The Sydney Morning Herald from Sydney, New South Wales, Australia • Page 7

THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD TUESDAY, JULY 22, 1997 7 Scientists dive for joy as island blows her top 7 days a weeko By ANDREW DARBY in HoDart Scientists investigating a newly active volcano south-west of the Australian mainland believe billowing smoke and steam plumes are the tail-end of an eruption which has occurred far beneath the sea. The volcano, detected in March when smoke and steam were seen rising dramatically from the bare hills of remote McDonald Island, 4,500 kilometres south-west of Perth, is the first active volcano to be discovered in the southern hemisphere for at least a century. In the main event, thought to have occurred in late December or early January, the volcano's undersea magma chamber was probably breached by seawater. In the aftermath, molten rock fused into rafts of pumice and steam clouds were sent billowing kilometres into the sky. Previously believed to have been inactive for more than 35,000 years, McDonald is Australia's second active volcano after nearby Big Ben on Heard Island.

It probably shares the same source, a magma plume deep in the Earth's core-mantle boundary, according to geochem-ist Professor Ken Collerson. Professor Collerson, of the University of Queensland, yesterday showed the' Australian Antarctic Research Jubilee Symposium evidence of the sub-sea eruption in pumice stone he recovered from Heard Beach shortly after seeing McDonald. The analysis of isotopes of strontium, neodymium and lead showed the pumice must have originated from McDonald. Excited scientists have viewed McDonald's activity If 1 "'I Hot find smoke and steam rise from McDonald Island, Australia's second active volcano. ir j0 1 It Photograph by DICK WILLIAMS Professor Collerson, who has been closer to McDonald than anyone, venturing to within two kilometres of the island.

"Plume volcanoes are unpredictable. It's impossible to say when McDonald will erupt again, and it could be very grim for anyone on the island when it erupts." looked to me typically like a volcano's flank. The main crater, I think, would be under the sea." Scientists initially thought the steam plume, revealed in weather satellite images taken of the Heard Island area, had come from Big Ben, which erupts about every 10 years. But when Australian Antarctic fisheries scientist Dr Dick Williams passed by, he saw steam and smoke clouds rising, small black lava flows, and a sulphur-like deposit on the volcano's summit "Not for hundreds of years has a new volcano been found in the southern hemisphere and it would be one of only a handful around the world," said ILawremce may not have to face coTLirt uintil 198)9 Paper No. 552 turned prime minister dream to ashes By DUNCAN GRAHAM in Perth Former Federal Health Minister Dr Carmen Lawrence is unlikely to face court until 1999 afjer deciding yesterday not to seek a preliminary hearing on false evidence charges.

Dr Lawrence, 49, the ALP member for Fremantle, appeared before Chief Magistrate Mr Con Zempilas in the Perth Magistrate's Court on three charges of giving false evidence before the Marks Royal Commission. She did not speak during yesterday's brief hearing, but her lawyer, Mr Rob Mazza, said she would plead not guilty. Mr Zempilas remanded the former Premier to appear in the West Australian District Court for the trial session starting October 6. Outside the court Mr Mazza said this appearance would be a status hearing and he did not expect a trial for at least 18 months. Dr LawTence is on bail of $5,000.

The charges allege that on September 13, 1995, before the Royal Commission into the use of Executive Power, Dr Lawrence gave "false testimony" that she had not discussed grievances in a West Australian parliamentary petition before it was tabled in November 1992. The three charges refer to alleged discussions Dr Lawrence had with a Labor backbencher, Mr John Halden, her former adviser, Mr Ed Russell, and Cabinet members. The charges are under the West Australian Royal Commis- from the national research ship Aurora Australis, which passed by chance earlier this year, and from fishing trawlers. Professor Collerson and others saw steam and smoke rising from McDonald at high speed from points on the island's north-west. "I have seen a lot of active volcanoes and this really Silent in court Dr Carmen Lawrence did not speak.

sion Act They carry a maximum term of five years imprisonment on conviction. The royal commission was called by the Premier, Mr Court. It was headed by a retired Victorian judge, Mr Kenneth Marks, QC. The inquiry examined claims that Dr Lawrence knew details of the petition before it was tabled by Mr Halden. As Premier, she denied this in the State Parliament.

