"} 0. Supreme Court Library, Darwin {: type="1" start="2"} 0. The number of books (accessioned items over the limit of $5 per item) acquired in:- 1974- 75-311 1975- 76-1742 1976- 77-906 1977- 78-200 (estimated) The number of new Periodical and Publication titles, including law reports, acquired in:- 1974- 75-5 1975- 76-2 1976- 77-4 1977- 78-10 (estimated) Total Current Book Stock: 10,342. Total Periodical and Publication Titles: 150. {: type="1" start="3"} 0. Estimated Annual Cost of running the library: {: type="1" start="4"} 0. Staff employed in the Library: 1 x Library Officer Grade 2 1 x Clerical Assistant Grade 4 1 x Clerical Assistant Grade 2 Total 3. One Clerical Assistant Grade 4 was added to the establishment in 1976. {: type="1" start="5"} 0. The library was reviewed in 1974 and in consequence the collection was upgraded. 1. The Supreme Court Library in Darwin is open to private practitioners and approved members of the public. As it contains the most extensive range of law material in Darwin, students undertaking law oriented courses have also sought permission to use the library during normal office hours. There have also been requests made for the library to be open one night per week but this has been refused due to lack of funds to pay library staff on overtime to supervise the library. Borrowing facilities are available only to legal personnel employed by the Attorney-General's Department and other Government bodies such as Australian and Aboriginal Legal Aid. {: type="A" start="B"} 0. Supreme Court Library, Alice Springs 2. The number of books (accessioned items over the limit of $5 per item) acquired in:- 1974- 75-Unknown 1975- 76-525 1976- 77-629 1977- 78-200 (estimated) The number of new Periodical and Publication tides, including law reports, acquired in:- 1974- 75-6 1975- 76-17 1976- 77-25 1977- 78-10 (estimated) Total Current Book Stock: 8,000 vols. Total Periodical and Publication Tides: 88. {: type="1" start="3"} 0. Estimated Annual Cost of running the Library: {: type="1" start="4"} 0. Staff Employed in the Library: Nil. 1. The library was reviewed in 1975 and in consequence the collection has been upgraded. 2. The library is open to all legal practitioners who may also borrow books. The library is the only major law collection in Alice Springs and as such is used extensively. Vin.- Australian Institute of Criminology Library Canberra {: type="1" start="2"} 0. The number of books (accessioned items over the limit of $5 per item) acquired in: 1974- 75-1,186 1975- 76-524 1976- 77-275 1977- 78-350 (estimated) The number of new Periodical and Publication tides, including law reports, acquired in: 1974- 75-64 1975- 76-73 1976- 77-42 1977- 78-11 (estimated) Total Current Book Stock: 3,652 vols. Total Periodical and Publication Titles: 584. {: type="1" start="3"} 0. Estimated Annual Cost of running the Library. {: type="1" start="4"} 0. Staff employed in the Library: 1 x Librarian Class 2 1 x Librarian Class 1 1 x Library Officer Grade 3 1 x Library Officer Grade 1 1 x Clerical Assistant Grade 3 1 x Clerical Assistant Grade 2 Total 6. No major staff changes have occurred in the Library in the past 3 years and none are contemplated. {: type="1" start="5"} 0. The Library was established in 1973. 1. The Library is open to the public. It is used by Canberra-based researchers and students and also Commonwealth and A.C.T. police personnel. In addition, participants in seminars conducted by the Institute's Training Division make extensive use of its facilities. Inquiries by post and telephone from criminal justice personnel and the media from throughout Australia are being received to an increasing extent. IX.- Administrative Appeals Tribunal Library Canberra {: type="1" start="2"} 0. The number of books (accessioned items over the limit of $5 per item) acquired in: 1974- 75-Nil 1975- 76-NU 1976- 77-1,700 1 977- 78- 1 ,000 (estimated) The number of new Periodical and Publication titles, including law reports, acquired in: 1974- 75-Nil 1975- 76-NU 1976- 77-70 1977- 78-50 (estimated). Total Current Book Stock: 2,000 vols. Total Periodical and Publication Titles: 80. {: type="1" start="3"} 0. Estimated Annual Cost of running the Library: {: type="1" start="4"} 0. Staff employed in the Library: 1 x Library Officer Grade 3. No major staff changes have occurred in the Library in the past 3 years and none are contemplated. {: type="1" start="5"} 0. The Library was established in 1976. 1. This Library is not open to the public. X.- Family Court of Australia Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Hobart, Launceston, Melbourne, Parramatta, Sydney Each of these collections is similar in size and aU material is acquired through the Principal Registrar of the Family Court in Sydney. Figures have been given for one Branch Library. {: type="1" start="2"} 0. ) The number of books ( accessioned items over the limit of $5 per item) acquired in: 1974- 75-NU 1975- 76-1,938 1976- 77-435 1977- 78-200 (estimated) The number of new Periodical and Publication titles, including law reports, acquired in: 1974- 75-NU 1975- 76-42 1976- 77-68 1977- 78-15 (estimated) Current Book Stock in each Library: 2,400 vols. Periodical and Publication Titles in each Library: 1 10 Total Current Book Stock of aU Family Court Libraries: 19,200 vols. Total Periodical and Publication Titles in all Family Court Libraries: 880 {: type="1" start="3"} 0. Estimated Annual Cost of running the Libraries: ^ {: type="1" start="4"} 0. Staff employed in the Principal Registry, which is the only library to employ staff. 1 x Librarian Class 2 1 x Clerical Assistant Grade 3 Total 2. No staff changes are contemplated. {: type="1" start="5"} 0. The Libraries were established in 1975. 1. The Libraries are not open to the public XI.- Federal Court of Australia Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth, Sydney These Libraries are mainly located in Judge 's Chambers. The Federal Court of Australia has taken over the Library of the Industrial Court in Melbourne. Figures for the Industrial Court are not available {: type="1" start="2"} 0. The number of books (accessioned items over the limit of $5 per item) acquired in: 1974- 75-NU 1975- 76-NU 1976- 77-2,000 1977- 78-500 (estimated) The number of new Periodical and Publication tides, including law reports, acquired in: 1974- 75-NU 1975- 76-NU 1976- 77-NU 1977- 78-200 (estimated) Total Current Book Stock: 4,000 vols, (approximate) Total Periodical and Publication Titles: 50 (approx.) (3) Estimated Annual Cost of running the Libraries: {: type="1" start="4"} 0. Staff employed in the Library: lx Librarian Class 1 The position of Librarian Class 1 was established in 1977. {: type="1" start="5"} 0. Not applicable 1. The Libraries are not open to the general public {:#subdebate-45-93} #### Lockheed Corporation in Australia (Question No. 1384) {: #subdebate-45-93-s0 .speaker-K9M} ##### Mr Les Johnson:
HUGHES, NEW SOUTH WALES · ALP asked the Minister representing the Attorney-General, upon notice, on 7 September 1977: >When may I expect the information regarding the visit of Government Senators to **Mr Peter** Mingrove former Australasian Sales Manager for the Lockheed Corporation, in Los Angeles in 1976, which his predecessor pledged to forward to me on 5 May 1977. {: #subdebate-45-93-s1 .speaker-ZD4} ##### Mr Howard:
LP -- The Attorney-General has provided the information sought in the honourable member's question in the reply provided by him to question No. 1533 asked by the honourable member. {:#subdebate-45-94} #### Tertiary Education Assistance (Question No. 1403) {: #subdebate-45-94-s0 .speaker-4H4} ##### Mr Hamer:
ISAACS, VICTORIA asked the Minister representing the Minister for Education, upon notice, on 8 September 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. How many students does the Minister anticipate will be forced to abandon studies at independent business colleges due to the proposed withdrawal of TEAS allowances for college students. 1. Would it be consistent with the Minister's often stated support for the independent school sector to maintain subsidies for independent business schools so as to maintain an alternative to Government technical colleges 2. How much would it cost to extend subsidies, presently accorded to 1 8 non-government business schools, to aU other non-profit independent business colleges. {: #subdebate-45-94-s1 .speaker-EE6} ##### Mr Viner:
LP -- The Minister for Education has provided the following answer to the honourable member's question: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1) to (3) I announced in the Senate on 4 November 1977 *(Hansard,* pages 2102, 2103) that the Government has reviewed the question of fees assistance for private business colleges The Government has decided to continue the limited support of the existing private business colleges and interim funding will be provided in 1978 to those colleges currently receiving support on the present basis after making some allowance for cost increases. Consistent with this approach, full-time students in the colleges concerned will continue to be eligible for Ternary Education Assistance Allowances. {:#subdebate-45-95} #### Mount Larcom and District Mining Protest Group (Question No. 1503) {: #subdebate-45-95-s0 .speaker-ZE4} ##### Mr Lionel Bowen: asked the AttorneyGeneral, upon notice, on 15 September 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. Did an organisation in Queensland known as the Mount Larcom and District Mining Protest Group receive Federal legal aid to further their cause in the legal proceedings which were heard in the Mining Wardens Court in Gladstone on 24 to 28 November 1975. 1. If so, what moneys were advanced to the Group by way of legal aid and for what purpose. 2. What decisions and recommendations were made by the Wardens Court. 3. Were the decisions and recommendations published by the Wardens Court; if so, when and where. 4. If the decisions and recommendations were not published, what reasons were given for not doing so. 5. Were the decisions and recommendations of the Wardens Court furnished to any person; if so, to whom and on what date. 6. If the Wardens Court has made no decisions or recommendations, what is the explanation for the delay. 7. Do any decisions or recommendations of the Wardens Court relate to underground water supply, pollution and environmental consideration of the lands used and occupied by members of the Mount Larcom and District Mining Protest Group. 8. Have the lands and improvements of any of the members of the Mount Larcom and District Mining Protest Group been affected in any way; if so, in what manner, for what purpose and by whom. 9. 10) What compensation or other consideration has been offered to the members of the Mount Larcom and District Mining Protest Group for any injurious affection to their holdings and improvements including the use thereof. {: #subdebate-45-95-s1 .speaker-ZD4} ##### Mr Howard:
LP -The Attorney-General has provided the following answer to the honourable member's question: >My predecessor has stated previously, in reply to the honourable member's questions relating to the grant of financial assistance, that he did not think it appropriate to make public information about particular applicants for legal aid who are entitled to expect that information supplied would be kept confidential. I propose to follow the same policy. I would be prepared, however, to make the information available to the honourable member, if he wishes, on a confidential basis. {:#subdebate-45-96} #### Department of Environment, Housing and Community Development: Expenditure (Question No. 1794) {: #subdebate-45-96-s0 .speaker-0F4} ##### Mr Braithwaite: asked the Minister for Environment, Housing and Community Development upon notice, on 13 October 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) What was the amount of expenditure through his De- partment on capital works within the Electoral Divisions of Leichhardt Herbert, Kennedy and Dawson during each of the years 1973-74 to 1976-77, inclusive. 1. What was the total expenditure by his Department during the same years. {: #subdebate-45-96-s1 .speaker-JVV} ##### Mr Newman:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1) The Department of Environment, Housing and Community Development undertakes no direct capital works expenditure in the States. Most of the Department's expenditure is in the form of payments to the States for specific purposes, the bulk of it being for welfare housing. Under some programs, payments are made to assist specific capital projects. In these cases, it is possible to attribute expenditures to particular areas, such as electorates. The available details are as follows: {: type="a" start="b"} 0. Expenditure. {: type="1" start="2"} 0. Total expenditure was $332.0m, $7 15.8m, $700.2m and $562.6m respectively. {:#subdebate-45-97} #### Transport Advisory Council (Question No. 1798) {: #subdebate-45-97-s0 .speaker-6U4} ##### Mr E G Whitlam:
WERRIWA, NEW SOUTH WALES · ALP am asked the Minister for Transport, upon notice, on 13 October 1977: >What progress has the Transport Advisory Council and its Railway Group made in mitigating the intersystem rating > >E radices which, according to the report of the Board of Inquiry into the Victorian Land Transport System in February 1972 and the report of the Bureau of Transport Economics in November 1975, cause substantial financial disadvantages to (a) Riverina wheatgrowers and the other primary producers, (b) the Victorian Railways and (c) the New South Wales Treasury *(Hansard,* 19 April 1977, page 970). {: #subdebate-45-97-s1 .speaker-009OD} ##### Mr Nixon:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: >As I have advised previously this matter is under consideration by the Australian Transport Advisory Council and its Railway Group of Advisors. When the Railway Group reports to ATAC the Ministers will consider the report. Non-government Schools (Question No. 1809) {: #subdebate-45-97-s2 .speaker-ZE4} ##### Mr Lionel Bowen: asked the Minister representing the Minister for Education, upon notice, on 18 October 1977: >What are the names of, enrolments in, and fees charged by, non-government schools classified by the Schools Commission as (a) levels 1 and 2 and (b) levels 5 and 6. {: #subdebate-45-97-s3 .speaker-EE6} ##### Mr Viner:
LP -- The Minister for Education has provided the following answer to the honourable member's question: >Information in respect of fees charged in individual nongovernment schools is supplied to the Schools Commission on the understanding that it will remain confidential. I am not prepared, therefore, to release this information. Details of enrolments follow: {:#subdebate-45-98} #### Travellers' Cheques: Acceptance by Post Office o (Question No. 1819) {: #subdebate-45-98-s0 .speaker-CJ4} ##### Mr Shipton: asked the Minister for Post and Telecommunications, upon notice, on 19 October 1977: >Will post offices and agencies of Australia Post accept travellers' cheques issued by Australian banks either for (a) purchases or (b) cash; if not, why not. {: #subdebate-45-98-s1 .speaker-KZL} ##### Mr Eric Robinson:
MCPHERSON, QUEENSLAND · LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: >Australia Post does accept travellers ' cheques in exchange for purchases and change may be given on those cheques. > >Australia Post does not accept travellers' cheques for cash as this type of transaction is considered to be a function more related to banks and outside the normal service provided at post office counters. If this facility were to be provided additional costs could be incurred in overcoming cash liquidity problems which may occur at post offices, particularly at holiday resorts. {:#subdebate-45-99} #### Home Loan Finance (Question No. 1871) {: #subdebate-45-99-s0 .speaker-JVS} ##### Mr Neil: asked the Minister for Environment, Housing and Community Development, upon notice, on 20 October 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. What is the latest available figure for total annual home loan finance in Australia. 1. Of this sum how much was for- {: type="a" start="a"} 0. first home loan applications and 1. new land development {: #subdebate-45-99-s1 .speaker-JVV} ##### Mr Newman:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) In 1 976-77 total loans approved to individuals for construction or purchase of dwellings amounted to $5,174,874,000. 1. a. Statistics are not collected on the proportion of housing finance going to first-time home-buyers. {: type="a" start="b"} 0. None of the amount mentioned in (1) above was to finance the development of new land. Statistics are not available on finance for new land development. {:#subdebate-45-100} #### Mail Deliveries (Question No. 1884) {: #subdebate-45-100-s0 .speaker-2E4} ##### Mr Lloyd: asked the Minister for Post and Telecommunications, upon notice, on 20 October 1977: >What action is he or Australia Post prepared to take to ensure that mail is delivered to every Australian irrespective of his political or trade union attitude. {: #subdebate-45-100-s1 .speaker-KZL} ##### Mr Eric Robinson:
MCPHERSON, QUEENSLAND · LP -The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: >The policy of the Postal Commission is to provide the best possible mad service to all users. It views with concern any action by Commission employees which disrupts or denies services to communities or particular individuals and organisations. Whenever such action is taken the Commission attempts by direct negotiation or by reference to the Conciliation and Arbitration Commission to resolve the problem as quickly as possible. > >I am kept closely informed by the Commission of any action which disrupts or denies services. In every case the Commission has taken some positive action to resolve the matter and has taken those actions with my support. {:#subdebate-45-101} #### Peterborough Railway Employees (Question No. 1910) {: #subdebate-45-101-s0 .speaker-KWZ} ##### Mr Wallis: asked the Minister for Transport, upon notice, on 26 October 1977: >Has his attention been drawn to the concern that exists among railway employees at Peterborough, South Australia, regarding future railway activities in that town. If so, will he give a categorical assurance to those employees that the Peterborough railway activities will continue ensuring the future employment opportunities of employees in that town. {: #subdebate-45-101-s1 .speaker-009OD} ##### Mr Nixon:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: >My attention has not been previously drawn to the concern which exists among railway employees in Peterborough, South Australia regarding future railway activities in the town. The Australian National Railways Commission has yet to assume operational control of the nonmetropolitan South Australian railways. When the Commission assumes this control, it will be giving more detailed consideration to the rationalisation of railway activities relating to South Australia. > >In this connection, I mention also that I received only a few days ago a report by a joint Commonwealth/State committee of officials on the proposed closure of the Peterborough to Quorn and Gladstone to Wilmington branch lines. This report is presently being examined. {:#subdebate-45-102} #### Marijuana Cultivation: Patrols (Question No. 1918) {: #subdebate-45-102-s0 .speaker-2E4} ##### Mr Lloyd: asked the Minister for Business and Consumer Affairs, upon notice, on 27 October 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. Do revelations on the growing of marijuana in Australia indicate that plantations of this illegal crop in certain areas known to be suitable for its cultivation should have been capable of discovery by Federal and State authorities. 1. If so, has any State Government requested Federal financial assistance tor aerial inspection of likely areas, or for defence service planes or helicopters to be used for these inspections in the past {: #subdebate-45-102-s1 .speaker-CG4} ##### Mr Fife:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. Responsibility for the detection of and the enforcement against illicit cultivation of cannabis rests with State governments. Whether areas known to be suitable for its cultivation are capable of discovery by enforcement authorities is a matter which I am sure will be fully explored by the National Royal Commission of Inquiry into Drugs. 1. I am not aware of any requests by State governments for financial assistance for aerial inspection of possible areas of illicit cultivation or for Defence aircraft to be used for this purpose. There have been joint operations by officers of my Department and State police forces where aircraft chartered with Federal funds and Defence aircraft have been used in aerial surveillance reconnaissance and surveys. {:#subdebate-45-103} #### Treasurer's Pecuniary Interests (Question No. 1939) {: #subdebate-45-103-s0 .speaker-K9M} ##### Mr Les Johnson:
