The Sydney Morning Herald from Sydney, New South Wales, Australia • Page 5

THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 1997 leVe loof) for iTiteld'aertt- life KHP stums miners as 860 jobs axed. ft' kSii they want retrenchments, well take them head-on. There is a massive effect from these job losses. For every job that is lost, three people lose their jobs outside the BHP's decision to wield the axe in coal follows its announcement in May that 3,000 workers would go from the steel division in Newcastle, Port Kembla, Whyalla and Geelong by 2000. The general manager of BHFs collieries group, Mr Col Weatherstone, declined to comment on the new cuts.

By BRAD N0RINGT0N Industrial Editor After huge job losses announced at its steel division, BHP turned its sights on coal yesterday by confirming plans to cut 860 jobs at five collieries in the Illawarra. The job losses representing almost half BHP's workforce in the southern district coalfields of NSW took the Wollon-gong community by surprise after expectations that cuts would be no more than 200. Of the 1,960 workforce, about 160 jobs will go immediately Port Kembla steelworks, although some is exported. The coal is high grade but production efficiency is inhibited by large amounts of dirt sediment that needs cleaning. Mr Pearce said BHP Coal had told him the company would sell the mines if desired efficiency was not achieved.

Meanwhile, Rio Tinto is to sell its Vickery mine, near Gunnedah, which was the subject of an 11 -month strike over union opposition to 12-hour shifts. But in a statement issued by BHP Coal, Mr Weatherstone said the cuts were necessary for the sake of BHFs "more stringent investment criteria" so that productivity could reach world-class levels. The decision to target employment levels in coal matches BHP's moves in steel to adopt a more hard-nosed, strategic approach after disappointing profit results. By shedding workers at five mines, the company hopes to boost productivity from between 5,000 and 6,000 tonnes per employee to 10,000 tonnes. BHP Coal will cut jobs at the Appin, Cordeaux, Towers, West Cliff and Elouera mines.

Employment levels in NSW and Queensland are already under siege at collieries including Hunter Valley No 1, Mount Thorley, Oakbridge, Teralba, Wambo, Ulan, Newlands, Cur-ragh and Gordonstone. After rationalising in the 1980s, the CFMElTs mining division is again facing a significant threat to its membership of about 20,000. The CFMEU has been relying heavily on a "framework" enterprise agreement and generally cordial industrial relations with BHP as a shield while defending itself from a major assault on its power at mines owned by Rio Unto. But BHFs decision to tackle job numbers opens yet another pressure point for the CFMEU at a time of low world coal prices and renewed determination by companies for higher productivity. BHP's southern district mines mainly supply coking coal to the i i i.

i The short back and sides of song Search for ET starts in Sydney's west By RICHARD MACEY One of Australia's newest universities is preparing to launch an intensive five-year hunt for intelligent life beyond Earth. Tagged Southern SEREN-DIP the Southern Search for Extraterrestrial Radio Emissions from Nearby Developed Intelligent Populations it will use the CSIRO's 64-metre-wide Parkes radio telescope. Beginning early next year, the experiment will be remotely controlled from the Space Science Laboratory at Campbell-town of the University of Western Sydney's Macarthur campus. Costing just $40,000, the project will be the first search for extra terrestrial intelligence mounted by an Australian university. In 1995, Phoenix, a privately funded international project, employed the Parkes telescope in a five-month study of a few hundred relatively close southern hemisphere stars but found no evidence any were populated.

However, the new project will look at the whole southern sky. Southern SERENDIP will use a "black box" of electronics being built with the help of a University of Western Sydney postgraduate student now at the University of California Berkeley to listen to 8 million radio frequencies. Every 1.7 seconds, a supercomputer at the Campbelltown campus will check the radio signals streaming in from space for anything unnatural. "Signals from alternative civilisations, if there are any, are not expected to be similar to the signals we get from natural astronomical objects," said a University of Western Sydney physicist, Dr Frank Stootman. "It's like trying to find a specific program on the radio dial, except researchers don't know where, among billions of channels, ET might be broadcasting.

"We have the potential of going up to 240 million channels." By RICHARD JINMAN Entertainment Writer Barbershop quartets are hip. So say the members of Fred, the all-singing, all-joking foursome from Atlanta, Georgia, who are ranked No 2 in the world. "People have a stereotype of a barbershopper as an older person with a top hat and very little hair," said the group's amiable tenor, Jerry Carlson. "OK, I'm some of that," he said patting his follicly challenged forehead. "But there are arrangements of a lot of newer tunes; the Beatles and popular show tunes from Phantom of the Opera and Miss Saigon.

Hardly cutting-edge though, is it? "Well, there was a Sweet Adeline the name given to female barbershoppers quartet that did a couple of rap songs," said Fred's lanky baritone Clay Hine. "It was a kinda comic portrayal, though." In Sydney yesterday for the start of The Australian Association of Men Barbershop Singers' four-day convention, Fred are big guns in the world of close-harmony competition. Earlier this year they took out the silver medal at the international championships organised by the Society for the Jobs go as That raincoat with attitude, the Driza-Bone, has become something of a wet blanket overseas. The company's managing director, Mr Stephen Knight, announced yesterday that it was sacking 40 workers and closing its Gold Coast factory because of a 50 per cent drop in export sales. The Driza-Bone the long oilskin with the distinctive styling became a fashion item in London, Paris, New York and from voluntary redundancies.

