The Age from Melbourne, Victoria, Australia • Page 1

THIIE 3 36 pages Tofe 135th Year, No. 41,838 250 Spencer Street, Melbourne. 6004211 (Classified 604 1144) Monday 3 July 1989 HIM 9 W' The best coverage on the state of QggnL 4 07 saf auMtai -----a-aaaaBaBaaBaaaaaaSl riot flares after assassimatioe of PNG mniMstter Hngtisunid lowing the arrival of the corpse, which was received at the airport by the Prime Minister, Mr Namaliu. This is in stark contrast with the experience in 1986 when riots erupted in Port Moresby following the death of another High-lands leader, Mr Iambakey Okuk. Mr Balakau was considered a radical leader in the late 1970s when he led violent student protests at the University of Papua New Guinea, including the burn- Cwrinuod: PAGE 9 are shocked.

It's a very bad Wingti said an Opposition motion for a vote of no confidence in the Government scheduled for the opening of Parliament would go ahead only if MPs decided it was needed. However, he said he was prepared to accept a delay in the resumption of Parliament to accommodate the funeral of Mr Balakau. whose body was flown to the capital. Port Moresby, today. The atmosphere in the capital was reportedly calm tonight fol have caused more than $1.5 million in losses.

Mr Mike Bromley said that much of the damage had been caused because the police, who used tear gas, were outnumbered by the rioters. Mr Bromley is closely linked with the Leader of the Opposition. Mr Pias Wingti, who is also from the Highlands. Mr Wingti told 'The Age' tonight he was shocked by the assassination. "It's the first time it has happened in this country and we on at Pakiaap, a spot favored by rebels on the mine access road.

Yesterday, a constable was wounded just downhill from the same spot and another policeman on escort duty was shot in an attack near the Mananau agriculture station in the Jaba valley, on the other side of the mine. Even though the situation on Bougainville remains tense, two squads of riot police have been pulled out and sent to Mount Hagen to help control ethnic riots that followed the assassination of Mr Balakau. Several thousand grieving relatives and supporters of Mr Balakau rampaged through two provincial towns at the weekend, causing more than $43 million damage to shops and businesses. No clear motive for the minister's death on Friday night has emerged but it is believed to have occurred after a gang of masked men surrounded Mr Balakau's wife outside their house. Worst hit in the weekend rioting was the Bromley and Martin supermarket in Mount Hagen, where looting was believed to nation in Mount Hagen, the provincial Premier of Bougainville, Mr Joseph Kabul, was dragged from his car and severely beaten by masked men believed to be members of a police riot squad.

The assault followed the wounding of five policemen in several attacks by militants fighting to keep the giant CRA copper mine closed until Bougainville is allowed to secede. The joint security forces' commander. Colonel Lima Dotaona, said three of his men were hit this morning when a patrol was fired Brave and foolhardy scale MCG heights Inn Picture: SEBASTIAN COSTANZO rate Fans climb to a ledge above the top level of the MCG. risking a 40-metre fall, for a view of the state-of-origin match on Saturday. being sighted there.

They had faced a 40-metre drop outside the stadium if they had fallen. He said there was little more officials could do to ensure public safety. "You can't stop people being foolhardy," Mr Thomas said. "We have barbed wire around the roof and it's no mean athletic feat to get up there." He said he had expected a crowd of 78,000 to 80,000 and was surprised that nearly 92,000 people turned up. But he said ground officials had not been caught out Two gates in the Olympic and southern stands had remained open throughout the match and, although some people with precooked tickets may have experienced short By MARK BROLLY The Melbourne Cricket Club yesterday defended safety measures at the MCG for the state-of-origin football match on Saturday, when some of the record 91,960 spectators risked a 40-metre fall to watch the game.

