The Sydney Morning Herald from Sydney, New South Wales, Australia • Page 1

ll SATURDAY, MARCH 9, 1996 No. 49,459 FIRST PUBLISHED 1831 210 PAGES $1.20 4 bvw tiih hace guide i i til 11 I LT1 1 I I If -K- 1 i Or Si EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW By MARK SCOTT and STEPHANIE RAETHEL A Carr Government plan to fund a 12 per cent pay rise for the State's teachers is likely to lead to the loss of more than 2,000 teaching positions. Under sweeping proposals revealed yesterday, high school teachers would take extra periods, fewer casual teachers would be employed, sick leave would be halved and key executive positions abolished. The Minister for Education, Mr Aquilina, said teachers F. 1 a I3 It includes plans to increase the load of high school teachers by two periods a week, cut sick leave from 33 days to 15 days a year, and scrap the leading teacher and other executive positions in schools.

TAFE teachers would spend another hour a week in class. The Government also wants teachers to fill in for sick and absent colleagues for six periods a term, and Year 12 teachers will be required to take other classes after their HSC students leave school. Mr Aquilina said some of the options were "sacred cows" to the federation. "The union's JO ment of School Education staffing documents as a guide, the union said 2,496 positions would go under the plan. The federation's president, Mr Denis Fitzgerald, said yesterday was "one of the blackest days in NSW "We have seen Mr Aquilina decide to finish off the Metherell agenda," he said.

Dr Terry Metherell, education minister in the Greiner Government, slashed teacher numbers in the late '80s, causing widespread strikes. "It is clear that subject choice will be reduced, the number of electives will be reduced the ii th wof. oldest bakery COLUMN LENA Boyd was walking in Hirst Street, Arncliffe, the other day, her dog Digby on a leash on one hand and a plastic shopping bag in the other. Down the footpath came a teenage boy on a bicycle, not an unusual sight but then he snatched the shopping bag and took off. Elderly Mrs Boyd was not unduly upset.

In fact she was unduly amused. Digby, in her words, had deposited "several healthy libations to the gods" and she had put the results, very properly, in the plastic bag she always carries when with Digby. EXPORTING our culture. Crawford Productions, which has given us so many great shows (who could forget Homi- cidel) has made a sale to Japanese TV Acropolis Now! What will they make of Effie's accent? And her hair! "SIR Jim R. of the Australian Skeptics, made his assertions about an "insidious conspiracy" over the selection of A to prime ministers (Column 8, yesterday) without examining the facts.

This, we believe, was his way of highlighting that very fault in much of today's public argumentation. JOHN Waddell, of Longueville, alphabetically disadvantaged, says welfare payments also show discrimination, with A-Ms receiving 64 per cent compared with "our" 36 per cent. However, A-Ms die six times more often. Mr Waddell's evidence: A-Ms receive more welfare because they make up 64 per cent of the population, as shown by the number of pages in the phone directory. They die more often, as shown by the death notices in yesterday's SMH.

You can prove anything with statistics, as long as you select the ones that show what you're trying to prove. CORPORATE image-making is sooo important. Take the note on the Sydney Institute of Technology's news sheet: The Director of SIT reminds all staff of the Institute to properly pronounce the acronym of Sydney Institute of Technology (SIT) when used. Please bear in mind thai the correct pronunciation of SIT should be: (ess) (eye) (tee) NOT "SIT' as in "sit on the SHIRLEY Kable claims a distinction for Beach Street, Coogee. Three Academy Award nominees are past or present residents in 1994, Jan Chapman, producer of The Piano, and this year, Mel Gibson, director of Braveheart, and Chris Noonan, director of Babe.

Where does Ms Kable live? Beach Street, of course. The Government told the commission that any increase over 6 per cent needed to be paid for within the education budget, with its proposal identifying areas where $200 million can be saved. The teacher union's executive will meet on Tuesday to discuss further industrial action. Teachers held a 24-hour strike on Thursday and plan further stoppages later this month and in April. The president of the NSW Federation of Parents and Citizens Associations, Mrs Ros Brennan, said last night that the proposed changes were Photograph by ROBERT PEARCE Spores and Pollen, and Jane Bennett repeated her Pring Prize win of last year with a Turner-esque view of the Spit Bridge on a rainy day.

PAGE 7: Archibald and the sex goddess: the art prize that surprises. I 'it 1 i i 1 i ii: --I --'I i 1 'I -Jfrt -'j I j- -N- attachment to some of these work practices is more emotional than practical, and in some cases dates back decades. "The federation has a 'cargo cult' mentality that does not reflect current industrial relations practices." The Liberals' education spokesman, Mr Stephen O'Doh-erty, described the proposals as "a political suicide note" by Mr Aquilina. "This would see a massive reduction in educational quality across NSW schools John Aquilina has proved again he is not up to managing this portfolio." It was not a particularly wild work, she said. "It is very painterly, it is very bright but it's more conservative than some of my As in 1995, Sharpe was represented in the Dobell and Sulman prizes.