HUGHES, NEW SOUTH WALES · ALP asked the Prime Minister, upon notice, on 3 November 1977: >Has the Treasurer informed him of the full nature of his financial interests and responsibilities as required by the Prime Minister in his statement to the House on 16 August 1977 *(Hansard,* page 9); if so, do the Treasurer's disclosed interests include (a) the Treasurer or any of his family companies having held land in conjunction with either **Mr Colin** Cooke, **Mr Paul** Day or **Mr Peter** Leake at (i) Summerville or Mornington, (ii) in the Westernport region or (iii) on the Mornington Peninsula, Victoria or (b) the Treasurer or any of his family companies having any joint interest in lands with **Mrs R.Hamer.** {: #subdebate-45-103-s1 .speaker-QS4} ##### Mr Malcolm Fraser:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: >The Treasurer provided me with a completely adequate statement of his pecuniary interests soon after the government was elected to office and he has updated this from time to time as have other Ministers. I take this opportunity to say that I know of no information which would detract from the high regard which I have for the Treasurer. In relation to the specific matters raised in the question, I draw attention to the information provided by the Treasurer in his answer to question 1921. {:#subdebate-45-104} #### Treasurer's Pecuniary Interests (Question No. 1940) {: #subdebate-45-104-s0 .speaker-6U4} ##### Mr E G WHITLAM:
WERRIWA, NEW SOUTH WALES · ALP am asked the Prime Minister, upon notice, on 3 November 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) Is Grosvenor Nominees Pry Ltd one of the companies in respect of which the Treasurer has given him a declaration of his pecuniary interests. 1. Did the Treasurer bring this matter to his attention (a) before my first question about **Mr Peter** Leake on 25 October 1977 *(Hansard,* page 2309) and/or (b) before **Mr Leake** gave evidence about it, on 26 October 1977, before the Commission inquiring into the Victorian Housing Commission land purchases. {: #subdebate-45-104-s1 .speaker-QS4} ##### Mr Malcolm Fraser:
LP -- See my answer to question No. 1939. {:#subdebate-45-105} #### Treasurer's Pecuniary Interests (Question No. 1967) {: #subdebate-45-105-s0 .speaker-6U4} ##### Mr E G Whitlam:
WERRIWA, NEW SOUTH WALES · ALP am asked the Prime Minister, upon notice, on 7 November 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. With reference to his requirement for Ministers to inform him of the full nature of their financial interests and responsibilities *(Hansard,* 16 August 1977, page 9), has his attention been drawn to a report in the *Australian Financial Review* of 3 November 1977 of a statement by a director of Grosvenor Nominees Pty Ltd, in which **Mr Peter** Leake has sworn that the Treasurer has a pecuniary interest, that the company merely acts as a nominee company and that if someone is uncomfortable about his name appearing in a share register he can use the company to register his holding. 1. Does he consider it appropriate for a Minister to make investments or hold interests in a company in such a guise that the public cannot discover them. {: #subdebate-45-105-s1 .speaker-QS4} ##### Mr Malcolm Fraser:
LP -- See my answer to question No. 1939. {:#subdebate-45-106} #### Australian Telecommunications Commission (Question No. 1517) {: #subdebate-45-106-s0 .speaker-K9M} ##### Mr Les Johnson:
HUGHES, NEW SOUTH WALES · ALP asked the Minister for Post and Telecommunications, upon notice, on 20 September 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. Has he directed Australia Post to use $28m of the accumulated 1975-76 and 1976-77 surplus to repay part of the funds provided by the Commonwealth for capital expenditure prior to vesting day. 1. When Telecom and Australia Post were created was it intended that they commence operations with a 'clean sheet' irrespective of past deficits. 2. How will the Government use the $28m recouped from Australia Post 3. Why has the Government sought this sum rather than allow Australia Post to use it in the maintenance of stable prices. {: #subdebate-45-106-s1 .speaker-KZL} ##### Mr Eric Robinson:
MCPHERSON, QUEENSLAND · LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. The Government has decided that the Postal Commission should repay to the Commonwealth $28m in 1977-78 by way of reduction of its capital indebtedness for past borrowings. 1. The Government decided in establishing the Postal and Telecommunications Commissions that accumulated postal trading losses and telecommunications profits prior to Vesting Day (1 July 1975) were to be written off and capitalised respectively. The opening balance sheets of the two Commissions reflected this decision. It was also decided that the accumulated deficiencies in the Commissions' provision for long service leave at 30 June 1975 and the superannuation liability up to 30 June 1975 would be written off. {: type="1" start="3"} 0. The amount concerned will be paid to Consolidated Revenue Fund. 1. The Government has decided that the balance of the accumulated surplus should be applied, as necessary, to hold postal rates for standard letters and registered publications. As indicated in (1) above it has also decided that the Commission should use some of its liquid assets not presently required in the business to repay $28m of its capital indebtedness to the Commonwealth for past borrowings. This will mean lower annual interest payments by the Commission to the Commonwealth. Lockheed Corporation Sales in Australia (Question No. 1533) {: #subdebate-45-106-s2 .speaker-K9M} ##### Mr Les Johnson:
HUGHES, NEW SOUTH WALES · ALP asked the Minister representing the Attorney-General, upon notice, on 21 September 1977: >When will the Attorney-General be in a position to provide the information promised by his predecessor on 5 May 1977 regarding the statutory declaration of **Mr Geoffrey** Nicoll relating to Lockheed Corporation Sales in Australia and the names of the Government Senators who called on the senior Australasian Sales Manager for Lockheed, **Mr Peter** Mingrove, in Los Angeles, in 1976. {: #subdebate-45-106-s3 .speaker-ZD4} ##### Mr Howard:
LP -The Attorney-General has provided the following answer to the honourable member's question: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. A statutory declaration was made by Geoffrey Dimmock Nicoll on 7 May 1976 concerning negotiations for the sale of Lockheed Electra Aircraft in the following terms: *I, GEOFFREY DIMMOCK NICOLL of Hat 1, 16 Gladstone Parade, Elsternwick, Victoria 3185, do solemnly and sincerely declare: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 am the Managing Director of Nicoll-Cooke Pty Ltd, Manufacturers' Agents and Aerospace Consultants of Bryson Centre, 186 Exhibition Street, Melbourne in the said State. 1. THIS company is presently consultant to the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation of Burbank, California in the United States of America. 2. FROM August 1951 until October 1963 1 was employed by E. L. Heymanson & Company Pty Ltd as Manager of the Aviation Division of the company. 3. DURING the period 1957 to 1959 I was intimately associated with the sale of Lockheed Electra Aircraft to Australian National Airways Pty Ltd, to Trans-Australia Airlines and to Qantas Empire Airways Limited. Three aircraft were sold to Australian National Airways Pty Ltd, three to Trans Australia Airlines and four to Qantas Empire Airways Limited. E. L. Heymanson & Company Pty Ltd were not concerned in negotiating the sale of Lockheed Electra Aircraft to Tasman Empire Airways Limited. 4. THE negotiations with the three Airlines were conducted on a highly competitive basis, and contracts were executed directly between Lockheed Aircraft Corporation and the individual Airlines. 5. IN accordance with a properly executed sales representation agreement between Lockheed Aircraft Corporation and E. L. Heymanson & Company Pty Ltd, the latter company was entitled to commission at an agreed rate on each aircraft sold within the Commonwealth of Australia. Commission was at a normal recognized rate in the trade and was to the best of my recollection of the order 1 *Vi* per cent to 2 per cent. 6. THE commission on the sale of all the aircraft was eventually paid direct by the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation to E. L. Heymanson & Company Pty Ltd in accordance with the terms and conditions of the Sales Representation Agreement between the two companies. 7. IN my negotiations no arrangement of any kind was ever mentioned in regard to any part of the commission being paid to any person or company other than E. L. Heymanson & Company Pty Ltd or by E. L. Heymanson & Company Pty Ltd to any other person or company. 8. 1 firmly and conscientiously believe that no commission in respect of the said sales was paid by E. L. Heymanson & Company Pty Ltd to the then **Senator Shane** Partridge Minister for Civil Aviation or to any other person or company. ' {: type="1" start="2"} 0. Neither I nor my Department has any knowledge of a visit by Government Senators to a **Mr Peter** Mingrove in Los Angeles in 1976. {:#subdebate-45-107} #### Airline Tickets: Fraudulent Sale (Question No. 1591) {: #subdebate-45-107-s0 .speaker-HI4} ##### Mr Morris: asked the Minister for Transport, upon notice, on 4 October 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) Has his attention been drawn to a report in the *Sun Herald* newspaper of 18 September 1977 relating to alleged frauds involving the sale of London to Sydney airline tickets. 1. If so, is he able to say if there is any substance in the allegations, if so {: type="a" start="a"} 0. What Australian airlines are involved 1. What losses have been incurred or are likely to be incurred by each of these airlines; and 2. What action, corrective or otherwise has he taken in respect of the events reported {: #subdebate-45-107-s1 .speaker-009OD} ##### Mr Nixon:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. Yes. 1. Yes- there is substance in the allegations. {: type="a" start="a"} 0. Qantas. 1. b) No actual loss has been incurred. 2. Full police investigation has resulted in the detention of two persons and Qantas is maintaining close contact with the police to assist in the further investigation of this matter. Overseas Travel by the Prime Minister (Question No. 1607) {: #subdebate-45-107-s2 .speaker-HI4} ##### Mr Morris: asked the Prime Minister, upon notice, on 5 October 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) On what occasions and for what purposes has he travelled overseas during the period 1 1 November 1975 to date. 1. What was the name, classification and salary of all persons who accompanied him on each occasion. 2. What was the cost of (a) travel, (b) accommodation and (c) other expenditure, and what was the total cost incurred in respect of himself and each person who travelled with him on each journey overseas. 3. Which airlines and/or other means of transport were utilised during each journey overseas. {: #subdebate-45-107-s3 .speaker-QS4} ##### Mr Malcolm Fraser:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: >See my answer to Senate Question No. 1116. {:#subdebate-45-108} #### Minister for Health: Overseas Travel (Question No. 1621) {: #subdebate-45-108-s0 .speaker-HI4} ##### Mr Morris: asked the Minister for Health, upon notice, on 5 October 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) On what occasions and for what purposes has he travelled overseas during the period 1 1 November 1975 to date. 1. What was the name, classification and salary of all persons who accompanied him on each occasion. 2. What was the cost of (a) travel, (b) accommodation and (c) other expenditure, and what was the total cost incurred in respect of himself and each person who travelled with him on each journey overseas. 3. Which airlines and/or other means of transport were utilised during each journey overseas. {: #subdebate-45-108-s1 .speaker-GH4} ##### Mr Hunt:
NCP/NP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: >I refer the honourable member to the answer provided by the Prime Minister to Senate, Question No. 1116, published in Senate *Hansard of* 8 November 1977. {:#subdebate-45-109} #### Minister for Aboriginal Affairs: Overseas Travel (Question No. 1623) {: #subdebate-45-109-s0 .speaker-HI4} ##### Mr Morris: asked the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, upon notice, on 5 October 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) On what occasions and for what purposes has he travelled overseas during the period 1 1 November 197S to date. 1. What was the name, classification and salary of all persons who accompanied him on each occasion. 2. What was the cost of (a) travel, (b) accommodation and (c) other expenditure, and what was the total cost incurred in respect of himself and each person who travelled with him on each journey overseas. 3. Which airlines and/or other means of transport were utilised during each journey overseas. {: #subdebate-45-109-s1 .speaker-EE6} ##### Mr Viner:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: >I refer the honourable member to the reply provided by the Minister representing the Prime Minister to Senate Question No. 1116, *Hansard,* 9 November 1977. {:#subdebate-45-110} #### Minister for Post and Telecommunications: Overseas Travel (Question No. 1625) {: #subdebate-45-110-s0 .speaker-HI4} ##### Mr Morris: asked the Minister for Post and Telecommunications, upon notice, on 5 October 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) On what occasions and for what purposes has he travelled overseas during the period 1 1 November 1975 to date. 1. What was the name, classification and salary, of all persons who accompanied him on each occasion. 2. What was the cost of (a) travel, (b) accommodation and (c) other expenditure, and what was the total cost incurred in respect of himself and each person who travelled with him on each journey overseas. 3. Which airlines and/or other means of transport were utilised during each journey overseas. {: #subdebate-45-110-s1 .speaker-KZL} ##### Mr Eric Robinson:
MCPHERSON, QUEENSLAND · LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. to (4) I refer the honourable member to the Prime Minister's answer to Senate Question No. 1116. {:#subdebate-45-111} #### Minister for Construction: Overseas Travel (Question No. 1626) {: #subdebate-45-111-s0 .speaker-HI4} ##### Mr Morris: asked the Minister for Construction, upon notice, on 5 October 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) On what occasions and for what purposes has he travelled overseas during the period 1 1 November 1975 to date. 1. What was the name, classification and salary of all persons who accompanied him on each occasion. 2. What was the cost of (a) travel, (b) accommodation and (c) other expenditure, and what was the total cost incurred in respect of himself and each person who travelled with him on each journey overseas. 3. Which airlines and/or other means of transport were utilised during each journey overseas. {: #subdebate-45-111-s1 .speaker-KSB} ##### Mr McLeay:
Minister Assisting the Minister for Defence · BOOTHBY, SOUTH AUSTRALIA · LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. to (4) I refer the honourable member to the Prime Minister's reply to Senate Question No. 1116. {:#subdebate-45-112} #### Attorneys-General: Overseas Travel (Question No. 1630) {: #subdebate-45-112-s0 .speaker-HI4} ##### Mr Morris: asked the Minister representing the Attorney-General, upon notice, on S October 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. On what occasions and for what purposes has the Attorney-General and his predecessor travelled overseas during the period 1 1 November 1 975 to date. 1. What was the name, classification and salary of all persons who accompanied them on each occasion. 2. What was the cost of (a) travel, (b) accommodation and (c) other expenditure, and what was the total cost incurred in respect of each of them and each person who travelled with them on each journey overseas. 3. Which airlines and/or other means of transport were utilised during each journey overseas. {: #subdebate-45-112-s1 .speaker-ZD4} ##### Mr Howard:
LP -- The Attorney-General has provided the following answer to the honourable member's question: >The Prime Minister provided an answer to a related question in the Senate on 8 November 1977, see Senate Question 1 1 16. 1 have nothing to add to the answer provided by the' Prime Minister. Expenditure on Overseas and Domestic Travel 1976-77 (Question Na 1634) {: #subdebate-45-112-s2 .speaker-HI4} ##### Mr Morris: asked the Prime Minister, upon notice, on 5 October 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) What amounts of his Department 's travel and subsistence expenditure were spent on (a) overseas and (b) domestic travel during 1976-77. 1. What percentage of total expenditure on travel and subsistence did each of these amounts represent. {: #subdebate-45-112-s3 .speaker-QS4} ##### Mr Fraser:
Prime Minister · WANNON, VICTORIA · LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) The amounts expended on fares and travelling allowances excluding car hire in 1976-77 are set out below. For comparison, I have incorporated figures for the two full financial years of the previous government Le. 1973-74 and 1974-75: {: type="1" start="2"} 0. The percentage of the Department's expenditure on travel and subsistence, excluding car hire, were: {:#subdebate-45-113} #### Department of Environment, Housing and Community Development: Travel (Question No. 1654) {: #subdebate-45-113-s0 .speaker-HI4} ##### Mr Morris: asked the Minister for Environment, Housing and Community Development, upon notice, on 5 October 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. What amounts of his Department's travel and subsistence expenditure were spent on (a) overseas and (b) domestic travel during 1 976-77. 1. What percentage of total expenditure on travel and subsistence did each of these amounts represent {: #subdebate-45-113-s1 .speaker-JVV} ##### Mr Newman:
LP -The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. (a)$39,081 and (b) $409,028. 1. ) 9 per cent and 9 1 per cent {:#subdebate-45-114} #### Fraser Island (Question No. 1672) {: #subdebate-45-114-s0 .speaker-6U4} ##### Mr E G Whitlam:
WERRIWA, NEW SOUTH WALES · ALP am asked the Prime Minister, upon notice, on S October 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) On what date did the Minister for Environment, Housing and Community Development receive the final report of the Fraser Island Environmental Inquiry. 1. On what dates, in what form and with what results has the Government approached the Queensland Government to implement the Inquiry's suggestion that the 2 governments should jointly undertake research into the effects on the regional economy of a decision not to approve the export of minerals from Fraser Island. 2. Which Federal Departments have undertaken this research. {: #subdebate-45-114-s1 .speaker-QS4} ##### Mr Malcolm Fraser:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) On 2 1 October 1976, **Dr John** Hookey, the Presiding Commissioner, forwarded four copies of the Final Report of the Commission of Inquiry to my colleague, the Minister for Environment Housing and Community Development. 1. and (3) Following the Commonwealth's decision on Fraser Island sand mining, the Commonwealth and Queensland Governments agreed to establish a joint committee to consider what action might be necessary to offset the adverse effects of the Commonwealth's decision on the economy in the Maryborough region. The committee met on three occasions- 24 December 1976, 4 January 1977 and 14 January 1977. The committee examined a range of proposals involving Commonwealth assistance and the two Governments finally agreed on 2 February 1977 at a meeting between the Queensland Premier and the then Acting Minister for National Resources, the Hon. P. J. Nixon, M.P. on a Commonwealth grant of $10m to be spent at the State's discretion on employment creating activity in the Maryborough region- $lm m 1976-77 and $3m in each of the three succeeding years. The Queensland Government did not propose for the Committee's consideration a research program to monitor the effects on the economy of Maryborough of the Commonwealth's decision on Fraser Island sand mining, nor has any request been received from the Queensland Government since then to initiate such a research program. {:#subdebate-45-115} #### International Will (Question No. 1679) {: #subdebate-45-115-s0 .speaker-6U4} ##### Mr E G Whitlam:
WERRIWA, NEW SOUTH WALES · ALP am asked the Minister representing the Attorney-General in the House of Representatives, upon notice, on 5 October 1977: >Now that the Convention providing a uniform law on the Form of an International Will will enter into force on 8 February 1978 *(Hansard.* 14 September 1977, page 1155), has the Attorney-General taken steps, as the former AttorneyGeneral proposed, to discuss the implementation of the Convention with the State Attorneys-General *(Hansard,* 8 December 1976, page 3555). {: #subdebate-45-115-s1 .speaker-ZD4} ##### Mr Howard:
LP -- The Attorney-General has provided the following answer to the honourable member's question: >The implementation of the Convention providing a uniform law on the Form of an International Will has not yet been discussed with State Attorneys-General. > >I hope that it will be practicable to put the matter on the agenda of the Standing Committee of Attorneys-General in the near future. {:#subdebate-45-116} #### Australia Post: Redirection of Mail (Question No. 1704) {: #subdebate-45-116-s0 .speaker-JVS} ##### Mr Neil: asked the Minister for Post and Telecommunications, upon notice, on 6 October 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) What is the monthly charge by Australia Post for the re-directing of mail to a person or business whose address has changed. 1. When did this charge come into force and what were the previous arrangements. 2. If payment is made for a reasonable period after a person changes address, do post offices return mail to the sender after expiry of that period irrespective of whether or not the new address is known. {: #subdebate-45-116-s1 .speaker-KZL} ##### Mr Eric Robinson:
MCPHERSON, QUEENSLAND · LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) Australia Post's current monthly charge for redirecting mail is $5.00 for businesses and $1.50 for private persons. If pensioners qualify for either the pensioner medical service or pensioner concession travel, they are entitled to have their mail redirected free of charge for the first month of a redirection period. 1. These charges came into force on 1 September 1975. Prior to this date, the charges were as follows: 2. Australia Post advises that on the expiration or discontinuance of a redirection order, articles are delivered as addressed, since private arrangements may have been made by the former occupants to have mail forwarded to their new address. If mail is returned to the post office endorsed to the effect that the addressee has left the address, action is taken where practicable to return the article to the sender. In instances where the postmen can recall an address to which mail has been permanently redirected, delivery may be attempted on a 'try basis. {:#subdebate-45-117} #### Apprentices Ordinance 1948-1957 (Question Na 1710) {: #subdebate-45-117-s0 .speaker-6U4} ##### Mr E G Whitlam:
WERRIWA, NEW SOUTH WALES · ALP am asked the Minister representing the Minister for Education, upon notice, on 6 October 1977: >What steps have been taken to remove those provisions of the *Apprentices Ordinance* 1 *948- 1* 957 which are inconsistent with International Labour Organisation Convention No. 65-Penal Sanctions (Indigenous Workers) 1939 *(Hansard,* 4 October 1977, page 1607). {: #subdebate-45-117-s1 .speaker-EE6} ##### Mr Viner:
LP -- The Minister for Education has provided the following reply to the honourable member's question: >The responsibility for the Apprentices Ordinance 1948-1971 is to be transferred to the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly with effect from 1 January 1978. It would therefore be inappropriate for the Government to develop substantive changes to the Ordinance at this stage. > >I understand that the Ordinance may be reviewed after the transfer of responsibility and I would expect that the review would include a consideration of the matter referred to by the honourable member. {:#subdebate-45-118} #### Trade Union Elections (Question Na 614) {: #subdebate-45-118-s0 .speaker-DB6} ##### Mr Wentworth: asked the Minister for Employment and Industrial Relations, upon notice, on 18 April 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. What elections have been held in trade unions registered under the Conciliation and Arbitration Act since 31 December 1975. 1. How many persons were entitled to vote at each of those elections. 2. How many votes were recorded at each of those elections. {: #subdebate-45-118-s1 .speaker-KVM} ##### Mr Street:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: (1), (2) and (3) Information on elections conducted after 8 August 1 976 was provided in my answer to the honourable member's question on 15 September 1977 *(Hansard,* House of Representatives 1977, page 1280). In that answer I indicated that the information for the period 1 January 1976 to 8 August 1976 would be forwarded to the honourable member when it became available. The information is now available and in accordance with previous practice has been placed in the House of Representatives Table Office. {:#subdebate-45-119} #### Social Security Expenditure: Sydney Electoral Divisions (Question No. 1090) {: #subdebate-45-119-s0 .speaker-JVS} ##### Mr Neil: asked the Minister, representing the Minister for Social Security, upon notice, on 16 August 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. What major programs were funded by the Department of Social Security in the Electoral Divisions of (a) St George, (b) Banks, (c) Barton and (d) Lang during 1976-77, including recurrent and non-recurrent expenditure. 1. What was the expenditure on each program. {: #subdebate-45-119-s1 .speaker-GH4} ##### Mr Hunt:
NCP/NP -- The Minister for Social Security has provided the following answer to the honourable member's question: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) and (2) A. Information showing the amount of expenditure on pensions and benefits in the Electoral Divisions of St George, Banks, Barton and Lang during 1976-77 is not available. However, the following table shows the estimated number of pensioners (including supporting mother beneficiaries) in the nominated Electoral Divisions at 30 June 1977. {: type="A" start="B"} 0. Grant made under the Commonwealth Government's program of Grants to Community Welfare Agencies (Special Assistance Scheme) in 1976-77 in the Federal Electorate of Banks. Grant totalled $ 1 ,730. C. (i) Children's Services Program funds projects in the four Electoral Divisions. Expenditure for 1 976-77 listed only relates to expenditure paid direct to organisations. Details of expenditure through the New South Wales State Government i.e., for pre-schools would have to be sought from that Government {: type="a" start="a"} 0. St George-$24, 187 recurrent; no capital 1. Banks-$25,367 recurrent; no capital 2. Barton- $ 1 8,842 recurrent; no capital 3. Lang-$52,527 recurrent; $16,125 capital. {: type="i" start="ii"} 0. Expenditure on the Children's Services Program in 1976-77 was as Mows: {: type="A" start="D"} 0. In the electorate of St George during 1976-77, one project was approved under the Aged Persons Hostel Act. This project provides a fifty-two bed hostel and is sponsored by the Uniting Church in Australia. The grant has been provisionally determined at $827,638. During 1976-77, $506,421 was expended under the Aged Persons Hostels Act in the St George electorate. No expenditure has been made under the Aged Persons Hostels Act in the electorates of Banks, Barton, and Lang. {: type="A" start="E"} 0. Under the Aged or Disabled Persons Homes Act, no capital expenditure was incurred in the electorates of St George, Banks, Barton and Lang, for 1976-77. However recurrent expenditure, by way of Personal Care Subsidy was paid as follows: Two Aged Persons Hostels were approved during 1976-77 for payment of Personal Care Subsidy, one in the St George electorate and the other in the electorate of Banks. {: type="A" start="F"} 0. Under the Delivered Meals Subsidy Act, the following expenditure was incurred during 1 976-77: No new services were approved in either electorate during 1976-77. {: type="A" start="G"} 0. Under the States Grants (Home Care) Act, the following subsidies towards Senior Citizens' Centres and Welfare Officers have been paid. Information is also supplied with regard to the projects approved for funding in 1977-78 with the estimate of subsidy at the date of approval. St George Senior Citizens' Centre- nil. Welfare Officer 1976-77 Rockdale $3,722. The Subsidy for Home Care Services for aged persons is paid only in respect of State Government expenditure. In New South Wales, this service is provided through a single State Government utility, the New South Wales Housekeepers Emergency Service administered by the State Department of Youth and Community Affairs. H. Handicapped Persons Assistance Act Under the Handicapped Persons Assistance Act, no major capital projects were approved for funding during the 1976-77 financial year in the electorates of (a) St George, (b) Banks, (c) Barton, (d) Lang. However financial assistance was provided by the Government under the program to maintain existing services for the handicapped. The services supported number two in St George, five in Banks, two in Barton, four in Lang; and comprise activity therapy centres, sheltered workshops, training centres and residentials for the handicapped. The recurrent and non-recurrent expenditure for each electorate for 1976-77 is given below: {:#subdebate-45-120} #### Apprenticeships: Retirements from Trades (Question No. 1203) {: #subdebate-45-120-s0 .speaker-RK4} ##### Mr Hayden: asked the Minister for Employment and Industrial Relations, upon notice, on 17 August 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) How many (a) applications were received for apprenticeships, (b) apprenticeships were actually entered into and (c) apprentices graduated at the completion of their trade training during each of the last 10 years. 1. How many persons left their trades because of retirement, resignation or death during the same years. 2. Is he able to provide a breakdown of the information sought in parts (1) and (2) (a) for the major trades and (b) in respect of metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas in each State. {: #subdebate-45-120-s1 .speaker-KVM} ##### Mr Street:
LP -The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) (a) Information on the number of apprenticeship applications received during each of the last 10 years is not available in my Department as applications to enter apprenticeship are lodged with the respective apprenticeship authority in each State. Normally these would considerably exceed the number of indentures entered into. 1. 1) (b) The numbers of apprenticeships entered into (ie, new indentures registered) during each of the last 10 years is contained in Attachment A, which also provide a breakdown (as requested in Question 3) for the major trades and on a State basis. 2. (c) Similarly, the number of apprentices completing their trade training during each of the last 10 years is contained in Attachment B which also provides a breakdown (as requested in Question 3) for the major trades and on a State basis. Some caution should be exercised before any comparative analysis of these figures is made because I understand that procedures for recording completions have changed recently. It should also be noted that some distortion is present in the figures as a result of apprentices in both four and five year terms finishing their time in the same year. 3. Information on how many persons left their trades because of retirement, resignation or death during each of the last 10 years is not available. {: type="1" start="3"} 0. The information sought for this part of the question is contained in the answer to part 1, above. This information is not available, however, on a metropolitan/nonmetropolitan basis. {:#subdebate-45-121} #### Pre-school Education: Expenditure (Question No. 1222) {: #subdebate-45-121-s0 .speaker-6U4} ##### Mr E G Whitlam:
WERRIWA, NEW SOUTH WALES · ALP am asked the Minister representing the Minister for Social Security, upon notice, on 17 August 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. What has been the State expenditure on pre-school education in each State in 1971-72 and each subsequent financial year *(Hansard,* 3 1 May 1 972, page 3444). 1. What has been the Federal expenditure in each State on pre-school education in 1971-72 and each subsequent financial year, and what will be the corresponding amounts in 1977-78. {: #subdebate-45-121-s1 .speaker-GH4} ##### Mr Hunt:
NCP/NP -- The Minister for Social Security has provided the following answer to the honourable member's question: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. The following table has been provided by the Australian Bureau of Statistics and shows the identified outlay by State Governments on pre-school and child care programs for the years 1971-72 to 1975-76. Details for 1976-77 are not yet available. The figures represent amounts spent on these programs which can be identified from State Government Public Accounts; they should be regarded as approximate and may not be fully comparable between the States. State outlays include grants to local authorities made from funds provided by the Commonwealth under its Pre-schools and Child Care Program. Direct payments from the Commonwealth Government to local government authorities, which do not pass through State Government Accounts, are not included. {: type="1" start="2"} 0. Commonwealth Expenditure on Pre-school Education since the introduction of the Children's Services Program has been as follows. These figures include both capital and recurrent expenditure. Components of the figures below are included in (1 ) above. In 1977-78 expenditure in Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania will be all recurrent expenditure and will be as follows: In New South Wales and Victoria there is s till some unexpended capital committment, and expenditure in these States should be as follows: {:#subdebate-45-122} #### Libraries: Departments of the Treasury and Finance (Question No. 1349) {: #subdebate-45-122-s0 .speaker-JT9} ##### Mr Bungey: asked the Treasurer, upon notice, on 6 September 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) How many libraries are there (a) in the Department of the Treasury and ( b) in the Department of Finance, where is each located and what is the main purpose of each. 1. How many (a) books, (b) publications and (c) periodicals (i) have been acquired in (A) 1974-75, (B) 1975-76 and (C) 1976-77, (ii) are there currently in each library and (iii) will be acquired under budget provisions for 1977-78. 2. What is the annual cost of running each library 3. What staff are employed in each library and what major staffing changes have occurred in the past 3 years, or are contemplated. 