The assistant secretary of the MCC, Mr Bryce Thomas, said police and ground officials had quickly removed people who climbed to precarious vantage points on the top tiers of the northern and western stands to watch the match, in which Victoria defeated South Australia by 86 points. Mr Thomas said people had been removed from those positions within 15 minutes of delays, no one with a reserved seat had been refused admission. But Mrs Jacinta Crohan, of Glen Waverley, accused the VFL of "swindling" the public by not giving people proof of having paid admission when they were forced to leave because of a lack of seats. Mrs Crohan said she, her husband and three children bought a ticket at the ground about 1 pm, but were forced to leave about' 80 minutes later when they were unable to find seats. She said aisles were crammed with' people, and officials were unable to give her proof of her purchase of a $20 family ticket to obtain a refund.

SPORT EXTRA 1: Match reports. Ropoit up reforested A CSIRO report vrges a massive regreening program that would; involve planting btllioas of trees, restore degraded tend farm productivity, fight the greenhouse effect- aid' provide social and economic benefits. It suggests tree piaatfng on a-scale exceeding anything suggest--ed by environmentallstilorefters. or governments, proposing that 12-' billion would be needed to thr Murray-Darling basin aloaaev control salinity. MUI 1816 prison Archaeologists uncover a rare: piece of Australia's convict his tory the wall of aa l6 Nursing hdoMsStsnt Steps are planned to ensure prop-; er care for residents of a nursing: home where "scandalous" treat' ment is alleged.

AG SI I vV til US Pacific plan The US Secretary of State, Mr; James Baker, arrives in Brunei with a plan for a "new Pacific: AC The Roberts legacy The artist Lisa Roberts, great-grand-daughter of Tom Roberts, tells of the artistic influence of her great-grandmother. MOEM $330m share issue National Australia Bank targets overseas buyers in an issue of 55 million ordinary shares worth $330 million. PAGE 2 Rtzcsrald to play McEnroe Australia's John Fitzgerald will play John McEnroe today la a fourth round match at the Wimbledon tennis championships. AOE27 1 Amusements 1S Business Age Comics Crosswords 30 13 30 12 t-8 20 20 Editorial Law List Letters World News Classified index Personal nobces British pilots are now using catehphrase from the television comedy 'Alio. AM as official language for contacting French air traffic controllers.

For contacting the French, "bonjour" has been replaced with "good TODAY: fine, windy. Expected top 16 (yesterday 17). Throe-day forecast 2 Mafls I FM I ,1 PiCtWK -t-1 I By MARY-LOUSE CCALLAGHAN, Bougainviao, Sunday Papua New. Guinea's security forces are struggling to maintain law and order today following the assassination of the Minister for Communications. Mrtfalipu Bala-kau, in the Highland town of Mount Hagen.

PNG's army and police forces, already stretched by Operation Blueprint on the troubled island of Bougainville, now face two flashpoints at opposite ends of the country. Just over a day after the assassi Housing market boom is over By TIM GRAHAM, real estate editor Melbourne's housing boom is aver, with the number of booses offered at auction falling by Jt per cent compared with figures at the end of last year, according to an analysis by Monash University. Rising home-loan interest rates were the main reason for the collapse of the boom, the analysis found. Sales at auction also dropped; the number of properties passed in increased and prices fell a little daring June. The findings were made after an analysis of auction results in The Age', by Dr Chris Maker of the Department of Geography and Environmental Science at Monash University.

The survey shows that the media price achieved at tactions fellte in June from a peak in May of $14MH. However, this figure is still well up on the valuer-general's medians which include all private sales. They were lew than before the 19M boom. DrMaher and industry observers said yesterday that the continued pressure of housing-loan Interest rates was the main cause for the cooling off in the market Interest rates have risen, since October last year, from 115 per cent to 17 per cent and, in the case of one bank, an It per cent rate, announced last week. But the market was "not yet in a Dr Maher said yesterday.

A. direct comparison of volumes and sales between the first lull of 188 and this year showed that the volume and sales ratios had held up well and some of the decline In activity could be attributed to vendors maintaining boom level expectations. "It can be assumed from the survey that the market is back to what could be described as normal, pre-boom conditions, -although prices are generally at higher levels," Dr Maher said. Estate agents said at the weekend that they did not consider the market to be depressed. They said that where vendors prices were realistic, good buyer demand was evident in most market sectors.

