The Age from Melbourne, Victoria, Australia • Page 9

1 EDITORIALS, FEATURES 9 THE AGE Friday, July 7, 1972 The least common fee On Wednesday Sir Kenneth Anderson said he was confident that more doctors observe the new and common fees which flowed from the Meson inquiry. Sir Kenneth's faith Is touching; but it is hardly convincing. No doctor can be forced to charge the fees, and a significant number of NSW -general practitioners have already declared their intention to continue to charge more than the most common fees. In this situation, the Commonwealth would seem to have no alternative but to introduce a participating doctors' scheme which would deny medical benefits to the patient of any doctor who charged more than the most common fee. Such a move would certainly bring the Commonwealth into an embarrassing conflict with the medical profession in this election year.

But far more dangerous political consequences would follow if selfish doctors were allowed to destroy the health scheme unchallenged. By introducing a participating doctors scheme, the Commonwealth would be taking effective action to ensure the continuing availability of a financially viable and comprehensive national health scheme. Timely hint from Africa TARDILY, and under threat of international embarrassment, the Government has decided not to renew the passports of three Australians representing the Rhodesian Externa! Relations Department. The decision is correct and should have been taken much sooner, but it appears that the Minister for Immigration (Dr. Forbes) was prodded into action by pressure from the Ghanaian Government, relayed through the Australian High Commission in Accra.

On humanitarian grounds the three men may be issued with documents of identity to visit their native country, but their passports will not be renewed while they remain servants of Mr. Ian Smith's illegal regime. They' appear to have been treated much more gently than the Left-wing journalist Mr. Wilfrid Burchett, who is also an Australian citizen. This Is not surprising.

The Government's decision to amend the law rather than take action against a slight case of smuggling by the Rhodesia Information Centre in Sydney showed clearly all too clearly where its sympathies lay. The Leader of the Opposition (Mr. Whitlam) raised the issue of the three high-ranking officials in the House in April, but the Government buried the subject. Australian law may be bent to serve the Government's purposes, but it is impossible to pose as an honest member of a multi-racial Commonwealth of Nations and a loyal subscriber to UN decisions while openly flouting their rules. The reminder has been timely; it should not have been necessary.

The V.I.C. administrators (and the Individual college heads) are surely not such megalomaniacal spendthrifts that their sub-missions have to be slashed so drastically. Sir Henry Bolte replied to criticism of cuts in submissions for the present triennium by saying that the colleges were asking for Utopia. But to want such things as adequate library facilities and to want to avoid the imposition of stricter quotas is hardly being Utopian. Clearly it is intolerable if the country colleges are being discriminated against to the extent the figures indicate.

But the problem is much wider than this. What is needed is a total re-examination of not only the funding, but also the philosophy of the whole tertiary education sector. There is confusion among parents, educators and within the community about the roles of universities, advanced colleges and teachers' colleges. The quota system is one symptom of the tertiary illness and the pressure will inexorably increase. A Federal inquiry is needed into the demands of industry, the needs of students and the role of the various tertiary institutions.

Once a coherent policy is worked out to replace vague and ill-fitting phrases (such as "equal but a peak national body should be set up to co-ordinate planningand spending for all branches of tertiary education. Unequal and different WHEN colleges of advanced education were set up in the wake of the Martin Committee report, they were described as "equal but different" from universities. However, the most obvious difference between these two arms of tertiary education has been the inequality of the advanced colleges. Moreover, it appears that within the advanced-college system, some are more unequal than others. The Victoria Institute of Colleges is angry at the Federal and State Governments over a cut of 62 per cent, in budget submission for the 1973-75 triennium; the country colleges are angry at the Federal and State Governments and at the y.l.C, for cuts of up to 77 per cent, in their capital fund submissions.

Staff representatives from the five country colleges on Wednesday claimed that the V.I.C. was biased in favor of larger city colleges. They claimed that unless the Federal Government provided an additional $16 million over the next three years, the colleges would disappear. Certainly the Gippsland Institute of Advanced Education, for one, has been savagely dealt with. However, while the country colleges have got the crumbs, the city colleges' cake is sliced thinly too.

AUSTRALIA'S national health insurance scheme continues to be threatened by the cupidity of many doctors, especially general practitioners. Figures released on Tuesday by the Commonwealth Minister for Health (Senator Sir Kenneth showed fewer doctors were observing the crucial most common fee provisions of the scheme. In NSW, particularly, the most common fee has become the least common fee for surgery consultations and home visits. A similar, though less pronounced, trend is evident in Victoria. If these trends are not reversed, the voluntary health insurance scheme will be wrecked: it will, simply, become too expensive for either individuals or the Commonwealth Government.

