The Age from Melbourne, Victoria, Australia • Page 3

TUESDAY 7 JULY 1992 THE API In Brief Nesbit urges second chance for attacker Picture: TINA HAYNE8 Mewsoini to i look at i yonith wage Backdown on ships New Zealand's acting Prime Minister, Mr Don McKlnnon, yesterday distanced himself from last week's statement by the Defence Minister, Mr Warren Cooper, that the Government would probably not buy two more Anzac frigates. He told a news conference that It had been a "personal "The Government view is that the option remains until such time as it has to be uplifted or otherwise rejected." Mr Cooper also backtracked after saying last week that "I think two will He said at the weekend that the Government had not made any decision on the option to buy two more ships. New Zealand is committed to buying two of the 10 Anzac frigates being built at Williamstown. TPC warning on reform The chairman of the Trade Practices Commission, Professor Allan Fels, yesterday put Government business enterprises and the legal profession on notice, identifying them as key targets for reform. Professor Fels said the commission would seek to widen the Trade Practices Act to include Government business enterprises that were partly exempt from the act.

He said the exemption for public utilities was a "glaring anomaly" and an Impediment to the growth of genuine r. comcessioinis 'MCW'A'S; Ansett challenge By ANTONY CATALANO Kay Nesbit believes the man who fired a shotgun into her (ace deserves a second chance in life. She knows that Paul Mallinder will eventually be released from jail, but In the meantime his Incarceration gives her "peace of She admits she was ecstatic last Friday when the Parole Board overturned its decision to release Mallinder. Although her shocking injuries Inflicted almost seven years ago have made aspects of her life more difficult, she says they have changed her life for the better. Her two-year-old son, Tyler, is a source of Joy.

"You've Just got to be happy and you've got to make the most of what you've been given. I may not look the greatest, but before, I didn't realise what I bad. Before, I (elt I didn't deserve any more because of the fact that I didn't appreciate what I had. "Life hasn't been as wonderful for me ever. You appreciate things a lot more than you ever did before.

I can still drive a car. I can still walk and talk. How lucky, how normal can you be?" She says that for that reason, she has learned to forgive. "Hate is a very hard word. On 1 1 September every year, I hate him, but all the rest of the time I think, well.

Hate just eats you up anyhow. You've got to learn to think: why did the person do it, what was bis childhood like? "He is the sort of person to me that society has taken and taken and never put nothing back. He didn't like himself. How could he like anyone else? "He doesn't deserve to stay in there (or the rest of his life. He deserves a second chance.

A lot of people could have persecuted me for what I did job-wise (as a prostitute) before ail this happened. People gave me a second chance and I think we all deserve a second chance." Despite that, Ms Nesbit believes not enough Is being done for victims. She refused requests (or exclusive Interviews, (or some of which she would have received payments, because she wanted people to understand what It means to be a victim of crime. She says it Is time people acted to force governments to look at the needs of victims. "The whole system is not quite right.

Look at prisoners and all the support they get. How about something for the victims of crime. It's not good enough. We are put In the background. I get really angry about that." "There are so many people out there who are victims and who are you going to' turn to when you are a victim? VOCAL (Victims Of Crime Assistance League) is the only one that (is) there 24 hours a day.

It's about time the Government got behind VOCAL and supported the victims for a change." Ms Nesbit, who expects to have more surgery this month, said her injuries made her an obvious victim, but nothing was done for people such as rape victims whose trauma was not obvious. fed discount of 70 per cent in young people's wage rates In some cases. He said the Hewson plan was old-fashioned, would displace existing workers and would offer no real training for young people. The Prime Minister, Mr Keating, said the solution to youth unemployment "is to regard 15 to 19 as largely a period of vocational But there was also a short-term need to help people who had not stayed at school and did not have job prospects. The Government was considering a jobs scheme for the 22 July summit that would employ and train people in environmental land care.

The Democrats condemned the Liberals' proposal as superficial, simplistic and impossible to implement. An ACTU assistant secretary, Mr Bill Mansfield, who has been negotiating with the Government on a training wage, said the plart was Just a means of exploiting young people. But the Opposition industrial relations spokesman, Mr Howard, said: "There are many people who will do anything to get the first bite of experience." Mr Howard said it was "absolute nonsense" to talk about 15 and 16-year-olds being exploited and driven Into poverty because they took home about $100 a week. But he accepted that the welfare system might need "some special sensitivity" for people living away from home. The national director of the Australian Catholic Social Welfare Commission, Father David Cappo, who spoke at the Liberals' convention, said a youth training wage had merits, but there must be clear conditions.