Maker's analysis also showed that the top end of the properties worth than $5MM while down in sales volume, had held values well, with very few being passed in. The survey fond that it was in the middle price ranges between $MMM and $5MM -that the market had been most Adversely affected, with more than half the properties being in at auction. PAGE 7: Reports, tables. By GEOFF MASLEN Some of Victoria's higher, education institutions change the cut-off scores for entry to certain tourses give false impreeske of the standard required, according to -the Victorian Tertiary Admissions 'Committee. 4 But the executive officer of the committee (which acts as the en- raiment centre for terOarylnstitu- turns), Mr John Wade, said most year 12 students still had to reach the set cut-off scores to qualify most courses, and that the scorA did give a measare of the stan- dard required XMeiBibry Mr Baldwin proposed deferring the 1 January tax cuts for those earning $50,000 and more.

This, with the extra taxes, could fin ance the mortgage relief. not want to be haraedlsaid yester day: "It's a sure sign the Government is in trouble when its own backbenchers-start going public" Mr Hawke indicated before he left for overseas that he was willing to consider measures to help home buyers, but he later refused to comment when it appeared he was in conflict with Mr Keating. The deputy chairman of the caucus economic committee, Mrs Carolyn Jacobsen, said she was confident the Government would ease the impact of interest rates. Mr Langmore, the committee secretary, proposed that the housing market be segregated from the financial market and regulated. The leader of the National Party, Mr Blunt told the party's federal conference at the weekend that many couples had postponed and even forgone having families because of Government policies.

"In Paul Keating's Australia, the second mortgage has replaced the first child." Westpac's chief manager of consumer banking, Mr John Morris, said the bank would try to "hang on for three to four But he said that maintenance of the 17 per cent rate would depend on the flow of funds. "We'll be looking at the CPI figures and the balance of payments. We don't expect good news from either, but then it seems the Government's monetary policy has worked reasonably well." The State Bank's deputy chief executive officer, Mr Max Carr, said he could not predict when the bank's 16.75 per cent home-loan rate would move. But he said there was a lot of pressure to lift deposit rates, and the bank reviewed the situation constantly. Mr Haydn Park, of the National Australia Bank, said home-loan approvals had fallen by 35 to 40 per cent in the first three weeks of June, relieving some of the pressure on the economy.

PAGE 24: Kenneth Davidson's 1 SKa ft iK By CARMEt McCAUtEY, and JENNIFER CONLEY The Federal Government was uiiderpusnireiromwithjnits own ranks last night to ease the burden on borne buyers, amid signs that most bome-loan interest rates are set to rise within the month. Several senior backbenchers yesterday called publicly on the Government to provide mortgage relief, saying their electorates were "hurting" from the high interest rates. The Prime Minister, Mr Hawke, who returns to Australia this evening after his two-and-a-half-week United States and European shuttle, will have to confront the issue tomorrow at an expected meeting with the Treasurer, Mr Keating. The big banks yesterday conceded that they might be forced to increase interest rates in less than a month, once the next CPI and balance-of-payments figures were known. But they said they would maintain present rates in the short term, despite Friday's decision by the Advance Bank to push its home-loan rate to 18 per cent The Federal Opposition yesterday joined the debate, with the treasury spokesman, Dr Hewson, urging a cut in Government spending in the August budget so that pressure could be taken off high interest rates.

"Our economic malaise cannot be allowed to drift for another second. The Prime Minister must direct Mr Keating to get on with his job and provide a complete reassessment of our current economic position and prospects." Four Government backbenchers, all members of the caucus economic committee, aired their views yesterday in a television interview. Mr John Langmore, Senator Graham Maguire, Mr Peter Baldwin and Mr Roger Price warned that keeping monetary policy too tight could send the economy into a recession. They backed the controversial higher tax on luxuries and tax breaks on savings measures Mr Keating has rejected as "mere embroidery" on economic policy. scores A sea of faces follows the flight of the footbaU as interstate rivalry draws a record crowd of RAY KENNEDY 91J960 to the MCG.