For more than two years, the Commonwealth has begged the medical profession to observe most common fees voluntarily. Although its appeals have been ignored, the Commonwealth has gone to extraordinary lengths to accommodate the demands of the doctors. In March it appointed a special arbitrator Mr. Justice Mason to inquire into the fees of NSW general practitioners. In view of Sir Kenneth Anderson's latest disclosures about the drift from most common fee charges, it is clear that the Commonwealth can no longer protect the health scheme unless it stops doctors from setting their own prices unilaterally.

Tax scandals catch up with Jacques Chaban-Delmas Gamllisni seeks new new with From PAUL ELLMAN, in Paris life i -far s-szrm ii Apart from that what other migrant training schemes interest you? In Pierre Messmei TWO months of impenetrable silence over the series of financial scandals which have rocked France's Government came to an end on Wednesday when President Georges Pompidou sacked Prime Minister Jacques Chaban-Delmas. A tersely worded statement issued after the weekly Cabinet meeting announced, M. Chaban-Delmas" resignation, and that of his Government, and said President Pompidou had thanked him for the work accomplished during the past three years. Opponents of French nuclear tests can expect no change from the new Prime Minister (M. Pierre Messmer) who, as Minister for the Overseas Territories, has stamped hard on demands for autonomy in France's Pacific colonies.

As Defence Minister in 1962, he was responsible for the development of a French nuclear force and has been described here as the "father of the French M. Messmer, 56, has been the most hawkish member of the Government over the present test series and while in Noumea pub- unites us Consumerism Nader all, says Ralph From a Special Correspondent in Washington licly threatened New Zealand with reprisals over its stand. The move by President Pompidou has been seen in Paris as a bid to brighten the tarnished image of his regime in preparation for a general election for the National Assembly which must be held by next March at the latest. The departure of M. Chaban-Delmas from the political scene has been widely forecast since January, when the weekly satirical paper, Le Canard Enchaine, published his tax returns for a four-year period.

These showed that while M. Chaban-Delmas had a personal income of between about $54,000 and $64,000 for each of these years he had paid no income tax at all. Although the Premier had done nothing illegal and owed his good fortune to judicious exploitation of loopholes in the tax laws, the disclosures caused outrage among Frenchmen who, like everybody else, consider themselves overtaxed. The regime tried to play down "I'affaire Chaban" but Left-wing papers followed up the disclosures with others implicating other leading members of the ruling Gaullist movement. Among those named In connection with shady business deals in recent months have been the Defence Minister (M.

Michel Debre), the Minister for Relations with Parliament (M. Jacques Chirac) and the secretary-general of President Pompidou's UDR (Gaullist) Party (M. Rene Toma-sini). At the same time, personal relations between President Pompidou and M. Chaban-Delmas deteriorated, with the Head of State nervously eyeing moves by the Premier to become his successor.

To chip away at the Premier's power, M. Pompidou deprived him of his responsibility for the State-controlled Radio and Television Corporation, which itself was recently wracked by scandals over kickbacks paid by advertising agencies to programme producers. When M. Chaban-Delmas said that despite the scandals he still hoped to lead the Gaullists at the next general election, President Pompidou slapped him down with a reminder that it was up to the Head of State to determine the duration of a Government and who would lead it. In a bid to shore up his crumbling image, M.

Chaban-Delmas announced that he would seek a vote of confidence in his Government from the National Assembly on May 23. The President said he could nave this "if he considered it The Premier won his vote of confidence, but President Pompidou returned to the attack, using his closest supporters in the Gaullist movement to criticise Left-leaning social reform programmes identified with M. Chaban-Delmas. The Premier must have realised the writing was on the wall when he felt driven to appeal to a UDR conference: "We must dissipate the mistrust between us." The departure of M. Chaban-Delmas deprives French politics of one of its most dashing, figures.

He was a general in the French Resistance at the age of 27, and was considered personally close to the late General de Gaulle. His youthful good looks and physical dynamism (he was a champion tennis player) provided a useful vote-catching counterweight to the somewhat grey image presented by most Gaullists. His genuine attachment to Gaullism as a vehicle for social reform also offset -the electoral damage caused by the extreme Right-wing law-and-order fanatics the movement also encompasses. His successor, M. Messmer, is by contrast a dour figure, a former colonial governor and para-troop officer.