These included a link to real training, just remuneration and protection for other workers from job losses. "We must not turn our youth into cannon (odder (or unscrupulous employers." The Australian Youth Policy and Action Coalition said the Liberals' proposals "to decimate youth wages are an unacceptable Ideological response to the serious problems of youth PAGE 9: More reports. PAGE 13: Editorial, Geoffrey Barker' comment. By MICHELLE QRATTAN, dhief political correspondent, Canberra the Opposition Leader, Dr Hewson, lst night promised to consider allowing needy people on the youth wage to continue getting some concessions now given to unemployed young people, as his plan to slash youth wages came under heavy (ire. i Dr Hewson said the coalition had riot ruled out leaving rent assistance for those in need.

He would examine the possibility of maintaining state-based concessions (or (ares, Defending the youth wage, which Is only marginally above the dole (or those who live away from home, Dr Hewson said about 90 per cent of 15 to 19-year-olds lived at home and would get a significant Increase under the youth wage. The dole for someone under 18 living at home is $64.15. Dr Hewson declined to be drawn on whether the minimum youth wage would be adjusted over time. He said that was "a separate issue down the The youth wage which would be $114 for those under 18 and $133 a week for 18 to 20-year-olds, and would mean an average cut of about 40 to SO per cent in youth award wages was slammed by the Government and unions. Business reaction was positive, while saying there was no simple solution to the youth unemployment problem.

The takeaway food chain McDonald's said it would create 3000 jobs if It could pay a youth wage at the Hewson level of $3 to $3.50 an hour. McDonald's employs 30,000, 90 per cent of whom are under 21 and work casually (or about $10 an hour. Dr Hewson yesterday foreshadowed that the coalition would announce a minimum wage (or adults as part of the revised Industrial relations policy it will release soon. The adult minimum wage is sure to provoke union hostility. The Employment Minister, Mr Beazley, condemned the youth wage plan as "a 1950s agenda for a young person with no future" and "a strategy for It would mean a Ansett intends to challenge an Australian Tax Office draft ruling that Indicates that free air travel gained through "frequent filer" programs could be taxable.

The airline has until 13 August to submit a response to the ruling, issued on Thursday. A spokesman for Australian Airlines said the proposal was being examined but an official response had not been formulated. Priority for disabled: Pope The State Government's program of integrating disabled children Into regular schools would receive the highest priority in the education budget this year, the Minister (or School Education, Mr Pope, told a national conference on Integration yesterday. Mr Pope said that since the program began in 1984, the number of students with disabilities who had been placed In regular schools had risen to -5400, covering 70 per cent of the slate's schools. Heroin importer sentenced A man sentenced to eight years' Jail for importing more than 1.2 kilograms of pure heroin said he felt pressured into bringing the drugs Into Australia, the County Court was told yesterday.

Judge O'Shea, sentencing Mee Tangjamnat to eight years' jail, with a minimum of six years, said Tangjamnat had said he did not want to carry the drugs, but was threatened and had no option. Tangjamnat, 21, a student, formerly of Bond Avenue, St Albans, had earlier pleaded guilty to one count of Importing a prohibited Import. Call for 'shield' law The Australian Press Council has called for the Introduction of a federal "shield law" to protect Journalists from having to reveal their confidential sources. The council's chairman, Professor David Flint, said yesterday that he was concerned about provisions in the Broadcasting Services Bill that could result In Journalists being compelled to reveal their confidential sources. 1 5' Kay Nesbit with her two-year-old son, Tyler.

"Life hasn't been as wonderful for me ever." Twelve still in race to run casino "significant boost to Mr Richards said. "It Is up to them (the consortiums) to come up with their preferred site. When they have confirmed that in all cases we can get down and do the (site) evaluation and assessment." Mr Richards said the authority would also assess the performance of the operator every three years before renewing its licence. Mr Paul Connolly, a former project manager at CRA Limited, was named yesterday as the authority's chief executive officer. The Westpac Banking Corporation was named as the authority's principal financial By GERARD' RYLE jv, Victoria's first casino will open Its doors by August 1994.

And there are 12 consortiums on a short list vying to run it, the Victorian Casino Control Authority announced yesterday. A further short list of three or four will be made publlf in December, with the final selection to be made in June next year, the chairman of the authority, Mr John Richards, said. Mr Richards said 23 consortiums had been interested in the project, but only 12 fulfilled the requirements outlined In the registratlon-of-interest Mr Richards declined to give details of the sites preferred by the bidders but said they had nominated a number of possibilities, Including the Docklands. He said the authority, which was formed in February to oversee the establishment, supervision and control of the casino, would make its final selection by June next year. A temporary licence to allow the consortium to start operations by August 1994 would be Issued first.