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Italian lambs wool scarves in 12 solid colours are1S JO. EngUsh Umbrellas whi(Afbklcc4h A Burbenys Overcoat in Glen Owck, 100 wool tweed, Raglan sryk is $1350 aiidmeBcartianBurbexiysTH COld winter nights are nothing to be feared in Derek Rose piped winter cotton, pyjamas with tie waist at $145 or a Derek Rose pure wcclwcwsteddtessir gown Thermal Underwear; lortg-jphns are $59 ard the short sleeved Finally, did you know mat over 40 of body heat is lost through tte liead? Top yourself off warinty a checks and tweeds for $65 or $69 JO. inniwipiiiatted, says VXC for Epffid who missed Lr aiatch at Lord's with a finger fajary. Dropped from the side are the opener Chris Broad and Paul Jarvis. Without Broad, Kim Barnett, who was lucky to retain his place, is likely to take over as an opener, a position he occupies with his county side, Derbyshire.

SPORT EXTRA 1: Martin Blake relieved when we adopted the cutoff score used during the first round of offers." Most cut-off scores did give an accurate indication of the level needed to enter, a' particular course, he said. "Some institutions argue that by inflating the cut-off score they force students to work harder during their VCE year, but I think that is spurious." The committee received a report from Dr Jones on his findings but did not express a view on the -issue. Mr Wade said -the present score system would apply for only another two years. When the new VCE program was adopted in 1991, another method would have to be devised. Dr Joaes said that still meant that up to student and their teachers and parents would be subject to deception over the scores were Botham back England, trailing Australia t-2 in the Ashes series with four Tests remaining, has recalled the all-rounder Ian Botham to try to boost its dwindling fortunes.

Botham missed the first two Tests because of a fractured cheekbone, but his recent performances in county matches, along with his considerable reputation as a Test player, saw him quickly recalled. Also back in the England team is Allan Lamb, a century-scorer la the first Test at Heodiagley 5000 students admitted to 56 university and college courses this year. They found that up to a third of the year 12 students who enrolled failed to reach the published cut-off score, the supposed minimum mark necessary for admission. Dr Jones accused some institutions of manipulating the cut-off scores to give a false impression of the standard required for entry. He said a fairer picture would be provided if the admissions committee published the jBChieved by more than 90 $et cent of admitted to a particular course.

-'--'r Mr Wade said the committee had tried this, using the score obtained by 95 per cent of students, but the results had been manipulated and when sent to institutions for tioa "It was a totiJJy -eystetn'lmd Study finds Turn piliigl Kwaanvaa I r-sa I aaaamJ j3 Uti IE afSl am- i 'a. ser I Sss. 'S STTn 8 1 1 mrftrnsnram Sw3 alaMtr Df fcaKHallS of Saturday's 'Age', admit anyooe tbey wishby mak- ing iiikJual offers, he said. Afjadealrt the Swinburne Instttate" of Technology labelled the nse of cut-off scores a farce aad said that any faith students or teachers had in them was -Ir Ian Jones and Mr Peter Hav-llcafc wiio lecture in applied tii front poge Jed by unhrerstties and cWeges w.pewa year i rronomt nnnng the oast two.vars Aatf MWMiMi failed tiprtu ofEdu- eatioaltkw-it vlacesin tie. rne Age- reponeo on saturaay imsttea nssm- of tte ac-that survey by academics ahjfB Swine-ars Lrsaute of jTeeluwfc aa Jl -v i fa aar.Taan.

a -fa i aaa Mint! i ttr laeroimoosover tae mam taeeded to ewer par- rfjcatarftsases. Aa lysts of cut-off fcscjfi aa aai' a raMa ft aaja r..