A further 700 will go over the next three years and the company will not rule out retrenchments. The Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) agreed yesterday to co-operate with BHP's plan to offer voluntary redundancy packages to 160 workers but rejected retrenchments. The president of the CFMELTs southern districts division, Mr Mick Pearce, said: "We can't do much about voluntary redundancies. But if Preservation and Encouragement of Barbershop Quartet Singing in America Inc (or S.P.E.B.S.Q.S.A. as it is known to its 35,000 members).

Both Hine and Fred's lead singer Rick LaRosa will be judges at the Australian championships, contested this year by 41 quartets and 18 choruses (singing groups of betw een 17 and 120 people). At 12.30 today about 550 barbershoppers will perform en masse on the-Dar-ling Harbour forecourt and for tomorrow evening's concert at the Darling Harbour Convention Centre auditorium featuring Fred and the 1997 medal-winning quartets. What makes a killer quartet? LaRosa said points are awarded for three criteria: music, singing and presentation. The style of singing dates back to 1 8th century America -men would entertain themselves hile aiting for a shave and a haircut. "It's progressed from what most people think of as four guys standing around a lamp-post and having a good time, but not singing so good," said Hine.

"Now some of the best barbershop groups are among the best vocal groups in the world." Driza-Bone Berlin in the early 1990s. But in the past three years sales have come under pressure from a stronger Australian dollar, cheaper copycat versions and a cut in export subsidies. The end result for the British-based James Halstead Group, which bought Driza-Bone in 1989, is that it is more and more difficult to sell overseas at a worthwhile price. The factory at Burleigh, 1 left, Clay Hine, Rick LaRosa, and Jerry Carlson in Gowings barber shop. Photo by rick stevens 11 -year-old 'menace' locked up His protective worker, Ms Cheryhll Cottee, said the rise in the boy's offending might be linked to a history of sexual abuse.

The magistrate, in refusing bail, said the boy did not understand the meaning of "no" and did not respect people's rights. "He is a menace, a danger to the public, especially the most vulnerable of the public," he said. The boy was remanded in custody to appear on October 2. 7Q Never mind the new styling, the stunning 176 kW of power or the superb interiors with 'soft feel' controls. The true spirit of the new V70 T5 wagon resides in the rear armrest.

With two simple actions it converts to a child booster seat. It's an innovative idea but, for Volvo, hardly surprising. After all, safety is Volvo's obsession and the V70 is no exception. Take, for example, just a few of the 1,800 improvements it offers over its predecessor, the 850. Improved frontal crash performance and a stronger Side Impact Protection System (in addition to its four airbags).

An extra brake light, 250 times faster than ordinary bulbs, warns traffic to brake a car length sooner at 90 kmh. Even the brake lines are a copper based alloy to minimise corrosion and brake failure. Prices start from $51,950, which isn't much considering what Volvo put into them. Or, more importantly, what you put into them. For further information or details about Volvo Finance or the Volvo Gold Card phone 1 800 7 VOLVO.

See the new Volvos at stand 29, the Australian International Motor Show. Friday 17th to Sunday 26th October 1997. Internet www.volvo.com.au Trim, sir, and what about a tune? loses chic which was established on the back of export sales, will close and all production will go to the headquarters at Beenleigh, just south of Brisbane, where about 100 people are employed. The Driza-Bone was first made in the 1920s. It remains a small operation with a big reputation: annual turnover is about $14 million, with about $3 million in exports.

HELEN TRINCA 4t retail and exclude dealer delivery and statutory i Fred quartet, Joseph Clay, Sting ends sex abuse charges Prosecutors in Los Angeles have agreed to drop charges of sex abuse against a rabbi after his alleged victim and her father were caught in an FBI extortion sting, says the rabbi's lawyer. Rabbi Israel Grunwald was accused in 1995 in Los Angeles Federal Court of molesting the 15-year-old on a flight frcfrh Melbourne to Los Angeles. charges. Prices as at 1997 and subject to I i'i iTil iT -ir An 1 1 -year-old ward of the State accused of robbing disabled people was described by a magistrate yesterday as a menace and a danger to the public. The boy robbed a severely disabled woman in Melbourne on Wednesday, just a day after being released on bail for other offences, and having appeared previously for robbing the disabled, A children's court was told the boy had admitted taking a bag change without notice.

Model pictured is a V70 containing cash and a bank book from a 39-year-old woman selling lollies but had shown no remorse. He has not been asked to plead to two counts of theft and one count each of robbery and assault Detective Senior Constable Michael Gooiker, opposing bail, said the boy had been listed as a missing person about 90 times after escaping from accommodation provided by the Department of Human Services. T5. EURO RSCG VOL0074251 1SMH Prices are manufacturer's recommended.