Mr Richards said the temporary licence would give the group cash flow before It opened the casino on a more permanent basis by late 1995. The final site, which will be within three kilometres of the GPO, would have 150 gaming tables and provide a 1 liiSS'illf I sel eWHeaHeeMMM Mr Richards: "significant boost to employment." 5S Report tips gloom clothing, textile sefctor 2' I I OFFICE FURNITURE i I Dimension I filing cabinets from Namco Two Drawer $169 OVER three Drawer $219 1000 Four Drawer $269 CABINETS By DAVID WALKER, Canberra Australia's textile, clothing and footwear Industries have the worst outlook among 19 types of manufacturing industries, a Federal Government study has found. The forecast from the Bureau of Industry Economics precedes a statement to be made soon by the 'Industry Minister, Senator Button. A TCF union leader, Ms Anna Booth, said yesterday that she expected the statement to concentrate on helping exporters and firms wanting to assemble garments overseas. The statement Is almost certain to reject calls to slow tariff cuts for the TCF Industries.

Senator Button has said the Idea that a tariff pause would save jobs was a "cruel delusion" and that TCF firms must focus on areas where they could compete best, such as high-fashion clothing. The bureau's report largely agrees with him. It says there Is scope for growth In production of high-quality fashion goods, but warns that demand for such goods will be hard to predict It also predicts a surge In the processing of the raw materials Australia produces wool, cotton and hides. But it warns that under both Its alternative outlooks for the economy, TCF jobs will shrink and the TCF trade will remain domi-. nated by Imports.

Under the most optimistic scenario, Australia In 2001 Is projected to export $1.39 billion of TCF goods and Import $5.62 billion. Output will rise from 1990-91's $6.13 billion to $7.07 billion and employment will shrink from 103,000 to 91,000. The report also says that in the 10 years to mid-1989, the performance of TCF Industries In output and jobs was one of the poorest among manufacturers. Projections Projections for the years to 2001 are tentative, the bureau says, based on micro-economic reform, a falling Australian dollar and continued tariff cuts. By 2001, TCF tariffs are scheduled to fall from an average of 43 pet cent to 13 per cent.

The bureau's work suggests that medical drugs, aircraft -parts, scientific Instruments and the Information Industries (computers, software and telecommunications equipment) are the Industries likely to see the highest growth In exports, output and jobs In the next nine years. Trade prospects are also good for processed foods and most metal industries. If the Australian dollar does not rise against other currencies, and If micro-economic reform is successful, the bureau argues that Australia can sustain Its late-1980s record of high export growth. Ms Booth, the joint national secretary of the TCF Union of Australia, said yesterday that she did not expect a TCF tariff slowdown. She said she believed the Government might Introduce an overseas assembly program that would allow apparel and footwear companies to send components overseas for assembly and then import them free of duty.

Such schemes were widespread In Europe, she said. Ms Booth also said the Government could fine-tune its TCF export-facilitation scheme which allows some duty-free imports for firms that export TCF products. The president of the TCF Council, Mr Alan Trumble, also said yesterday that he did not expect any tariff pause. Referring to a TCF proposal from the premiers of Victoria and SA, he said it was hard to see a Federal Labor Government rejecting advice from senior state colleagues. "But I think they are going to do IV he said.

tinmen Paint your home with Light. Australian made PhiUpd oof tone. 3 YEAR GUARANTEE It's the little things that make a house a home. Like the lightbulbs you use. WIDE SELECTION OF; NEW AND RECONDITIONED OFFICE FURNITURE, DESKS, CHAIRS FILING CABINETS an atmosphere of cosiness and warmth, or freshness and vitality, or romance and intimacy.

Each room in your home can have its own unique feel. If you're in the mood to redecorate, leave the paintbrushes in the cupboard and look for Philips Softones in your local supermarket, -department, lighting or hardware store. Youll find painting with light can produce equally dramatic results, for a faction of the cost. the age tomorrow Standard bulbi are designed for illumination, not decoration. Philips Softones provide both.

Each has just a hint of colour subtle pastel hades of pink, blue, yellow, green, peach or soft white. They enhance a room, not dominate it. When you replace your plain bulbs with Softones, youll notice colours appear richer. Depending on which you choose, you can create TWO CONVENIENT LOCATIONS a child is disabled TAKE A CLOSER LOOK. 620-640 SpwKwr St.

66-79 Moray St West Melbourne South Melbourne Trt. 329 8177 tL 696 1877 Fm 326 6642 Fax 696 4794 Available now at lelected Cole, Woolworthi and BBC hardware tores. 1 A PHILIPS a.