The Wynne Prize (for landscape painting) was won by last year's Archibald winner, William Robinson, with Creation Landscape: Earth and Sea; the Sulman Prize (genre painting) went to Aida Tomescu for Grey-to-Grey and a self-portrait won Pam Hallandal the Dobell Prize (drawing). John Wolseley won the water-colour prize with Clumner Bluff, Tasmania, Under Snow with Beazley looks unbeatable Mr Kim Beazley achieved a virtually unbeatable lead last night in his bid to be re-elected to Federal Parliament and eventually lead the Australian Labor Party. The outgoing Deputy Prime Minister was 336 votes ahead of the Liberal Party's Ms Penny Hearne as the battle for the West Australian seat of Brand entered its final phase. The Australian Electoral Commission estimated that no more than 500 votes were still outstanding. Mr Beazley had not yet claimed victory.

Caucus is expected to elect him unopposed to lead Labor within two weeks. ROAD TOLL 86 Last year 101 Phone Editorial .....2822822 5 1 6 21 Classified ...282 1122 r- 1 'inr: number of subjects that students take up in secondary school will be taken back and we are all taken back to the late 1980s." The number of teaching positions lost by the abandonment of work practices might exceed the 1,405 new specialist teachers being reintroduced by the Carr Government the centrepiece of its education policy. A strategy paper developed by the Department of School Education, and submitted to the commission by the Government, outlines 21 areas where it wants to save money and make teachers work harder. which had it as a close-run contest between Garry Shead, the 1993 winner; Kerrie Lester, last year's runner-up; and Sal-vatore Zofrea. The nine Art Gallery of NSW trustees, led by their chairman, Frank Lowy, convened at 1 1 am to consider a shortlist of five: Sharpe's self-portrait, Shead's portrait of the actress Jacqueline McKenzie, Zofrea's Franco Belgiorno-Nettis, Lester's James Morrison and a Robert Hannaford self-portrait.

After about 25 minutes of debate, the Shead was forced into (unofficial) second place and the Zofrea into third. At noon, Mr Lowy announced the winner. Mr Howard described his team, which will be sworn in on Monday, as "talented, dedicated and determined to govern in the best interests of the Australian He has acknowledged the gender "revolution" by installing two women, Senator Newman and Senator Vanstone in Cabinet the first time this has occurred in Federal politics and has punished the maverick West Australian Liberal branch by denying it any berths in the inner-Ministry of 15. The Nationals have also lost ground, with three Cabinet positions and five berths overall well down on their previous representation. Mr Howard has also insisted By BOB BEALE Science and Environment Editor The world's oldest evidence of human food processing the vital technology needed to grind grain to make bread has been found in an internationally important archaeological dig in north-west NSW.

Fragments of stone in an excavation of a lakebed at Cuddie Springs, near Brewarr-' ina, have been shown by radiocarbon dating and other evidence to be from grindstones made and used to grind seeds more than 30,000 years ago. Sophisticated studies by Dr Judith Furby of Sydney University and Dr Richard Fullagar of the Australian Museum have confirmed that the tool faces were worn down by seed-grinding and contain microscopic traces of starches from grasses and fern roots. Previously, the oldest comparable evidence came from ancient Egypt, about 19,000 years ago. This latest discovery suggests the art was mastered much earlier at a time when people around the world were thought to be only hunting and gathering. It thus effectively doubles the age at which modern humans are known to have had the tools and know-how to set the scene for the giant evolutionary leap to inventing agriculture.

"This is a very, very important archaeological find in the sense that it gives us for the first time a wider perspective on the broad spectrum of the kinds of subsistence activities people were engaged in 30,000 years ago," said Professor Jim Allen, of La Trobe University's school of archaeology. The discovery represents a "quantum jump" in scientific understanding of how, where and when people developed agriculture, according to a prominent Australian archaeologist, Dr Colin Pardoe, of the South Australian Museum. "It really gives those ideas a would also face the prospect of bigger classes if they did not accept the funding plan for the pay increase. The productivity offsets were outlined in the NSW Industrial Commission and are the Government's preferred position on paying the full 12 per cent salary claim, which it agrees the teachers deserve. Mr Aquilina refused to specify how many teaching positions would be lost, saying this would depend on negotiations with the NSW Teachers Federation.

But last night, using Depart- ere: shake and it will recast our views on the origins of agriculture to a large degree," Dr Pardoe said yesterday. The Australian region is also emerging in other research to have played a key role in the development of agriculture, notably early evidence of deliberate transporting of food plants, nuts and animals between Melanesian islands, and organised horticulture in Papua New Guinea, Professor Allen notes. As well, the new find adds to an increasingly complex picture of early Australian Aboriginal adaptations to widely varying environmental conditions over time and place. At Cuddie Springs, more than 4,000 stone artefacts have emerged from an excavation only two metres square and two metres deep. Remarkably, similar grindstones were used continuously at the site until European contact: complete specimens are still found cached under trees in the area, Dr Furby said yesterday.