The petition sought to link Mr Court, then the Opposition Leader, with a Family Court action between a senior public servant, Mr Brian Easton, and his lawyer wife, Penny. Four days after the petition was tabled Mrs Easton committed suicide. 1 per cent and those from Taiwan were down by 4 per cent. The chief executive of the Tourism Task Force, Mr Christopher Brown, said however that the overall growth was disappointing because the number of big-spending tourists from Japan, Germany, the United States and Singapore all grew by less than 5 per cent At the same time, growth of more than 10 per cent had been achieved from tourists that were such as those from Korea, New Zealand and Britain. Mr Brown said the overall growth rate was also below the Government's forecast 9.5 per cent PAUL CLEARY srf Lii LJ If Dr Carmen Lawrence doesn't get her day in court until 1999 as forecast by her lawyer, it will be seven years after the events which led to her public demise.

On Thursday, November 5, 1992, Paper Number 552 had been tabled in the West Australian Legislative Council by a Labor backbencher, Mr John Halden. It was a petition on behalf of a senior public servant, Mr Brian Easton, and it alleged the then Opposition Leader, Mr Richard Court, had improperly given confidential information in a Family Court dispute. On Monday, November 9, Mr Easton's lawyer wife, Penny, 41, drove into the hills outside Perth and gassed herself. Her suicide note said in part: "No-one committed perjury in my family everyone told the truth. I have been set up so well that I have no way out but this." On Tuesday, November 10, 1992, Dr Lawrence, then Premier of Western Australian, entered the Legislative Assembly where she was asked about her prior knowledge of the petition.

She replied: "I was informed that he Mr Halden was to do that table the petition and I learned the detail of the petition and its general thrust upon its tabling. "That is the ay it is, and that Monday Tuesday I Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday 7 I fi Asian tourists on rise despite Hanson US civil rights activist to learn his fate today politicians, demanding Dr Lawrence's statement in the State Parliament be re-examined. As Dr Lawrence's profile rose in Canberra, so the rumours multiplied in Perth about her alleged prior knowledge of the petition. Mr Keith Wilson, a former Health Minister in the West Australian Government, recalled the petition had allegedly been discussed at a Cabinet meeting before the document was tabled. His recollection was later backed by several former ministerial colleagues of Dr Lawrence and two staff members.

In May 1995 Mr Court called a royal commission to test the claims. He hired a retired Victorian Supreme Court judge, Mr Kenneth Marks, QC, to head the $3 million inquiry. Dr Lawrence unsuccessfully battled through the courts to stop the commission, but was eventually forced to appear. She maintained the truth of her statement on November 10, 1992. Mr Marks did not believe her, and said so in November 1995.

The file was then pushed between various State Government departments and the police until April this year, when Dr Lawrence was charged. DUNCAN GRAHAM Top surfer named in wetsuit case Former world surfing champion Tom Carroll is being sued for damages in a case in which a manufacturer of wetsuits alleges breach of contract by the Quik-silver surf apparel company. The hearing of the action by Michael John Bates, of Corrimal, began in the Federal Court in Sydney yesterday. Mr Bates, trading as Riot Wetsuits, alleges Omareef Pty Ltd, trading as Quiksilver Wetsuits, breached a contract he had with it in 1991 for supplying wetsuits to Quiksilver. Mr Carroll, a director of Omareef, and six other individuals are also named as respondents to the action.