4. When were the provision, number and purpose of libraries in each Department last reviewed by that Department and or the Public Service Board and, what recommendations were made at that time. 5. Which libraries are open to the public, and what is the extent of public usage. {: #subdebate-45-122-s1 .speaker-KIM} ##### Mr Lynch:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) (a) There are 8 libraries in the Taxation Office and 7 libraries in the Australian Bureau of Statistics. {: type="a" start="b"} 0. There is 1 library in the Department of Finance, 1 library in the Office of the Superannuation Fund Investment Trust and 1 library in the Royal Australian Mint. The location of these libraries is as follows: Australian Taxation Office Location Parkes, Australian Capital Territory Sydney, New South Wales Parramatta, New South Wales Melbourne, Victoria Brisbane, Queensland Adelaide, South Australia Perth, Western Australia Hobart, Tasmania. Australian Bureau of Statistics Belconnen, Australian Capital Territory Sydney, New South Wales Melbourne, Victoria Brisbane, Queensland Adelaide, South Australia Penh, Western Australia Hobart Tasmania. Department of Finance Parkes, Australian Capital Territory. Office of Superannuation Fund Investment Trust Canberra City, Australian Capital Territory. Royal Australian Mint Deakin, Australian Capital Territory. Note: The Central Office of the Department of the Treasury, Canberra, currently utilises the services of the library in the Department of Finance. The main purpose of each of the individual libraries is to provide materials and reference needs necessary to meet the information requirements of the relevant organisations. {: type="1" start="2"} 0. (a) Books acquired. {: type="1" start="3"} 0. The following estimated annual running costs of the libraries incorporate salaries, allowances, purchase of books, periodicals, equipment and binding but exclude overheads such as accommodation, power, fuel, light, maintenance, cleaning, etc. {: type="1" start="4"} 0. The total number of staff employed in the respective libraries as at September 1977 were as follows: There have been no major staffing changes over the past 3 years in any of the libraries, and none is contemplated. {: type="1" start="5"} 0. The following Australian Taxation Office libraries were last reviewed in the years indicated: Canberra, Public Service Board review- 1973; Departmental review- 1974; Sydney, Departmental review- 1973; Melbourne, Departmental review- 1974; Perth, Departmental review- 1973. No major changes were recommended in any of these reviews. The Australian Bureau of Statistics conducted a major review of its Canberra library in 1 973. The review resulted in a complete restructuring of the library's establishment to meet increased workloads. Establishment reviews of the State Office libraries were conducted by the Bureau in conjunction with the Public Service Board during 1976-77 but did not recommend any significant changes. The Department of Finance (then the Treasury) library was reviewed in 1 976 in order to assess whether certain positions needed reclassification to cope with new methods and procedures introduced to facilitate more efficient provision of service. This review did not result in any major changes. No major reviews have been conducted of the minor libraries: the Office of Superannuation Fund Investment Trust and the Royal Australian Mint {: type="1" start="6"} 0. None of the abovementioned libraries is open to the public {:#subdebate-45-123} #### Department of Employment and Industrial Relations: Libraries (Question No. 1353) {: #subdebate-45-123-s0 .speaker-JT9} ##### Mr Bungey: asked the Minister for Employment and Industrial Relations, upon notice, on 6 September 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. How many libraries are in his Department, where is each located and what is the main purpose of each. 1. How many (a) books, (b) publications and (c) periodicals (i) have been acquired in (A) 1974-75, (B) 975-76 and (C) 1976-77 (ii) are currently in the library and (iii) will be acquired under budget provisions for 1 977-78. 2. What is the annual cost of running each library. 3. What staff are employed in each library and what major staffing changes have occurred in the past 3 years, or are contemplated. 4. When were the provision, number and purpose of libraries in the Department last reviewed by the Department and/or the Public Service Board, and what recommendations were made at that time. 5. Which libraries are open to the public, and what is the extent of public usage. {: #subdebate-45-123-s1 .speaker-KVM} ##### Mr Street:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) The Department of Employment and Industrial Relations has a Central Library in its head office in Melbourne with a branch in the Industrial Registry and a Regional Library in each of the six Australian State capital cities, and small collections in Darwin and Canberra. Their main purpose is to provide a Library based information service for the Department by collecting and disseminating the necessary published information for the Department' s research, policy-making and operational activities. {: type="1" start="2"} 0. The information in the form requested is not available. The following information is provided: {: type="a" start="i"} 0. Library expenditure on all categories of publications, including books and periodicals: {: type="i" start="ii"} 0. Items currently held: The information is provided in terms of linear feet of library shelving occupied by books and other publications (eg. pamphlets, legal collections etc.) and periodicals (including serials). Books and other publications (including pamphlets, legal collections etc): 4608 linear feet The average number of books per linear foot is 1 6. Periodicals: 2415 linear feet, representing 1 , 000 tides. {: type="i" start="iii"} 0. Estimated acquisition in 1977-78: Books and other publications- Total is dependent on the availability of publications in subject areas relevant to departmental needs. $32, 100.00 has been allocated. Periodicals- It is expected that the same number of periodicals acquired in 1976-77 will be acquired in 1977-78. $38,250.00 has been allocated. {: type="1" start="3"} 0. The budget allocations for publications, binding and specialised stationery for each library in 1977-78 are: However staffing levels in some of the departmental libraries are lower than the establishment provision: Central Office- 1 3 staff of the following classifications: Librarian Class 3; Librarian Class 2; Librarian Class 1 (2 positions). Library Officer Gr 2 (2 positions); Library Officer Gr 1 ( 1 position). Clerical Assistant Gr 4; Clerical Assistant Gr 3 (3 positions); Clerical Assistant Gr 2 (2 positions). Industrial Registry-Clerical Assistant Gr 4. New South Wales Library Officer Gr 2. Library Officer Grl. Clerical Assistant Gr 3. Victoria Library Officer Grl. Clerical Assistant Gr 3. Queensland Library Officer Grl. Clerical Assistant Gr 2. South Australia Library Officer Grl. Western Australia Library Officer Grl. Tasmania Library Officer Grl. Clerical Assistant Gr 2. The provision of library services for Central Office was reviewed by the Department in 1976, and as an outcome of this a staff establishment review was undertaken. No such similar review has been undertaken in Regional Offices since 1972. No major staffing changes have taken place in the last three years, or are contemplated. {: type="1" start="5"} 0. The provision of library services for Central Office was reviewed by the Department in 1976, and as an outcome of this a staff establishment review was undertaken. No such similar review has been undertaken in Regional Offices since 1972. The new establishment in Central Office provides for a staff level of 1 9 officers. Approval for this establishment was given by the Public Service Board on September 8, 1 977: Librarian Cl 3; Librarian Cl 2 (2 positions); Librarian Cl 1 (2 positions). Library Officer Gr 2 (3 positions); Library Officer Gr 1 (2 positions). Clerical Assistant Gr 3 (3 positions); Clerical Assistant Gr 2(4 positions); Clerical Assistant Gr 1 ( 1 position). {: type="1" start="6"} 0. The public are free to make use of library collections in all the departmental libraries. Inter-library loans are made to any library requesting them. Loans are made directly to persons engaged in training programmes etc., if there is no facility for an inter-library loan by some of the regional libraries. Public usage has not been accurately assessed, but members of the public, and in particular students from secondary and tertiary institutions, people from private business firms, industrial establishments, trade unions, management organisations, teachers, and in the case of the Industrial Registry's library persons from the legal profession, are using the Central Office Library as well as all the regional libraries. {:#subdebate-45-124} #### Department of the Northern Territory: Libraries (Question No. 1364) {: #subdebate-45-124-s0 .speaker-JT9} ##### Mr Bungey: asked the Minister for the Northern Territory, upon notice, on 6 September 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. How many libraries are in his Department, where is each located and what is the main purpose of each. 1. How many (a) books, (b) publications and (c) periodicals (i) have been acquired in (A) 1974-75, (B) 1975-76 and (C) 1976-77, (ii) are currently in the library and (iii) will be acquired under budget provisions for 1977-78. 2. What is the annual cost of running each library. 3. What staff are employed in each library and what major staffing changes have occurred in the past 3 years, or are contemplated. 4. When were the provision, number and purpose of libraries in the Department last reviewed by the Department and/or the Public Service Board, and what recommendations were made at that time. 5. Which libraries are open to the public, and what is the extent of public usage. {: #subdebate-45-124-s1 .speaker-ID4} ##### Mr Adermann:
NCP/NP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. Libraries are established in the Department of the Northern Territory as follows: Central Reference Library (at present located in Canberra, but to be re-located in Darwin as soon as accommodation is available) Animal Industry and Agriculture Branch Library, Darwin Arid Zone Research Institute Library, Alice Springs Forestry, Fisheries and Land Conservation Branch Library, Berrimah Mines Branch Library, Darwin Water Resources Branch Library, Darwin The Northern Territory Public Library Service, previously operated by my Department was transferred to the control of the Northern Territory Executive on 1 January 1977. The main purpose of Branch libraries is to provide scientific and technical library and information services to the officers of the Branches concerned. The Central Reference Library was transferred to my Department when the Department of Northern Development was abolished in 1975. Its holdings in the pure, applied and social sciences provide a resource service to Branch libraries and a general library service for departmental, interdepartmental and public use. {: type="1" start="2"} 0. Information regarding books, publications and periodicals is as follows: In addition to the above a valuable collection of scientific and technical books and journals, numbering at least 100,000 items has been given by the National Library as a basis for a state library for a future state government. These are stored awaiting cataloguing and processing. {: type="1" start="3"} 0. Information regarding the cost of running each library is not maintained by my Department To attempt to obtain full information would involve considerable effort. However, the following estimate of total annual costs is given: Staff salaries, $56,000; Books purchases (estimate), $45,000; Periodicals purchased (estimate), $15,000; Publications purchased- mainly obtained without cost. {: type="1" start="4"} 0. Central Reference Library, Canberra- 1 Librarian Class 2, 1 Clerical Assistant Grade 3 (full-time). Animal Industry and Agriculture Branch Library, Darwin 1 Library Officer, Grade 1 (full-time). Arid Zone Research Institute Library, Alice Springs- 1 Library Officer, Grade 1 (full-time). Forestry, Fisheries and Land Conservation Branch Library, Berrimah- Maintained by Forest Instructor (parttime). Mines Branch Library, Darwin- Maintained part-time by Branch Staff. Water Resources Branch Library- 1 Librarian Class 1 (full-time). The staffing changes that have occurred in the last three years have been: {: type="a" start="a"} 0. Transfer of positions of Librarian and Clerical Assistant from the then Department of Northern Development. 1. Abolition of a position of Librarian Class 1, in the Forestry, Fisheries and Land Conservation Branch Library. 2. Allocation of a position of Librarian Class 1 for the Water Resources Branch library. {: type="1" start="5"} 0. (a) The National Library, on behalf of the Department of Northern Development made a report in 1973 regarding the establishment of the library that is now the Central Reference Library of my Department. 3. The Librarian in charge of the Central Reference Library has, in the last two years, made an extensive investigation and reports on the efficiency, integration, economic development and staffing requirements, of all Branch libraries. These changes have been implemented except for some items that cannot be put into effect until the Central Reference Library is located in Darwin and the recommended staffing increases which have been deferred pending the transfer of functions to the Northern Territory Public Service. {: type="a" start="c"} 0. The Public Service Board has not conducted any general review of library services of the Department in recent years. It has monitored and concurred in the organisation changes listed in (4) above. {: type="1" start="6"} 0. The Libraries are available to members of the public who require specialist scientific and technical information. Classified material of a government or departmental nature is, of course, not available to the public. The public makes only limited use of this service. {:#subdebate-45-125} #### Unemployment: New South Wales Districts (Question No. 1414) {: #subdebate-45-125-s0 .speaker-6U4} ##### Mr E G Whitlam:
WERRIWA, NEW SOUTH WALES · ALP am asked the Minister for Employment and Industrial Relations, upon notice, on 13 September 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) How many persons were registered as unemployed in the Employment Office areas of (a) Penrith, (b) Windsor, (c) Mt Druitt, (d) Blacktown, (e) Parramatta, (f) Fairfield, (g) Liverpool and (h) Campbelltown at the end of August 1975, August 1976 and August 1977. 1. What percentage of the persons was (a) males and (b) females (i) under 2 1 years and (ii) 2 1 years of age and over. 2. What were the principal work categories of the persons registered as unemployed. {: #subdebate-45-125-s1 .speaker-KVM} ##### Mr Street:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: (1), (2) and (3) In view of the volume of requests for detailed labour market information and the time involved in extracting and preparing such information, I have arranged for local offices of the Commonwealth Employment Service, when requested by a member of Parliament, to provide readily available raw data which may be relevant to the question. I suggest that the honourable member contact the O fficers-in-Charge of the CES offices concerned. {:#subdebate-45-126} #### Unemployment: Ipswich District (Question No. 1417) {: #subdebate-45-126-s0 .speaker-RK4} ##### Mr Hayden: asked the Minister for Employment and Industrial Relations, upon notice, on 13 September 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) How many persons were registered as unemployed in the Employment Office area of Ipswich, Queensland, at the end of August 1975, August 1976 and August 1977. 1. What percentage of th persons was (a) males and (b) females (i) under 20 years of age and (ii) 2 1 years of age and over. 2. What were the principal work categories of the persons registered as unemployed. 3. What percentage of the Ipswich district workforce is unemployed. {: #subdebate-45-126-s1 .speaker-KVM} ##### Mr Street:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: (l), (2), (3) and (4) In view of the volume of requests for detailed labour market information and the time involved in extracting and preparing such information, I have arranged for local offices of the Commonwealth Employment Service, when requested by a member of Parliament, to provide readily available raw data which may be relevant to the question. I suggest that the honourable member contact the Officer-in-Charge of the CES office concerned. {:#subdebate-45-127} #### Transport: Reviews, Studies and Inquiries (Question No. 1490) {: #subdebate-45-127-s0 .speaker-HI4} ##### Mr Morris: asked the Minister for Transport, upon notice on 15 September 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) What reviews, studies or inquiries relating to transport have been initiated by him since 1 1 November 1975. 1. On what date was each initiated. 2. Which ones have been completed. 3. What action has been taken to table in the Parliament the reports of those completed. 4. What progress has been made in those inquiries not yet completed, and when is it expected each will be completed. {: #subdebate-45-127-s1 .speaker-009OD} ##### Mr Nixon:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: ( 1-5) See attached tables. {:#subdebate-45-128} #### International Airlines: Operations on Domestic Routes (Question No. 1492) {: #subdebate-45-128-s0 .speaker-HI4} ##### Mr Morris: asked the Minister for Transport, upon notice on 5 October 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. Has his Department undertaken a study into the impact that international airlines carrying passengers between Australian capital cities have on Australia's domestic carriers. 1. If so, (a) what specific aspects of this question will the study be investigating, (b) when does he expect the report to be completed, (c) what prompted him to call on his Department to undertake the study, (d) will the study team be seeking submissions from (i) international airlines operating in Australia on domestic air routes and (ii) Australia 's domestic carriers, (e) what branches of his Department does the study involve and (f) will he table in the Parliament the report of the study; if not, why not. {: #subdebate-45-128-s1 .speaker-009OD} ##### Mr Nixon:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. The Department is undertaking currently a study of the carriage of international air traffic over routes within Australia. This will be a contribution to the work of the teams undertaking the domestic aviation and international civil aviation policy reviews on each of which it clearly impinges. 1. Full details of the basis for and scope of each review were given in my announcements of the reviews. The Government has not yet decided whether reports of these reviews will be made public {:#subdebate-45-129} #### China: Foreign Policy (Question No. 1496) {: #subdebate-45-129-s0 .speaker-JTS} ##### Mr Kevin Cairns:
LILLEY, QUEENSLAND · LP asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs, upon notice, on IS September 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. With reference to his answer to question No. 1239, when have there been evident different policies and practices enunciated by the Government of the People's Republic of China and the Communist Party of China. 1. Can he say whether these essential differences have been evident in the *Peking People's Daily* or in any of the Chinese media; if so, when. 2. Are there any examples where the incitement of revolution by Peking Radio, the *Voice of Thailand* or the *Voice of the Malaysian Revolution* has been discussed by the Chinese Government. 3. Is it a fact that the most notable example from recent history of an attempt to allow any divergence of these views occurred in the Dubcek Government of Czechoslovakia. 4. i Is it realistic to accept that the doctrine that Chinese 'relations with foreign Communist parties would not be allowed to impinge on government to government relationships' absolves the Government of responsibility {: #subdebate-45-129-s1 .speaker-MI4} ##### Mr Peacock:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. and (2) The answer to question No. 1239 carried no implications with regard to the matter of whether or not there are differences between the policies and practices enunciated by the Government of the People 's Republic of China and the Communist Party of China. The assurance given to the Prime Minister when he visited China last year is a matter of public record and is best assessed by examining China's record in the area of foreign policy. Such examination suggests that party-to-party relations have not been allowed to impinge on state-to-state relations. 1. and (5) I draw the honourable member's attention to my address to the Deepdene Branch of the Liberal Party on 9 August 1976 in which I outlined the Government's longstanding and continuing concern about this matter, and in which I commented on the assurances given to the Prime Minister during his visit to China- '. . . We recognise as a fact that the Chinese Government has historical links with some of the insurgency movements of South East Asia. We do not approve of these links, but we recognise that for the Chinese Government they involve various accumulated obligations, commitments and political investments. We hope, for the sake of the stability of the region, that these links will be broken, but we do not think it would be realistic to expect this to happen suddenly. We also recognise that whether party-to-party relations impinge on state-to-state relations is not a matter which the Chinese leaders alone can decide: the views of other states on this matter may differ from their own. Nevertheless, taking all this into account, the impression we were given, both by the particular statement made and by the general concern expressed about stability, was that the Chinese leaders will be concerned to conduct party-to-party relations in ways which will not damage the efforts to develop good relations with the countries of the region; that a clear priority is given to the latter. This is clearly a matter of considerable interest for Australia which attaches great importance to the stability and development of South East Asia. ' 2. It would be an error to suggest that a divergence of views between Party and Government was the major feature of the Dubcek Government in Czechoslovakia and the main cause of its regrettable fate. Taxation: Evasion by Use of Family Trusts (Question No. 1531) {: #subdebate-45-129-s2 .speaker-JM9} ##### Mr Armitage:
CHIFLEY, NEW SOUTH WALES asked the Treasurer, upon notice, on 2 1 September 1977: >When does the Government intend to introduce legislation to prevent tax evasion through the use of family trusts. {: #subdebate-45-129-s3 .speaker-KIM} ##### Mr Lynch:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: >The Income Tax Assessment Amendment Bill (No. 2) 1977 and the Income Tax (Rates) Amendment Bill (No. 2) 1977, each contain measures designed to prevent tax avoidance through the use of trusts. > >Some of the measures were announced in my 1977-78 Budget Speech while others arise out of decisions since taken by the Government in pursuance of the undertaking then given to bring forward amendments against tax avoidance. > >Details of the various measures affecting trusts can be found in my second reading speeches on the Bills I have referred to and in the explanatory memorandum that was circulated to honourable members. Qantas Airways Ltd: Seasonal Variations in Fares (Question No. 1546) {: #subdebate-45-129-s4 .speaker-HI4} ##### Mr Morris: asked the Minister for Transport, upon notice, on 22 September 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) Has the experience of Qantas shown that the new fare structure introduced earlier in 1977 for seasonal variations for shoulder, peak and through travel has resulted in a stimulus to, Australia to United Kingdom, or United Kingdom to Australia, traffic. 1. How any persons have purchased rickets for travel each way in each month since the new fares were introduced. 2. What were the comparative ticket sales for the same months in 1976. {: #subdebate-45-129-s5 .speaker-009OD} ##### Mr Nixon:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. Since the introduction of the new fare package for travel between Australia and the United Kingdom, there has been an average increase in the number of passengers carried on Qantas in both directions of 17 per cent compared with the corresponding period last year. The number of passengers travelling from Australia to the United Kingdom has increased by 1 S per cent for the period April to October 1977 compared with the same period in 1976. The comparable figure for passengers travelling in the other direction was 19 percent. I am informed that Qantas believes that it is still too early for the company to make a final evaluation of the extent of the success of the new fares package. However, the results to date, together with current forward booking patterns, are most encouraging and Qantas considers that the new fares package has certainly stimulated the travel market between Australia and the United Kingdom. {: type="1" start="2"} 0. and (3) I am advised by Qantas that figures are not available showing the number of tickets sold by the month of purchase. However, a comparison can be given of the total number of passengers carried by Qantas on its AustraliaUnited Kingdom services over seven comparable periods in 1976 and 1977. {:#subdebate-45-130} #### Defence Procurements: Effect of Fluctuations in Exchange Rate (Question No. 1583) {: #subdebate-45-130-s0 .speaker-K9M} ##### Mr Les Johnson:
HUGHES, NEW SOUTH WALES · ALP asked the Minister for Defence, upon notice, on 4 October 1977: >As a result of the Government's decision in November 1976 to devalue the Australian dollar and also taking into account subsequent fluctuations in the exchange rate, what were the additional costs, in November 1976 prices, borne by the Defence vote for procurement of items of capital equipment for which contracts had been let to overseas suppliers. {: #subdebate-45-130-s1 .speaker-4U4} ##### Mr Killen:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: >Additional payments made to overseas suppliers under contracts for the procurement of capital equipment resulting from the Government's decision in November 1976 to devalue the Australian dollar and subsequent fluctuations in the exchange rate amounted to $A20.169m in the period to 30 June 1977. International Airlines: Operations on Domestic Routes (Question No. 1600) {: #subdebate-45-130-s2 .speaker-HI4} ##### Mr Morris: asked the Minister for Transport, upon notice, on 5 October 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. Did he tell me in answer to question No. 950 *(Hansard,* 2 June 1977, page 2596) that the Department of Transport had instituted an inquiry into all aspects of the question of carriage of international passengers by international air carriers between Australian cities. 1. If so, has the inquiry been completed and will he make the results public. 2. If the inquiry is incomplete, when does he expect it to be finalised and will he undertake to make its report public. 3. What are the names and classifications of the officers carrying out the inquiry. {: #subdebate-45-130-s3 .speaker-009OD} ##### Mr Nixon:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. Yes. 1. and (3) The answers of these questions were given in my reply to question No. 1 492. 2. The names of the officers conducting the domestic aviation policy review have already been released. The Steering Committee for the international civil aviation policy review will comprise, apart from Professor C. A. Gannon, Assistant Professor at Monash University, whose appointment has already been announced, the following officers of the Department of Transport: **Mr J.** H. Rowland, First Assistant Secretary, Level 3, Chairman **Mr J.** E. Schofield, First Assistant Secretary, Level 3 **Mr J.** W. Spencer, A/g First Assistant Secretary, Level 3 **Mr R.** M. Seymour, Director, Queensland Region, Level 2 The study team will be directed by **Mr K.** H. Toakley Assistant Secretary, Level 1. {:#subdebate-45-131} #### Treasurer: Overseas Travel (Question No. 1610) {: #subdebate-45-131-s0 .speaker-HI4} ##### Mr Morris: asked the Treasurer, upon notice, on 5 October 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) On what occasions and for what purposes has he travelled overseas during the period 1 1 November 197S to date. 1. What was the name, classification and salary of all persons who accompanied him on each occasion. 2. What was the cost of (a) travel, (b) accommodation and (c) other expenditure, and what was the total cost incurred in respect of himself and each person who travelled with him on each journey overseas. 3. Which airlines and/or other means of transport were utilised during each journey overseas. {: #subdebate-45-131-s1 .speaker-KIM} ##### Mr Lynch:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: >I refer the honourable member to the answer provided by the Prime Minister to Senate question No. 1116 on 9 November 1977. {:#subdebate-45-132} #### Minister for Transport: Overseas Travel (Question No. 1615) {: #subdebate-45-132-s0 .speaker-HI4} ##### Mr Morris: asked the Minister for Transport, upon notice, on 5 October 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) On what occasions and for what purposes has he travelled *overseas* during the period 1 1 November 1 975 to date. 1. What was the name, classification and salary of all persons who accompanied him on each occasion. 2. What was the cost of (a) travel, (b) accommodation and (c) other expenditure, and what was the total cost incurred in respect of himself and each person who travelled with him on each journey overseas. 3. Which airlines and/or other means of transport were utilised during each journey overseas. {: #subdebate-45-132-s1 .speaker-009OD} ##### Mr Nixon:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: (1-4) See answer to Senate question No. 1 1 1 6. {:#subdebate-45-133} #### Minister for Foreign Affairs: Overseas Travel (Question No. 1617) {: #subdebate-45-133-s0 .speaker-HI4} ##### Mr Morris: asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs, upon notice, on 5 October 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1) On what occasions and for what purposes has he travelled overseas during the period 1 1 November 1975 to date. 1. What was the name, classification and salary of all persons who accompanied him on each occasion. 2. What was the cost of (a) travel, (b) accommodation and (c) other expenditure, and what was the total cost incurred in respect of himself and each person who travelled with him on each journey overseas. 3. Which airlines and/or other means of transport were utilised during each journey overseas. {: #subdebate-45-133-s1 .speaker-MI4} ##### Mr Peacock:
LP -- I refer the honourable member to the information provided by **Senator Withers** in answer to question No. 1116 asked by **Senator Douglas** McClelland *(Hansard,* 9 November). {:#subdebate-45-134} #### Minister for Social Security: Overseas Travel (Question No. 1619) {: #subdebate-45-134-s0 .speaker-HI4} ##### Mr Morris: asked the Minister, representing the Minister for Social Security, upon notice, on 5 October 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) On what occasions and for what purposes has the Minister travelled overseas during the period 11 November 1 975 to date. 1. What was the name, classification and salary of all persons who accompanied the Minister on each occasion. 2. What was the cost of (a) travel, (b) accommodation and (c) other expenditure, and what was the total cost incurred in respect of the Minister and each person who travelled with her on each journey overseas. 3. Which airlines and/or other means of transport were utilised during each journey overseas. {: #subdebate-45-134-s1 .speaker-GH4} ##### Mr Hunt:
NCP/NP -- The Minister for Social Security has provided the following answer to the honourable member's question. {: type="1" start="1"} 0. to (4) I refer the honourable member to the Prime Minister's reply to Senate question No. 1116. {:#subdebate-45-135} #### Minister for Productivity: Overseas Travel (Question No. 1631) {: #subdebate-45-135-s0 .speaker-HI4} ##### Mr Morris: asked the Minister for Productivity upon notice, on 5 October 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) On what occasions and for what purposes has he travelled overseas during the period 1 1 November 1975 to date. 1. What was the name, classification and salary of all persons who accompanied him on each occasion. 2. What was the cost of (a) travel, (b) accommodation and (c) other expenditure, and what was the total cost incurred in respect of himself and each person who travelled with him on each journey overseas. 3. Which airlines and/or other means of transport were utilised during each journey overseas. {: #subdebate-45-135-s1 .speaker-6I4} ##### Mr Macphee:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: >I refer the honourable member to the reply provided by the Prime Minister to Senate question No. 1116, which appeared in *Hansard* on 8 November 1977. Department of Immigration and Ethnic Affairs: Expenditure on Travel (Question No. 1649) {: #subdebate-45-135-s2 .speaker-HI4} ##### Mr Morris: asked the Minister for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) What amounts of his Department's travel and subsistence expenditure were spent on (a) overseas and (b) domestic travel during 1976-77. 1. What percentage of total expenditure on travel and subsistence did each of these amounts represent. {: #subdebate-45-135-s3 .speaker-0I4} ##### Mr MacKellar:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: >The amounts expended on fares and travelling allowance excluding car hire for the travel and subsistence appropriation in Australia (including short term overseas visits) are: > >a. Overseas travel-$70,961 b. Domestic travel-$ 156,894 > >a. Overseas travel- 20.93 per cent b. Domestic travel- 46.36 per cent > >Amounts expended on fares and travelling allowance at overseas posts where Immigration and Ethnic Affairs is represented, and the cost of travel of officers and their families both from and to Australia and inter post are: > >1 ) Travel at posts - $99,949 Overseas transfer costs-$499,092 > >Travel at posts- 12.19percent Overseas transfer costs- 60.89 per cent Department of Aboriginal Affairs: Expenditure on Travel (Question No. 1650) {: #subdebate-45-135-s4 .speaker-HI4} ##### Mr Morris: asked the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, upon notice, on 5 October 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. What amounts of his Department 's travel and subsistence expenditure were spent on (a) overseas and (b) domestic travel during 1976-/7. 1. What percentage of total expenditure on travel and subsistence did each of these amounts represent {: #subdebate-45-135-s5 .speaker-EE6} ##### Mr Viner:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. (a) Overseas-$1,006 (b) Domestic-$794,114 1. (a) 0.1 3 per cent (b) 99.87 per cent. Department of Construction: Expenditure on Travel (Question No. 1653) {: #subdebate-45-135-s6 .speaker-HI4} ##### Mr Morris: asked the Minister for Construction, upon notice, on 5 October 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) What amounts of his Department's travel and subsistence expenditure were spent on (a) overseas and (b) domestic travel during 1 976-/7. 1. What percentage of total expenditure on travel and subsistence did each of these amounts represent {: #subdebate-45-135-s7 .speaker-KSB} ##### Mr McLeay:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) The amounts expended on fares and travelling allowances in 1976-77 are set out below. For comparison, I have incorporated figures for the two full financial years of the previous Government i.e., 1973-74 and 1974-75. {: type="a" start="a"} 0. Overseas travel, 1973-74- $53,329 Overseas travel, 1974-75-897,510 Overseas travel, 1976-77- $59,273 1. Domestic travel, 1973-74-$l,284,317 Domestic travel, 1974-75-$2,154,066 Domestic travel, 1976-77- $1,669,564 1. The percentages of the Department's expenditure on fares and travelling allowance were: {: type="a" start="a"} 0. Overseas travel, 1973-74- 4 per cent Overseas travel, 1974-75- 4 per cent Overseas travel, 1976-77-3 per cent 1. Domestic travel, 1973-74-96 per cent Domestic travel, 1974-75- 96 percent Domestic travel, 1976-77-97 percent The information shown for the years 1973-74 and 1974-75 includes a component for the housing sector of the then Department of Housing and Construction. Department of Productivity: Expenditure on Travel (Question No. 1658) {: #subdebate-45-135-s8 .speaker-HI4} ##### Mr Morris: asked the Minister for Productivity on 5 October 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) What amounts of bis Department 's travel and subsistence expenditure were spent on (a) overseas and (b) domestic travel during 1976-77. 1. What percentage of total expenditure on travel and subsistence did each of these amounts represent. {: #subdebate-45-135-s9 .speaker-6I4} ##### Mr Macphee:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: >The Department of Productivity was created on 8 November 1976. During the remainder of the financial year 1976-77, the following are the relevant details. > >(a) Overseas travel, 1976-77-$39,635 (b) Domestic travel, 1976-77- $439,818 > >(a) The percentages of the Department's expenditure on travel and subsistence (excluding car hire) were: > >Overseas 8.3 per cent of total Domestic 9 1 .7 per cent of total Department of Veterans' Affairs: Expenditure on Travel (Question No. 1660) {: #subdebate-45-135-s10 .speaker-HI4} ##### Mr Morris: asked the Minister for Veterans' Affairs, upon notice, on 5 October 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. What amounts of his Department's travel and subsistence expenditure were spent on (a) overseas and (b) domestic travel during 1976-77. 1. What percentage of total expenditure on travel and subsistence did each of these amounts represent. {: #subdebate-45-135-s11 .speaker-K9L} ##### Mr Garland:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. The amounts expended on fares and allowance, excluding car hire, in 1976-77 are set out below. For comparison I have incorporated figures for the two full financial years of the previous Government Ie. 1973-74 and 1974-75: {: type="a" start="a"} 0. Overseas travel in 1973-74, $10,335; 1974-75, $36,251; 1976-77, $30,188. 1. Domestic travel 1973-74, $442,887; 1974-75, $623,589; 1976-77, $558,608. 1. The percentages of the Department's expenditure on travel and subsistence, excluding car hire, were: {: type="a" start="a"} 0. Overseas 1973-74, 2 per cent; 1974-75, 5 per cent; 1976-77, 5 percent. 1. Domestic 1973-74, 98 percent; 1974-75, 95 percent; 1976-77,95 percent Assistance to Aboriginal Community at Lockridge, Western Australia (Question No. 1674) {: #subdebate-45-135-s12 .speaker-6U4} ##### Mr E G Whitlam:
WERRIWA, NEW SOUTH WALES · ALP am asked the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, upon notice on S October 1977: >In what circumstances can members of the Aboriginal community now living at Lockridge near Guildford in Western Australia be helped by: > >the Homeless Persons Assistance Scheme and > >the Aboriginal Land Fund (Senate *Hansard,* 14 September 1977, page 824). {: #subdebate-45-135-s13 .speaker-EE6} ##### Mr Viner:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: {: type="a" start="a"} 0. The Homeless Persons Assistance Act 1 974 is administered by the Department of Social Security and makes available financial assistance to eligible organisations to provide temporary accommodation, meals and personal services for homeless men and women. It is understood that several organisations in the Guildford area have made inquiries about attracting assistance for the provision of hostel facilities for homeless Aboriginals. No formal applications have been lodged with the Department of Social Security. 1. The Aboriginal Land Fund Commission is empowered to make grants of money available to Aboriginal corporations or lands trusts to acquire land for traditional, cultural or economic purposes. Alternatively, it can purchase land itself and make it available to those bodies. By ministerial direction, it is not permitted to purchase land in the metropolitan area or for the prime purpose of housing. {:#subdebate-45-136} #### Public Libraries: Northern Territory (Question No. 1675) {: #subdebate-45-136-s0 .speaker-6U4} ##### Mr E G Whitlam:
WERRIWA, NEW SOUTH WALES · ALP am asked the Minister for the Northern Territory, upon notice, on 5 October 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. How many books were catalogued and available to the public in public libraries in the Northern Territory before Cyclone Tracy, and how many are catalogued and available now. 1. How many library staff were employed in public libraries in the Territory before Cyclone Tracy and how many are employed now. 2. When was his attention drawn to the report which the Committee of Inquiry into Public Libraries presented on 27 February 1976. 3. What steps have been taken to implement the Committee's recommendations that (a) a central Territorial library be established in Darwin and (b) a feasibility study be commissioned to determine the desirability of introducing an integrated library and information service for the Territory. **Mr Adermann** The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: >Responsibility for public libraries hi the Northern Territory was transferred to the Northern Territory Executive on 1 January 1977. However, I am advised by the Northern Territory Executive Member for Community and Social Development that- > >Combined Northern Territory bookstocks before Cyclone Tracy numbered approximately 74,000. Approximately 45,000 books are currently catalogued and available to the public. A further 60,000 uncatalogued books are held in store. > >The Northern Territory Library Service had a precyclone staff establishment of 36. Twenty officers are currently employed including five part-time. > >When the report of the Committee of Inquiry into Public Libraries was tabled in the House on 1 April 1976. > >Consideration is being given to the establishment of a State-Type Library in Darwin. However, the rehabilitation of existing library services is receiving priority over this project. {:#subdebate-45-137} #### Unemployment: New South Wales Districts (Question No. 1709) {: #subdebate-45-137-s0 .speaker-6U4} ##### Mr E G Whitlam:
WERRIWA, NEW SOUTH WALES · ALP am asked the Minister for Employment and Industrial Relations, upon notice, on 6 October 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) How many persons were registered as unemployed in the Employment Office areas of (a) Penrith, (b) Windsor, (c) Mt Druitt, (d) Blacktown, (e) Parramatta, (f) Fairfield, (g) Liverpool and (h) Campbelltown at the end of September 1 975, September 1 976, and September 1 977. 1. What percentage of the persons was (a) males and (b) females (i) under 21 years of age and (ii) 2 1 years of age and over. 2. What were the principal work categories of the persons registered as unemployed. {: #subdebate-45-137-s1 .speaker-KVM} ##### Mr Street:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: (1), (2) and (3) In view of the volume of requests for detailed labour market information and the time involved in extracting and preparing such information, I have arranged for local offices of the Commonwealth Employment Service, when requested by a Member of Parliament to provide readily available raw data which may be relevant to the question. I suggest that the honourable member contact the Officers-in-Charge of the CES offices concerned. {:#subdebate-45-138} #### Savings Bank Deposits (Question No. 1737) {: #subdebate-45-138-s0 .speaker-QK5} ##### Mr Groom:
BRADDON, TASMANIA asked the Treasurer, upon notice, on 12 October 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. What total sum is currently standing to the credit of persons in savings bank accounts in Australia, and what were the amounts (a) 1, (b) 2 and (c) 3 years ago. 1. How many persons have savings accounts at savings banks in Australia at the present time, and what were the figures (a) 1, (b) 2 and (c) 3 years ago. {: #subdebate-45-138-s1 .speaker-KIM} ##### Mr Lynch:
LP -The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: ( 1 ), (2) and (3) Available statistics do not distinguish between individuals and other depositors of savings banks nor do they indicate the number of depositors who maintain accounts. Data is, however, collected in relation to the number of operative accounts and this information is included in the following table showing depositors' balances with savings banks in Australia at August 1977 and for the same month in the three preceding years. The table also shows the average balance per account and per head of population. {:#subdebate-45-139} #### Aboriginal Affairs: Tasmania (Question No. 1739) {: #subdebate-45-139-s0 .speaker-QK5} ##### Mr Groom: asked the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, upon notice, on 12 October 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. Will he provide the names of all persons currently employed in Tasmania, full or part-time, whose salaries or stipend are paid out of Commonwealth funds and whose responsibilities relate primarily to the welfare of Aboriginal people. 1. What office does each person hold and precisely what is the nature of his or her duties. 2. Where is the usual place of work of each of these persons. 3. What is the current rate of salary or stipend of each of these persons. 4. 5 ) If any of these persons has been employed or engaged for a period in excess of 2 years, what amount has he or she received in each of the last 5 financial years. 5. What sum has the Commonwealth spent on all aid to Aborigines in Tasmania in each of the years from 1972-73 to 1976- 77, inclusive, and how much is it proposed so spend in 1977- 78. 6. How many persons of Aboriginal descent are now resident in Tasmania, giving a breakdown for each electoral division in that State. 7. What amount has been spent on Aboriginal legal aid in Tasmania in each of the years from 1972-73 to 1975-76, inclusive. {: #subdebate-45-139-s1 .speaker-EE6} ##### Mr Viner:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) (a) Department of Aboriginal Affairs **Mr B.** Lindsay and **Mrs K.** Ashlin. {: type="a" start="b"} 0. Flinders Island Community Association Inc. {: type="i" start="i"} 0. Town Management and Public Utilities-Mr D. Roughley and **Mrs P.** Lowrey 1. Enterprise-Mrs W. Riddle, K. Everett, R. Purdon, V. Graham, D. Farley, M. Graham, D. Willis and F. Willis. 1. Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre Inc.-Mr M. Mansell, Miss H. Sculthorpe, **Mr C.** Mansell, Miss D. Mansell, Miss D. Gardner, **Mr P.** Slicer. 2. Health Department (State)- Sister J. Jones 3. Welfare Department (State)-Mesdames M. Mabb, L. Dixon, L. Chris tensen, D. Brown, F. Gardner, M. Thomas, R. Mansell. 4. Education (State)-Mesdames J. Patmore, A. McEnry, T. Ackerley, S. Peattie, J. Prior, A Daley, T. Meyes, T. Down, P. Pettit, P. Trail, J. Haywood, J. Cooper, N. Van Englen, Boutten. 5. Education (Commonwealth)-Messrs J. McCulloch, B. Hartney, R. Calitz. 1. (A) Department of Aboriginal Affairs {: type="i" start="i"} 0. **Mr B.** Lindsay, Officer-in-Charge, TasmaniaLiaison and consultation with all Commonwealth/ State/local government resource departments, continuing consultation with Aboriginal organisations, agent for Aboriginal Loans Commission and Aboriginal Hostels Limited. 1. **Mrs K.** Ashlin- Clerical Assistant Grade 2- normal office duties. {: type="A" start="B"} 0. Flinders Island Community Association Inc. (FICA). {: type="a" start="i"} 0. **Mr D.** Roughley, Manager-responsible to FICA executives for supervision and administration of all activities. 2. **Mrs P.** Lowrey, typist-normal office duties. 3. Messrs W. Riddle and F. Willis-contract carpenters. 4. Messrs R. Purden and D. Farley- truck drivers/labourers. 5. Messrs K. Everett, V. Graham, D. Willis, N. Graham- labourers. {: type="A" start="C"} 0. Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre Inc. (TAC). 6. **Mr M.** Mansell-State Secretary/Public Officer responsible to TAC executive for supervision and administration of all activities relating to Aboriginal legal aid services carried out by that organisation. 7. Miss H. Sculthorpe- Administrative Secretary responsible for budgeting, accounting etc 8. **Mr C.** Mansell-Legal Aid Field Officerinterviewing of Aboriginal people seeking legal aid, briefing solicitors on cases etc 9. Miss D. Mansell and Miss D. Gardner- typist/receptionist's normal office duties. 10. **Mr P.** Slicer- retained solicitor-part-time advising on legal cases and part-time representation. {: type="A" start="D"} 0. Health (State)- Sister J. Jones- nursing sisterprovision of medical services in an isolated area. {: type="a" start="v"} 0. **Mr P.** Slicer-retained solicitor-part-time advising on legal cases and part-time representation. 1. Health (State)- Sister J. Jones-nursing sisterprovision of medical services in an isolated area. 2. Welfare (State)-Mesdames M. Mabb, L. Dixon, L. Christensen, D. Brown, F. Gardner, M. Thomas and R. Mansell- part-time Aboriginal Homemakers providing personal assistance and liaising with other agencies to assist Aboriginal families who are unable to cope due to social pressures, imprisonment of breadwinner and other related circumstances. 3. Education (State)- Mesdames J. Patmore, A. McEnry, T. Ackerley, S. Peattie, J. Prior, A. Daley, T. Meyes, T. Down, P. Pettit, P. Trail, J. Haywood, J. Cooper, N. Van Englen, Boutten- part-time remedial teachers assisting slow learner Aboriginal children to compete on an equal basis with children who are able to cope with studies. 4. Education (Commonwealth)- **Mr J.** McCullochEducation Officer Class 2 Messrs B. Hartney, R. CalitzEducation Officers Class 1- Student Service Section, involved among other duties in administration of Aboriginal Secondary and Study Grant Schemes in Tasmania. 2. 3 ) ( A) Department of Aboriginal Affairs, Hobart. {: type="A" start="B"} 0. Flinders Island Community Association Inc., Flinders Island. 1. Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre Inc.- **Mr M.** Mansell, Miss H. Sculthorpe, Miss D. Mansell, **Mr P.** Slicer-Hobart. **Mr C.** Mansell, Miss D. Gardner- Launceston. 2. Health (State)- Sister J. Jones- Cape Barren Island. 3. Welfare (State)-Mesdames Mabb, Dixon, Christensen, Brown- Hobart. Mesdames Gardner, Thomas, Mansell- Launceston. 4. Education (State)- Mesdames Patmore, Ackerley, Prior, Daley-Hobart; **Mrs McEnry-Sygnet; Mrs PeattieHuonville;** Mesdames Meyes and Down- Acton; **Mrs Pettit-** Smithton; **Mrs Trail-** Launceston; **Mrs HaywoodCressy; Mrs Cooper-** Summerdale; **Mrs Boutten-** Flinders Island; **Mrs Van** Englen- Summerdale. 5. Education (Commonwealth) Messrs McCulloch, Hartney and Calitz- Hobart. 3. This information is personal and I am not prepared to divulge it. 4. 5 ) As for Question (4). 5. Total Commonwealth expenditure in Tasmania is as follows-1972-73-not available; 1973-74-not available; 1 974-75 -$5 1 8, 000; 1 975-76 - $6 1 2,879; 1976-77-$452,527; 1 977-78-$497,000 (proposed). 6. Until the 1976 Census figures become available no definite answer can be given. In April 1 975 the Senate Standing Committee on Social Environment heard evidence to the effect that the total Tasmanian Aboriginal population was between 4,000 and 5,000. The Department of Aboriginal Affairs is currently in the process of compiling community profiles. These indicate in their incomplete form, an Aboriginal population in excess of 2,000 in Tasmania. 7. Information on Commonwealth expenditure on Legal Aid in 1972-73 and 1973-74 is not available. Expenditure in other years is as follows: 1974-75-$66,000; 1975-76-$85,000; l976-77-$85,000. {:#subdebate-45-140} #### Research and Development: Reference to Industries Assistance Commission (Question No. 1752) {: #subdebate-45-140-s0 .speaker-6U4} ##### Mr E G Whitlam:
WERRIWA, NEW SOUTH WALES · ALP am asked the Minister for Productivity, upon notice, on 12 October 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. Did the Industries Assistance Commission in its 1974-75 report dated 29 September 1975 suggest that a reference be sent to it on the general question of assistance to encourage research and development and the dissemination and application of research results. 1. Did the Commission in its 1975-76 report dated 17 September 1976 observe that, as the recently modified Industrial Research and Development Incentives Scheme is due to expire in 1981, it would be appropriate for the reference to be forwarded in time for an inquiry to be completed before then. 2. Has he had the question of such a reference under examination, as the Minister for Business and Consumer Affairs stated on 15 March 1977 *(Hansard,* page 240). 3. When will he announce a decision on the reference, about which he was reminded after his statement on the present Industrial Research and Development Incentives Scheme on 20 September 1977 *(Hansard,* page 1296). {: #subdebate-45-140-s1 .speaker-6I4} ##### Mr Macphee:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. Yes. 1. Yes. 2. Yes. 3. As soon as a decision has been taken. {:#subdebate-45-141} #### Social Security Expenditure: Diamond Valley Division (Question No. 1758) {: #subdebate-45-141-s0 .speaker-PD4} ##### Mr Brown: asked the Minister, representing the Minister for Social Security, upon notice, on 13 October 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) What programs have been supported by funds provided by the Department of Social Security in the electoral division of Diamond Valley, including recurrent and nonrecurrent expenditure during the years 1975-76 and 1976- 77. 1. What was the expenditure on each program. 2. What programs will be supported during the year 1977- 78. 3. What will be the expenditure on each program. {: #subdebate-45-141-s1 .speaker-GH4} ##### Mr Hunt:
NCP/NP -- The Minister for Social Security has provided the following answer to the honourable member's question: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) and (2) A. Information showing the amount of expenditure on pensions and benefits in the Electoral Division of DiamondValley during 1975-76 and 1976-77 is not available. However, the following table shows the estimated number of pensioners (including supporting mother beneficiaries in Diamond Valley at 30 June 1 976 and 1 977. {: type="A" start="B"} 0. The Children's Services Program funds projects in this electoral Division. Overall expenditure on this Program in the two years stated was: The appropriation in the 1977-78 Budget for this program is $73.3 million. In Diamond Valley three Family Day Care Projects are funded, details are: {: type="a" start="i"} 0. Shire of Eltham 1975- 76-$l,500-capital 1976- 77-$14,l26.85-recurrent To date $3,213.56 of a recurrent nature has been spent. It is not possible until June 1978 to give expenditure details for 1977-78. {: type="i" start="ii"} 0. Shire of Diamond Valley 1975- 76-$l,500-capital 1976- 77-$21,899.87-recurrent 1977- 78-no payments have been made to date, it is not possible until June 1978 to give expenditure details for 1977-78. 1. City ofDoncaster/Templestowe 1975- 76-$l,500-capital $6,742.27- recurrent 1976- 77-$200-capital $1 8,646.2 8-recurrent 1 977- 78-$6,254.70 of a recurrent nature has been spent. It is not possible until June 1978 to give expenditure details for 1977-78. Recurrent expenditure is paid via the State Government for pre-schools in this electorate. However, precise expenditure details for this electoral division would have to be sought from the State Government. {: type="A" start="C"} 0. Aged or Disabled Persons Homes Act-1975-76-Nil; 1976-77- $283,305. The estimated expenditure for 1977-78 is $60,000. 1. Aged Persons Hostels Act-1975-76-Nil; 1976-77- Nil. The estimated expenditure for 1977-78 is $700,000. 2. Personal Care Subsidy (Recurrent Expenditure )-l 975-76-$50,000; 1976-77-$52,680. The estimated expenditure for 1977-78 is $55,000. 3. Delivered Meals Subsidy Act (Recurrent Expenditure) 1975-76-$5,488; 1 976-77-$4,94 1. The estimated expenditure for 1977-78 is $5,500. Under the Aged Persons Hostels Act, the Italian Community Service Fund project for the construction of a forty bed hostel and three staff beds will be funded during 1 977-78. It is anticipated that expenditure on this project will amount to $700,000 during 1977-78. {: type="A" start="G"} 0. States Grants (Home Care) Act- Senior Citizens Centre-1975-76-$244,133; 1975-77-Nil. Welfare Officers-1975-76-$4,913; 1976-77-$6,664; estimate 1977-78-$7,500. Under the States Grant (Home Care) Act, three senior citizen's centres are due for funding in 1977-78. It is expected that expenditure on these centres will amount to $1,851 during 1977-78. Senior Citizen's Centre Projects approved for funding in 1977-78- Macleod-$ 36 6; Lower Plenty-$52 8; Greensborough-$957. Welfare Officer-Diamond Valley CreekPayments 1975-76-$4,913; 1976-77-$6,664. {: type="A" start="H"} 0. Handicapped Persons Assistance Act- Under the Handicapped Persons Assistance Act, a total of eight services are eligible for subsidy assistance from the Department of Social Security. Of the eight services three are training centres, two are residentials, two are activity therapy centres and one is an administrative centre. The recurrent and non-recurrent expenditures in 1976-77 for the electorate of Diamond Valley are $25,329 and $237,988 respectively. No major capital projects will be subsidised in the Diamond Valley electorate during the 1977-78 financial year. However the Department will continue to provide the eight approved services with financial assistance to maintain existing facilities. It is anticipated that the expenditure for Diamond Valley in 1977-78 will approximate the amount provided in that electorate during the last fianancial year. {:#subdebate-45-142} #### Social Security Expenditure: Queensland Rural Areas (Question No. 1789) {: #subdebate-45-142-s0 .speaker-0F4} ##### Mr Braithwaite: asked the Minister, representing the Minister for Social Security, upon notice, on 13 October 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. What was the amount of welfare services provided through the Department of Social Security within the electoral divisions of Leichhardt, Herbert, Kennedy and Dawson during each of the years 1973-74 to 1976-77, inclusive, and what were the categories in which they were paid. 1. What was the total Commonwealth expenditure in these categories during the same years. {: #subdebate-45-142-s1 .speaker-GH4} ##### Mr Hunt:
NCP/NP -- The Minister for Social Security has provided the following answer to the honourable member's question: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) and (2) A. Information showing the amount of expenditure on pensions and benefits in the electoral divisions of {: type="A" start="B"} 0. Children's Services Program- The expenditure details below are for direct expenditure only. The Queensland Government would have to be approached for expenditure 'via the State'. Leichhardt, Herbert, Kennedy and Dawson in the years 1973-74 to 1976-77 is not available. However, the following table shows the estimated number of pensioners (including supporting mother beneficiaries) in the nominated electoral divisions at 30 June 1974, 1975, 1976 and 1977. {: type="A" start="C"} 0. Community Information Centre Program {: type="a" start="i"} 0. The following grants were made during the period 1973-74 to 1976-77 under the Community Information Centre Program. {: type="i" start="ii"} 0. Total Commonwealth Government expenditure from 1973-74 to 1976-77 under the Community Information Centre Program: Total expenditure-1974-75, $39,520; 1975-76, $38,668; 1976-77, $42,000. {: type="A" start="D"} 0. Scheme of Grants to Organisations for Migrant Welfare Activities- {: type="a" start="i"} 0. Under this scheme there is one grant made available to the 'Community Advice and Information Centre Mt Isa' which is in the electoral division of Kennedy. No grants are currently allocated to any agencies in any of the other electoral divisions mentioned. Expenditure on the Mt Isa grant during each of the years 1 973-74 to 1 976-77 has been as follows: The grant was vacant during this year because of difficulties in recruiting a suitable replacement for the incumbent Social Worker. The payments of the grant were resumed on 8.8.77 with employment of a welfare worker by the Agency. {: type="i" start="ii"} 0. The total Commonwealth expenditure for GrantinAid scheme for the financial year from 1973-74 to 1976-77: {: type="A" start="E"} 0. The following payments were made for financial years 1973-74 to 1976-77 inclusive. The subsidy for home care services for aged persons is paid only in respect of State Government expenditure. In Queensland this service is provided and administered by the Department of Health. {: .page-start } page 3183 {:#debate-46} ### TOTAL COMMONWEALTH EXPENDITURE The amount spent under the handicapped persons welfare program during 1976-77 is as follows: Total Commonwealth expenditure in this field during 1976- 77 was $29,984,337 ($18,828,101 for recurrent expenditure and $11,1 56,236 for non-recurrent expenditure ). {:#subdebate-46-0} #### Darwin: Provision of General Cargo Facilities at Port (Question No. 1803) {: #subdebate-46-0-s0 .speaker-HI4} ##### Mr Morris: asked the Minister for the Northern Territory, upon notice, on 1 8 October, 1 977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) Further to his answer to question No. 1157 *(Hansard,* 7 October 1 976, page 1713), has the Government completed its evaluation of the options canvassed in the Bureau of Transport Economics Report on the Provision of General Cargo Facilities at Port Darwin; if so, what was the result? 1. What financial provisions have been made in the 1977- 78 Budget arising from the evaluation, and for what purposes. 2. If the evaluation has not been completed, when does he expect it will be completed. {: #subdebate-46-0-s1 .speaker-ID4} ##### Mr Adermann:
NCP/NP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: (1), (2) and (3) The responsibility for the Port of Darwin now rests with the Northern Territory Executive and the initiative to sponsor port development as a result of the options advanced in the Bureau of Transport Economics Report on the Provision of General Cargo Facilities at the Port of Darwin rests with the Northern Territory Executive. I understand that certain recommendations will soon be forwarded to me on these matters. Air Fares: Effect on Tasmania (Question No. 1816) {: #subdebate-46-0-s2 .speaker-BV4} ##### Mr Hodgman: asked the Minister for Transport, upon notice, on 1 8 October 1 977: >Having regard to the effects of the recent 3 per cent increase in air fares upon Australia's island State, Tasmania, and particularly with the advent of the coming tourist season, will he convene a conference with both Ansett Airlines and Trans Australia Airlines in an endeavour to ensure that Tasmania is given special exemption from the next air fare increase, whenever this may occur. {: #subdebate-46-0-s3 .speaker-009OD} ##### Mr Nixon:
LP -- The answer to the honorable member's question is as follows: >Air fares are generally constructed in accordance with the principle, which I consider to be fair and reasonable, that passengers travelling anywhere in Australia over the same distance pay the same fares, after allowing for the class of travel and the type of aircraft used. In fact, in the report of the commission of Inquiry into Transport to and from Tasmania initiated by the previous Government and presented in March 1976, Commissioner J. F. Nimmo, C.B.E. stated that 'The air fare formula used by Ansett and TAA is standard throughout Australia for all routes. Thus Tasmania suffers no disability so far as comparative air passenger charges are concerned '. > >The tourist industry in Tasmania is favourably served by the large discounts extended by the airlines in the form of package tours from the mainland, some of which are as high as 30 percent. > >In addition there are off peak fares available at substantial discounts such as the newly introduced APEX fares. {:#subdebate-46-1} #### Unemployment: New South Wales (Question No. 1830) {: #subdebate-46-1-s0 .speaker-KN9} ##### Mr Martin: asked the Minister for Employment and Industrial Relations, upon notice, on 19 October 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) How many persons were registered as unemployed in Commonwealth Employment Service offices covering the electoral divisions of (a) Banks, (b) Riverina, (c) Phillip, (d) Lowe, (e) Eden-Monaro and (f) Calare at the end of (i) August 1975, (ii) August 1976 and (iii) August 1977. 1. What percentage of those registered was (a) male, (b) female, (c) under 2 1 years of age and (d) 2 1 years of age and over. 2. What were the principal work categories of the persons registered as unemployed. {: #subdebate-46-1-s1 .speaker-KVM} ##### Mr Street:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member 's question is as follows: (1), (2) and (3) In view of the volume of requests for detailed labour market information and the time involved in extracting and preparing such information, I have arranged for local offices of the Commonwealth Employment Service, when requested by a member of Parliament, to provide readily available raw data which may be relevant to the question. I suggest that the honourable member contact the Officers-in-Charge of the CES offices concerned. {:#subdebate-46-2} #### Unemployment: Victoria (Question No. 1831) {: #subdebate-46-2-s0 .speaker-5J4} ##### Mr Scholes: asked the Minister for Employment and Industrial Relations, upon notice, on 19 October 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. How many persons were registered as unemployed in Commonwealth Employment Service offices covering the Electoral Divisions of (a) McMillan, (b) Bendigo, (c) Ballaarat, (d) Deakin, (e) Casey, (!) Corio and (g) Corangamite at the end of (i) August 1975, (ii) August 1976 and (iii) August 1977. 1. What percentage of those registered was (a) male, (b) female, (c) under 2 1 years of age and (d) 2 1 years of age and over. 2. What were the principal work categories of the persons registered as unemployed. {: #subdebate-46-2-s1 .speaker-KVM} ##### Mr Street:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: (1), (2) and (3) In view of the volume of requests for detailed labour market information and the time involved in extracting and preparing such information, I have arranged for local offices of the Commonwealth Employment Service, when requested by a member of Parliament, to provide readily available raw data which may be relevant to the question. I suggest that the honourable member contact the Officers-in-Charge of the CES offices concerned. {:#subdebate-46-3} #### Unemployment: Melbourne Districts (Question No. 1832) {: #subdebate-46-3-s0 .speaker-KJA} ##### Mr Innes:
MELBOURNE, VICTORIA asked the Minister for Employment and Industrial Relations, upon notice, on 19 October 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) How many persons were registered as unemployed in Commonwealth Employment Service offices covering the Electoral Division of (a) LaTrobe, (b) Isaacs, (c) Holt, (d) Hotham and (e) Henry at the end of (i) August 1975, (ii) August 1976 and (iii) August 1977. 1. What percentage of those registered was (a) male, (b) female, (c) under 2 1 years of age and (d) 2 1 years of age and over. 2. What were the principal work categories of the persons registered as unemployed. {: #subdebate-46-3-s1 .speaker-KVM} ##### Mr Street:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: (1), (2) and (3) In view of the volume of requests for detailed labour market information and the time involved in extracting and preparing such information, I have arranged for local officers of the Commonwealth Employment Service, when requested by a Member of Parliament, to provide readily available raw data which may be relevant to the question. I suggest that the honourable member contact the Officers-in-Charge of the CES offices concerned. {:#subdebate-46-4} #### Department of Education: Advertising (Question No. 1845) {: #subdebate-46-4-s0 .speaker-K9M} ##### Mr Les Johnson:
HUGHES, NEW SOUTH WALES · ALP asked the Minister representing the Minister for Education, upon notice, on 19 October 1977. {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) How much was spent by the Department of Education on advertising and services during the period (a) 11 November 1975 to 13 December 1975, (b) 14 December 1975 to 30 June 1976, (c) 1 July 1976 to 30 June 1977 and (d)l July 1977 to date. 1. ) What was the cost of each campaign undertaken. 2. Under which item of expenditure were funds allocated. 3. Which advertising agencies or consultants were used for each campaign. 4. What was the total sum paid to each agency or consultant for each campaign. 5. How was each agency or consultant selected. 6. What is the estimated cost of advertising and promotion of Government programs and services for 1977-78. {: #subdebate-46-4-s1 .speaker-EE6} ##### Mr Viner:
LP -- The Minister for Education has provided the following reply to the honourable member's question: >Advertising by the Department of Education is undertaken for the most part to draw the attention of interested institutions and persons to grants, benefits, scholarships and other forms of assistance under the programs for which it is responsible. Some advertising is also used for employment vacancies. In the ACT and Northern Territory advertising is also used to inform prospective students of courses at Technical and Further Education Institutions and to indicate the availability of course to migrants. The use of advertising, in the case of grants and similar programs is closely related to an annual timetable of processing of applications related to the academic or school year. These processes are an integral part of program administration and cannot properly be described as 'campaigns'. > >Advertising by the Department is placed through the Australian Government Advertising Service. > >Information on expenditure for some of the specific periods listed is not readily available. Expenditure on advertising by the Department for the financial years 1975-76, 1976-77 and the estimate for the year 1977-78 is shown below: {:#subdebate-46-5} #### Unemployment: New South Wales (Question No. 1864) {: #subdebate-46-5-s0 .speaker-K9M} ##### Mr Les Johnson:
HUGHES, NEW SOUTH WALES · ALP asked the Minister for Employment and Industrial Relations, upon notice, on 20 October 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) How many persons were registered as unemployed in the Commonwealth Employment Service offices covering the Electoral Divisions of (a) St George, (b) Cook, (c) Barton, (d) Macarthur and (e) Parramatta at the end of (i) August 1975, (ii) August 1976 and (iii) August 1977. 1. What percentage of those registered was (a) male, (b) female, (c) under 2 1 years of age and (d) 2 1 years of age and over. 2. What were the principal work categories of the persons registered as unemployed. {: #subdebate-46-5-s1 .speaker-KVM} ##### Mr Street:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: (1), (2) and (3) In view of the volume of requests for detailed labour market information and the time involved in extracting and preparing such information, I have arranged for local offices of the Commonwealth Employment Service, when requested by a member of Parliament, to provide readily available raw data which may be relevant to the question. I suggest that the honourable member contact the Officers-in-Charge of the CES offices concerned. {:#subdebate-46-6} #### Overseas Posts: Appointment of Senior Women (Question No. 1866) {: #subdebate-46-6-s0 .speaker-K9M} ##### Mr Les Johnson:
HUGHES, NEW SOUTH WALES · ALP asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs upon notice, on 20 October 1977: >In which overseas Australian posts is one of the 3 senior positions held by a woman *(Hansard,* 16 November 1976, page 2746). {: #subdebate-46-6-s1 .speaker-MI4} ##### Mr Peacock:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: >It remains the case, as pointed out in answer to question 1345 *(Hansard,* 16 November 1976, page 2746), that there is no general practice with regard to determining the relative seniority at an Australian overseas mission of officers from different Government Departments. However, in addition to three females serving in charge of a mission, there are currently five other female officers of my Department serving as Deputy Head of Mission; they would normally take charge of the mission in the absence of the Head of Mission. In overall terms there are (in addition to the female officers serving as Ambassador to Denmark, High Commissioner in Nauru and Acting High Commissioner in Cyprus) two female officers of the Department of Foreign Affairs currently serving as Counsellors, six as First Secretaries, five as Second > >Secretaries, fourteen as Third Secretaries and one each as Attache and Vice-Consul. > >Other Government departments, according to records held in my Department, currently have overseas a total of twenty-one female officers with the designation of Counsellor, First Secretary, Second Secretary, Attache or ViceConsul. {:#subdebate-46-7} #### Unemployment: Tasmania (Question No. 1868) {: #subdebate-46-7-s0 .speaker-EE4} ##### Mr Uren: asked the Minister for Employment and Industrial Relations, upon notice, on 20 October 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) How many persons were registered as unemployed in the Commonwealth Employment Service offices covering the electoral divisions of (a) Franklin, (b) Denison, (c) Braddon, (d) Wilmot and (e) Bass at the end of (i) August 1975, (ii) August 1976 and (hi) August 1977. 1. What percentage of those registered was (a) male, (b) female, (c) under 2 1 years of age and (d) 2 1 years of age and over. 2. What were the principal work categories of the persons registered as unemployed. {: #subdebate-46-7-s1 .speaker-KVM} ##### Mr Street:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: (1), (2) and (3) In view of the volume of requests for detailed labour market information and the time involved in extracting and preparing such information, I have arranged for local offices of the Commonwealth Employment Service, when requested by a member of Parliament, to provide readily available raw data which may be relevant to the question. I suggest that the honourable member contact the Officers-in-Charge of the CES offices concerned. {:#subdebate-46-8} #### Unemployment: South Australia (Question No. 1872) {: #subdebate-46-8-s0 .speaker-KWZ} ##### Mr Wallis: asked the Minister for Employment and Industrial Relations, upon notice, on 20 October 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. How many persons were registered as unemployed in the Commonwealth Employment Service offices covering the electoral divisions of (a) Grey, (b) Kingston and (c) Stun at the end of (i) August 1 975, (ii) August 1 976 and (iii) August 1977. 1. What percentage of those registered was (a) male, (b) female, (c) under 2 1 years of age and (d) 2 1 years of age and over. 2. What were the principal work categories of the persons registered as unemployed. {: #subdebate-46-8-s1 .speaker-KVM} ##### Mr Street:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: (1), (2) and (3) In view of the volume of requests for detailed labour market information and the time involved in extracting and preparing such information, I have arranged for local offices of the Commonwealth Employment Service, when requested by a member of Parliament, to provide readily available raw data which may be relevant to the question. I suggest that the honourable member contact the Officers-in-Charge of the CES offices concerned. {:#subdebate-46-9} #### Unemployment: Western Australia (Question No. 1873) {: #subdebate-46-9-s0 .speaker-JF7} ##### Mr Beazley: asked the Minister for Employment and Industrial Relations, upon notice, on 20 October 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. How many persons were registered as unemployed in the Commonwealth Employment Service offices covering the electoral divisions of (a) Kalgoorlie, (b) Perth and (c) Tangney at the end of (i) August 1975, (ii) August 1976 and (iii) August 1977. 1. What percentage of those registered was (a) male, (b) female, ( c) under 2 1 years of age and ( d) 2 1 years of age and over. 2. What were the principal work categories of the persons registered as unemployed. {: #subdebate-46-9-s1 .speaker-KVM} ##### Mr Street:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: (1), (2) and (3) In view of the volume of requests for detailed labour market information and the time involved in extracting and preparing such information, I have arranged for local offices of the Commonwealth Employment Service, when requested by a member of Parliament, to provide readily available raw data which may be relevant to the question. I suggest that the honourable member contact the Officers-in-Charge of the CES offices concerned. {:#subdebate-46-10} #### Accommodation for Aged Persons (Question No. 1878) {: #subdebate-46-10-s0 .speaker-2E4} ##### Mr Lloyd: asked the Minister, representing the Minister for Social Security, upon notice, on 20 October 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) What consideration has been given to the introduction of a new type of aged persons accommodation, sometimes called 'nursing hostels' to fill the gap between nursing homes and hostels. 1. Is it considered that this type of accommodation is more deserving of Government support than single unit accommodation. {: #subdebate-46-10-s1 .speaker-GH4} ##### Mr Hunt:
NCP/NP -- In consultation with my Department, the Minister for Social Security has provided the following answer to the honourable member's question: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. Most nursing homes accommodate two types of patients; those requiring what is known as extensive care and those requiring ordinary care. The Commonwealth minimum nursing requirements differentiate between the levels of nursing required by each type of patient. In Victoria, however, because of the high ratio of staffing required by State Health Authorities, private nursing homes tend to accommodate almost exclusively extensive care patients. A need could therefore exist in Victoria for more nursing home accommodation for ordinary care patients. This would need a much lower staff/patient ratio than is required by the Victorian health authorities. {: type="1" start="2"} 0. In a Report published in January 1977 the Committee on Care of the Aged and Infirm ('Holmes Committee') expressed doubts as to whether, apart from some regional deficiencies, a pressing need exists to further increase the stock of self-contained units and therefore recommended cessation of capital assistance for self-contained accommodation in 1979, at the end of the current 3-year program. This will be taken into account in determining future priorities under the Aged or Disabled Persons Homes Act. Unemployment: Canberra and the Northern Territory (Question No. 1886) {: #subdebate-46-10-s2 .speaker-JXQ} ##### Mr Fry: asked the Minister for Employment and Industrial Relations, upon notice, on 20 October 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. How many persons were registered as unemployed in the Commonwealth Employment Service offices covering the electoral divisions of (a) Canberra, and (b) Northern Territory as at the end of (i) August 1965, (ii) August 1976, and (iii) August 1977. 1. What percentage of those registered was (a) male, (b) female, (c) under 21 years of age, and (d) 21 years of age and over. 2. What were the principal work categories of the persons registered as unemployed. {: #subdebate-46-10-s3 .speaker-KVM} ##### Mr Street:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: (1), (2) and (3) In view of the volume of requests for detailed labour market information and the time involved in extracting and preparing such information, I have arranged for local offices of the Commonwealth Employment Service, when requested by a member of Parliament, to provide readily available raw data which may be relevant to the question. I suggest that the honourable member contact the Officers-in-Charge of the CES offices concerned. {:#subdebate-46-11} #### Superannuation (Question No. 1887) {: #subdebate-46-11-s0 .speaker-JVS} ##### Mr Neil: asked the Treasurer, upon notice, on 25 October 1977: >What is the cost to revenue per annum of the Commonwealth Public Service superannuation scheme or schemes. {: #subdebate-46-11-s1 .speaker-KIM} ##### Mr Lynch:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: >The cost to Consolidated Revenue of the benefits payable under the Superannuation Act 1922 and the Superannuation Act 1976 for 1976-77 was $161,305,152 and the estimated cost for 1977-78 is $201,500,000. These figures do not take into account the amounts paid to Consolidated Revenue by approved authorities to meet the accruing liability for the future payment to existing employees of benefits under the Superannuation Act 1976. {:#subdebate-46-12} #### Aerodromes and Authorised Landing Areas (Question No. 1898) {: #subdebate-46-12-s0 .speaker-HI4} ##### Mr Morris: asked the Minister for Transport, upon notice, on 26 October 1977: >What is the location of all classes of airstrips in Australia which are currently owned and operated by (a) the Aus.tralian Government, (b) State Governments, (c) local Governments and (d) private interests. {: #subdebate-46-12-s1 .speaker-009OD} ##### Mr Nixon:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: >Aerodromes in Australia can be considered under two broad headings namely (i) Government/Licensed aerodromes, and (ii) Authorised Landing Areas. > >Government/Licensed aerodromes are available for public use and are subject to Department of Transport inspection to ensure adherence to standards. They range from capital city major jet aerodromes, to small local government or privately owned general aviation aerodromes. Under the headings requested these aerodromes are: > >AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT OWNED Queensland Archerfield, Brisbane, Bundaberg, Cairns, Charleville, Cloncurry, Coen, Cooktown, Coolangatta, Goondiwindi, Iron Range, Longreach, Mackay, Maryborough, Mt Isa, Normanton, Oakey, Rockhampton, Thursday Island, Townsville. New South Wales Bankstown, Broken Hill, Camden, Canberra, Casino, Coffs Harbour, Hoxton Park, Newcastle, Norfolk Island, Nowra, Schofields, Sydney (Kingsford-Smith), Tamworth, Wagga. Victoria Avalon, Bacchus Marsh, Essendon, Mallacoota, Mangalore, Melbourne, Morrabbin, West Sale. Tasmania Cambridge, Devonport, Flinders Island, Hobart, King Island, Launceston, Wynyard. South Australia Adelaide, Ceduna, Kingscote, Leigh Creek, Mt Gambier, Oodnadatta, Parafield, Port Lincoln, Whyalla. Western Australia Albany, Broome, Carnarvon, Cocos Island, Cue, Derby, Fitzroy Crossing, Forrest, Geraldton, Halls Creek, Jandakot, Kalgoorlie, Learmonth, Marble Bar, Meekatharra, Mt Magnet, Nullagine, Onslow, Perth, Port Hedland, Wittenoom, Wyndham. Northern Territory Alice Springs, Bamyili, Borroloola, Darwin, Delissaville, Elliott, Finke, Garden Point, Haasts Bluff, Hooper Creek, Kalkgurung, Kidman Springs, Papunya, Snake Bay, Tennant Creek, Timber Creek, Tindal, Warrabri, Wollongorang. {: type="a" start="b"} 0. STATE GOVERNMENT OWNED Queensland Kowanyama. New South Wales Tibooburra. Victoria Nil. Tasmania Smithton. South Australia NiL Western Australia Ord River. {: type="a" start="c"} 0. LOCAL GOVERNMENT OWNED Queensland Alpha, Aramac, Ayr, Barcaldine, Bedourie, Birdsville, Bollon, Boulia, Caloundra, Clermont, Croydon, Dajarra, Dalby, Dirranbandi, Doomadgee, Emerald, Gayndah, Georgetown, Gladstone, Hughenden, Ingham, Innisfail, Isisford, Julia Creek, Jundah, Mitchell, Mornington Island, Mt Coolon, Muttaburra, Proserpine, Quilpie, Richmond, St George, Stanthorpe, Stonehenge, Thargomindah, Windorah, Wondai. Atherton, Chillagoe, Chinchilla, Collins ville, Eromanga, Eulo, Gregory Downs, Gympie, Injune, Maroochydore, Mt Garnet, Redcliffe, Tara, Taroom, Theodore, Weipa, Wyandra, Blackall, Bowen, Burketown, Charters Towers, Cunnamulla, Kingaroy, Miles (Condamine), Monto, Roma, Thangool, Toowoomba (Wilsonton), Winton. New South Wales Armidale, Bathurst, Bourke, Brewarrina, Cobar, Coonamble, Cootamundra, Corowa, Cowra, Deniliquin, Dubbo, Evans Head, Glen Innes, Goulburn, Grafton (Pillar Valley), Griffith, Hay, Holbrook, Kempsey, Merimbula, Moree, Moruya, Narrabri, Narrandera, Narromine, Nyngan, Parkes, Temora, Tocumwal, Tooraweenah, Walgett, wilcannia, Wollongong, Barradine, Burren Junction, Carinda, Collarenebri, Coolah, Cooma, Goodooga, Gunnedah, Inverell, Lake Cargellico, Mudgee, Orange, Port Macquarie, Quirindi, Taree, Warren, West Wy along. Albury, Balranald, Cessnock, Condobolin, Coonabarabran, Gilgandra, Hillston, Ivanhoe, Lightning Ridge, Lismore, Lord Howe Island, Mungindi, Scone, Tottenham, Tumut, Wee Waa, White Cliffs, Young. Victoria Ararat, Bairnsdale, Ballarat, Benalla, Echuca, Hamilton, Kerang, Latrobe Valley, Mildura, Nhill, Swan Hill, Warrnambool, Birchip, Corryong, Horsham, Hopetoun, Orbost (Mario), Maryborough, Portland, Robinvale, Shepparton, St Arnaud, Stawell,Warrnacknabeal, Whychproof, Yarram. Tasmania Queenstown, St Helens, Strahan. South Australia Cleve, Cowell, Port Pirie, Renmark, Kimba, Minnipa, Naracoorte, Loxton, Millicent, Waikerie. Western Australia Esperance, Leonora, Norseman, Roebourne, Rottnest Island, Southern Cross, Wiluna, Sandstone, Karratha, Kununurra, Laverton, Mullewa, Balgo Hill*, Kalumburu*. * Aerodromes owned by Mission Stations and eligible for grants under the Aerodrome Local Ownership Plan. Northern Territory Port Keats*, Croker Island*, Daly River Mission*, Hermannsburg*, Numbulwar*, Santa Teresa*, Ramingining*. * Aerodromes owned by Mission Stations and eligible for grants under the Aerodrome Local Ownership Plan. {: type="a" start="d"} 0. PRIVATELY OWNED Queensland Arrabury Station, Augustus Downs, Beetoota, Blackwater, Canobie, Cluny, Cuddapan, Davenport Downs, Delta Downs Station, Dunbar Station, Durham Downs, Durrie, Glenormiston, Glengyle, Iffley, Kamileroi Station, Karumba, Koolatah, Lawn Hill Station, Lorraine, Miranda Downs, Monkira, Mooraberrie Station, Morney, Mt Howitt Station, Nappa Merrie Station, Orientos, Roseberth, Rutland Plains, South Galway Station, Springvale, Tanbar Station, Thylungra Station, Wondoola, Wrotham Park Station. Heliports South Molle Island, Daydream Island, Hayman Island, Happy Bay (Long Island). New South Wales Nil. Victoria Licensed Heliport Melbourne ( Yarra Bank), Whittlesea. South Australia Amata, Cordillo Downs Station, De Rose Hill Station, Granite Downs, Innamincka Station, Mt Dare Station, Tieyon Station, Ernabella, Fregon, Indulkana. Aerodrome Local Ownership Plan. Western Australia Beverley Springs Station, Bililuna Station, Christmas Island, Flora Valley, Gibb River, Glenroy, Gordon Downs, Lansdowne, Lissadell Margaret River, Mt House, Newman, Mitchell Plateau, Nicholson, Paraburdoo, Rosewood, Springvale, Stun Creek, Tableland, Tom Price. Northern Territory Bathurst Island, Elcho Island, St Goulburn Island, Delara Strip, Milingimbi, Gapuwiyak, Kildurk, Maningrida, Minjilang, Alexandria, Alroy Downs, Ammaroo Andado Anningie Annitowa Anthony Lagoon, Argadargada Auvergne, Avon Downs, Avers Rock, Birrindudu Bruchilly Brunette Downs, Bullo River, Camfield Cattle Creek, Cooinda, Creswell Downs, Delamere, Docker River, Elkedra Eva Downs, Gove, Groote Eylandt, Hodgson River, Humbert River, Idracowra Indiana, Inverway Innesvale, Jabiru, Jervois, Killarney, Kirkimbie Kurundi, Lake Nash, Legune, Limbunya, Lucy Creek, McArthur River, Mainoru, Mallapunyah Springs, Mittiebah, Mongrel Downs, Montejinnie Moolooloo, Moroak, Mountain Valley, Mt Cavanagh, Mt Denison, Mt Riddock, Mt Sanford, Mt Wedge, Mulga Park, Napperby, Narwietooma, Newhaven, Newry, Nutwood Downs, Oenpelli, Ooratippra, Pigeon River, Plensy River, Ringwood, Robinson River, Rockhampton Downs, Roper Bay, Roper Valley, Roper River, Scotts Creek, Tempe Downs, Ucharonidge, Urapunga, Vaughan Springs, Victoria River Downs, Walhallow, Waterloo, Wave Hill, Willeroo, Willowra, Yuendumu. {: type="i" start="ii"} 0. Authorised Landing Areas are, in effect, private aerodromes for which the Department of Transport has established minimum standards significantly lower than licensing standard. It is the owners' responsibility to ensure that these standards are met and it is the responsibility of any pilot using such an aerodrome to ensure that the operation in which he is involved is safe. Such aerodromes are not subject to Department of Transport inspection and they may be used, closed or modified without reference to the Department. At any time, there are thousands of Authorised Landing Areas throughout Australia and no record of location or ownership is kept by the Department of Transport. While a small number of these are owned by local government authorities, the great majority are owned by private interests. {:#subdebate-46-13} #### Airport Safety (Question No. 1914) {: #subdebate-46-13-s0 .speaker-HI4} ##### Mr Morris: asked the Minister for Transport, upon notice on 26 October 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) What progress has been made in the establishment of a joint review team to investigate in detail the structure and functions of Airport Safety Officers as set out in the Department's annual report. 1. If the review has been completed, will he make copies of the report available. 2. Is he able to say what changes are to be made to the structure and functions of Airport Safety Officers. {: #subdebate-46-13-s1 .speaker-009OD} ##### Mr Nixon:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. 1 ) A joint Public Service Board/Departmental team was established in July 1976 to inspect the Airport Safety Officer work group within the Department As a consequence, agreement in principle was reached between the two parties in the first half of this year on a new structure for Airport Safety Officers. 1. The study, as such, of the structure and functions of the Airport Safety Officer work group has been completed. But, inasmuch as it took the form of a joint inspection as distinct from a joint review, a formal report was not prepared. 2. The agreement with the Public Service Board provides for the introduction of a new three level structure for Airport Safety Officers. The Department and the Public Service Board are currently pursuing finalisation of position classification standards prior to seeking final agreement to and implementation of the new structure. {:#subdebate-46-14} #### Contributions to United Nations (Question No. 1925) {: #subdebate-46-14-s0 .speaker-JLN} ##### Mr Abel: asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs, upon notice, on 1 November 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. What actual financial contribution was made to the United Nations by each of its member States during the last year for which figures are available. 1. What sum per head of population did each contribution represent in each of the member States. 2. What percentage of each member State's gross national product or some other internationally recognised measurement of each member State's wealth, did each contribution represent 3. What national States are not members of the United Nations. {: #subdebate-46-14-s1 .speaker-MI4} ##### Mr Peacock:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's questions are as follows: >The Report of the Committee on Contributions of the United Nations (Supplement No. 11 (A/23/11) ) dated 26 August 1977 and the Addendum thereto dated 1 September 1977. The addendum lists both the assessed and voluntary financial contributions paid by member States in each of the calendar years 1975 and 1976. > >Concerning the second and third of the honourable member's questions, contributions to the United Nations are based essentially on national income. Having established on the basis of comparative national income what proportion of its overall budget each member should pay, members are billed for an amount Thus Australia in 1976, paying 1.52 per cent contributed SA4.4 million. It is agreed that least developed countries and most seriously affected countries should pay 0.02 per cent and also that the low per capita national income countries (below $1800) should receive a deduction. The relationship between contributions and national income in the least developed, most seriously affected and low per capita income countries is thus different to that of the high per capita income countries. > >Paragraphs 26-34 and 45-53 of the Committee's Report set out problems in comparing GNPs Until the 1978-79 period the calculation of contributions has been based on a three year base period. For 1 978-79 a seven year base period (1969-1975) will be used. This method of calculations avoids wide fluctuations in contributions and gives some recognition to the concept of national wealth, which is of course difficult to measure. > >The Committee's report was adopted last month by the Fifth Committee of the General Assembly and will be considered in plenary session in December. > >The following States are not members of the United Nations, but have made some financial contribution to certain United Nations activities in which they participate: Holy See, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Republic of Korea, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Nauru, San Marino, Switzerland and Tonga. {:#subdebate-46-15} #### Air Services to South Africa (Question No. 1954) {: #subdebate-46-15-s0 .speaker-DB6} ##### Mr Wentworth: asked the Minister for Transport, upon notice, on 4 November 1977: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. Has Qantas withdrawn from the Australia-South Africa route. 1. Has South African Airways applied for a second flight per week on the Sydney-Perth-Mauritius-Johannesburg route. 2. Has South African Airways also applied for approval of cheap excursion fares on this route. 3. What decisions have been made on the South African Airways applications, and what is the reason for each decision. {: #subdebate-46-15-s1 .speaker-009OD} ##### Mr Nixon:
LP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: {: type="1" start="1"} 0. Yes. 1. Yes. 2. Yes. 3. Both requests are still under consideration by the Department of Transport. {:#subdebate-46-16} #### Whaling (Question No. 1961) {: #subdebate-46-16-s0 .speaker-FF4} ##### Mr Chapman: asked the Minister for Primary Industry, upon notice, on 4 November 1977: >Is the Government giving consideration to the adoption of a policy on conservation of whales similar to the policy reported as having been established by resolution at the recent Federal Council Meeting of the Liberal Party of Australia; if so, when does he anticipate announcing the Government's policy on this matter. {: #subdebate-46-16-s1 .speaker-5E4} ##### Mr Sinclair:
NCP/NP -- The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows: >The Government has consistently followed policies on whaling directed towards the conservation of all whales on a global basis. I understand that at its recent meeting the Federal Council of the Liberal Party of Australia resolved that Australia should support a ten year moratorium on commercial whaling. This overlooks the fact that moratoria on right, Gray and bowhead whales have been in force for over 30 years, on blue whales for 14 years and on humpbacks for 12 years. Selective moratoria have been applied to various other stocks which are not at satisfactory levels and these moratoria will apply for whatever period is necessary to restore the stocks, whether it is 10 years or more. The question of a 10 year moratorium has not been on the International Whaling Commission (IWC) agenda since 1974 as the present management regime overcomes the necessity to introduce a blanket moratorium. The Government's policy is based on the advice of the IWC Scientific Committee which comprises the world's leading whale biologists and population dynamicists. The Scientific Committee does not consider there is any scientific justification for a blanket moratorium in view of the stringent and conservative management measures now adopted by the IWC.

Cite as: Australia, House of Representatives, Debates, 8 November 1977, viewed 22 October 2017, <http://historichansard.net/hofreps/1977/19771108_reps_30_hor107/>.