Genetic tests by Dr Tom Loy and colleagues at the University of Queensland have shown some of the oldest tools bear traces of hair and blood most likely from wombats and kangaroos that point to animal products being processed. The site is the first found in Australia in which stone tools are littered among the bones of long-extinct the giant marsupials and reptile Continued Page 11 Gender Senators Newman and Vanstone. vice, staffed with outsiders and providing him with alternative policy advice. The office, duplicating that set up by the former Greiner administration in NSW, will be headed by Mr Michael L'Es- Weather UTS A we Thought it (jjasJ Mi "'L TODAY Sydney showers. South Liverpool 15 NSW: Showers Sunrise 6.50 Wendy Sharpe with her raunchy Self-Portrait as Diana of Erskinevilie "It's more conservative than some of my Diana in thongs walks off with Archibald oward's Cabinet: spoils to loyal NSW "It is probably the raunchiest painting to win the Archibald Prize," the Art Gallery's director, Edmund Capon, observed.

"Certainly the first Archibald winner in a green bra." Sharpe's large, colourful canvas, painted in her distinctive broad brushstrokes, shows her in the guise of a modern Diana, goddess of the hunt wearing the bra, leopard-skin pants and thongs, plus a crescent-moon handband, with a plastic bow and arrow at her feet. "My paintings often have some kind of humorous or ironic aspect," she said. "This is a bit of a joke about an artist having to be brave." on promoting six MPs who did not serve on the frontbench in the run-up to the election, with nine MPs forced to make way. The losers include the former environment spokesman Senator Rod Kemp, who has dropped out of the Ministry, along with Mr Wilson Tuckey, Mrs Chris Gal-lus, Senator Grant Tambling, Senator Ian Campbell, Mr Michael Ronaldson, Mr Warren Truss, Senator Ian Macdonald and Mr David Connolly. Demoted to junior portfolios are the former finance spokesman Mr Geoff Prosser, Mrs Bronwyn Bishop, Mr Peter McGauran and Mr David Kemp.

PAGES 8, 9 and 10: The Howard Ministry. PAGE 32: Editorial. CLASSIFIED Section no in bold Full Index 3 76 Entertainment Employment Herald Motor By PETER COCHRANE She is "not really a portrait painter" and her picture is "a bit of a joke" but that didn't stop Wendy Sharpe from winning the Archibald Prize with an exuberant self-portrait yesterday. On International Women's Day she became the first female artist in a decade and only the fifth in its 75 years to win the $35,000 prize. Sharpe's triumph, which follows her $18,000 Portia Geach Memorial Award win in October, came as "a shock" to her and a surprise to the media.

Her painting, Self-Portrait as Diana of Erskinevilie, did not figure in pre-announcement speculation, trange, a key policy adviser to Mr Howard during the campaign and the head of the Menzies Research Centre, a Liberal think-tank. The major personnel changes include Mr Fahey winning the Cabinet-ranked Finance portfolio, the backbencher Mr Ian McLachlan moving straight into Cabinet as Defence Minister, and Senator Jocelyn Newman shifting to Social Security. The Leader of the Government in the Senate, Senator Hill, has been allocated Environment; Senator Amanda Vanstone becomes Minister for Employment, Education, Training and Youth Affairs; and Mr Philip Ruddock gets Immigration and Multicultural Affairs, but drops out of the Cabinet Business Editorials INSIDE Arts Books By MICHAEL MILLETT and TONY WRIGHT in Canberra The Prime Minister-elect, Mr Howard, has acknowledged the strong contribution of NSW to his election victory with a Ministry of 28 featuring five Cabinet members, including the former Premier Mr Fahey, from his home State. Maintaining his reform agenda, Mr Howard has overhauled the Canberra bureaucracy, jettisoning two departments, restructuring several others and reshuffling a number of department heads while including a record number of women in his Cabinet In a radical step, he will also set up a separate office of Cabinet inside the Public Ser- Home delivery ISSN 03124315 i (02)2823800 9 770312" 631063 Oils tiinfi's for csrciiiria Same's spscicil on jf3i" IjcgcI Horn Loan is st at 7.2Sp.a. Call our 24 hour hotline on 13 24 07 or drop into any State Bank branch or agent and state what you want from a bank.

News 25-31 Opera Hse 12 Sport Spectrum 9 TV 14 22 .....6 14A ........7 Trader 2 34 Market 4 77 Personal Notices ..3 76 17 to 21. Cloudy with to south-east winds. to 22. Richmond 14 to 22. on the coast and ranges.

am Sunset 7.21 pm. TOMORROW: Showers, a maximum of 23. FULL DETAILS Page 47. 53-61 Theatre Spectrum Crosswords-Spectrum 8 Title Deeds Section 17 Auctions general ..2 37 5 Business for sale .3 70 Real Estate Com. Properties ...3 62 Travel.

State Bank of New South Wales Limited (AQN 003 963 228). "Rate effective 41295. Unless another loan product is chosen after first 12 months rate reverts to standard State Bank NSW variable home loan rate, currently 10 5 a. Ail applications are subje to State Bank of New South Wales credit policies. Other fees and charges apply.

Terms and conditions available on application. STB1 126715x3 32 World 15-23 4 1 ft.