In his opening address, Mr Bates, who is representing himself, told Justice Arthur Emmett it was "a dirty case, with hatred, heaps of He said he had not wanted to be "any sort of litigant" but court action had become the only avenue left to him to pursue the matter. Mr Bates alleges Omareef undertook to supply him with sufficient materials to make wetsuits for Quiksilver, but failed to do so and terminated the contract Omareef contends Mr Bates did not supply enough wetsuits to fulfil the terms of the contract, so it was entitled to terminate it. The trial is expected to last about seven weeks. i 4 Penny Easton suicide note said "I have no way out but this." is the way I have explained it. That is the position." The following year the ALP lost the election to the Coalition parties led by Mr Court.

Dr Lawrence said she would remain Opposition Leader but within a year she was in Canberra as Minister for Health in the Keating Government. Speculation was rife that she would become Australia's first woman Prime Minister. Back in Perth, Mrs Easton's mother, Mrs Barbara Campbell, continued to batter the media and questions relating to his background. But Mr Fisher said then that it would take until at least Friday to compile all the information requested. Mr Ervin spent three nights in a maximum-security Brisbane jail this month after the Acting Minister for Immigration, Senator Vanstone, cancelled his visa because she determined he was not of good character.

He was released after the Commonwealth backed down in a High Court appeal against the decision, acknowledging Mr Ervin had been denied natural justice. and the police before making a decision on its sponsorship, possibly next week. The fight is the second such incident in a Commonwealth Bank-sponsored sporting competition in recent months. In April, the bank withdrew its $250,000 support for schoolboy rugby league after a brawl between two school teams in Queensland. Twenty-two players from Camp Hill High and Clairvaux MacKillop College were cited after the incident.

I Tourist numbers from several emerging Asian countries are on the rise, suggesting'that the effect of the "Hanson factor" on this industry have been overstated. Bureau of Statistics figures on short-term overseas visitors for 1996-97 have shown a 7 per cent rise to 4.2 million in this category of arrivals, which is generally made up of tourists. A number of key emerging economies in the region were behind this growth, with arrivals from South Korea up 28 per cent, followed by Malaysia, up 13 per cent, and Indonesia, up 12 per cent. The bureau also reported that, arrivals from Japan dropped by The American civil rights activist Mr Lorenzo Kom'boa Ervin will learn today whether he will be deported or allowed more time to argue his case to stay in Australia. His solicitor, Mr Terry Fisher, said last night that his client was still under threat of deportation but he believed Mr Ervin would receive another extension of the deadline to provide information requested by immigration officials.

Last week the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs gave Mr Ervin until noon yesterday to provide written submissions and comments on a list of facts and spokesman said three boys from Years 10 and 11 at Hurstville Boys' High had been suspended after the incident, but could not say what other action had been taken against those involved in the brawl. The Commonwealth Bank, which sponsored the competition, was reassessing its involvement, a spokeswoman said. Around 700 teams, involving 10,000 boys and girls, take part in the competition. The spokeswoman said the bank would wait for a report from the Education Department Youths face charges over soccer brawl With daily flights from Sydney to Osaka on our Spaceship each week, you can discover for yourself the exceptional in-flight service that's receiving accolades around the world. And Osaka is JnufZ just one of 11 international destinations we can fly you to.

099 To book or for further information, call your travel agent Official Airline of Olympic Games OT Ansett Australia on 13 14 14. SERVICE THAT SHINES. Two youths will face assault charges after a wild brawl during a schoolboy soccer match in north-west NSW, police said yesterday. The boys were among three from Hurstville Boys' High who have been suspended and are due to face a NSW Soccer judiciary today, the Education 1 Department said. The students had been summonsed to appear in Tamworth Local Court next month, a police spokesman said.

A number of people have been 1 interviewed over the incident, which happened at Tamworth last Wednesday, and police inquiries were continuing, he said. The brawl erupted between players from Tamworth High and Hurstville Boys' High after a Hurstville player allegedly king-hit an opposition player from behind during a Commonwealth Bank Soccer Knockout Cup match. In the ensuing melee, one boy was badly concussed and another had to undergo surgery for two fractures to his jaw. An Education Department AnsettAustralia Includes code share service. TMSOCX3 WA.

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