Whether the change of Government will bring new life to French Gaullism, which has been showing signs of fatigue lately, is an open question. One of the first comments available will have brought little cheer to President Pompidou, who celebrated his 61st birthday on Wednesday. "Madame an astrologist whose daily radio programme is followed avidly by millions of French people, gave as her forecast for the President in the year ahead: "It will be a very difficult 12 months." Out Chaban-Delmas CITY 27-29 Crossley Street (off Bourlce St. Jrrf through it. BcurKe jusi msi or Exhibition Street) Compact City Freehold Concrete floon, 2 stairways.

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THE Prime Minister (Mr. McMahon) has called him a "paid pot Many think of him the defence counsel for the "little An obscure visionary only a few years ago, Ralph Nader, 38, is now the effective chief of staff of the consumerist movement in the United States, with a growing army of "public interest" lawyers at his command. Last week, as he prepared to leave Washington for his tour of Australia and Asia, Nader talked about the international implications of consumerism. Interviewer: How do you account for the rapid rise of consumerism in the US? Nader: It is a reaction to a powerful phenomenon: the ability of corporations to shift costs on to their victims workers, consumers and citizens. They shift costs in order to avoid allocating investment from profits into the technology that would reduce pollution, increase job safety and remove market-place hazards.

RICHMOND 45 Erin St. Aren't the problems you describe for the most part confined to America? Absolutely not. The U.S. in some ways has a. higher velocity of these problems, Because U.S.

consumers, on the average, purchase more goods and services and that stimulates more production. But many industrialised countries in Europe and Asia are beginning to illustrate the ferment that was prevalent in the U.Si eight to 10 years ago. For instance, the U.S. is still far ahead of other nations in our credit economy, with all its abuses such as invasion of privacy and high interest rates and instalment buying-on-time deceptions. But this whole new area is now beginning to be experienced by Western Europe.

The same is itrue with life insurance. Japan is growing watchful already. Do less developed nations have consumer problems? Problems for them are more blatant. For example, unlabeled packages of toxic pesticide mate- tConv. transport dtv, shops, Epworth and letheida Hospitals) Charming 2storey Victorian Terrace Home in superb order and centrally heated throughout.

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As reform pressure builds they will have a greater incentive to fly flags of convenience to escape their responsibilities. That's already beginning to happen. How interested are Europeans and Asians in what you are doing? I get a tremendous amount of mail from abroad. People instantly understand the issues because they are experiencing them. There have been consumer groups in many nations for 30 or 40 years, and some are now developing into full-time professional advocates of consumer reform.

One way to make it a fiolitical issue of the first rank to get more representation in parliaments. That way it will become a citizens' consumerism movement. When defined broadly, consumerism encompasses almost the whole domestic scene in many nations; even taxes are a consumer issue. Consumerism hinds people together in a call for coalition action. The big hurdle in many countries is the lack of a tradition of lawyer-advocates and lawsuits.

Courts are not as powerful as in the U.S. From what I hear, this is changing; parliaments in Britain, Scandinavia, Canada and Australia are moving toward investigatory probes. They see the need. They begin with corporate power: Who makes the decisions? How much information should they disclose? What sanctions exist? How much freedom is there within the companies for employes to dissent without being fired When nations begin policing each others 'multinational corporations, as you predict, won't consumerism become a touchy international issue? There will be a jurisdictional problem. How far should U.S.

anti-rust laws reach Who should act when foreign nations agree with the U.S. State Department to limit steel imports? Many cases coming up will show that corporate irresponsibility, and jurisdiction over it, is the next big international issue. (Close wilk Glcnferrit Rd. shops) rials are sold alongside foodstuffs. The first-line consumer problems in the less-developed nations are starvation, disease, lack of medical and legal services.

They proceed from excessive power in the hands of mostly private corporations which are not reachable by the people they are supposed to service. This is where consumer movements In the U.S. and other countries will converge: on the question of how to make the powerk which is in the possession of pri-vate bureaucracies called corporations and the public bureaucracies called governments, responsible, accountable and representative. Some people predict that the multinational corporation may soon become a bridge between consumer groups in the U.S. and Japan and Europe.

Don't you think that is a rather fanciful notion? No, I do not. Increasingly, you can see the same consumer abuse in 10 different nations produced by the same multinational corporations: autos, flammable fabrics, cosmetics, electrical appliances. That is one reason why there is a growing familiarity with the problems around the world. As countries sell more of their products to other nations the metabolism will increase. There are companies that comply with auto safety laws in some countries and don't in others.

Japan exports autos to America that meet U.S. standards, but sells less-safe autos to its own con-. sumers. U.S. drug firms label drugs in America with details on adverse side effects, but in many cases fail to do so when they are sold in Europe.

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185 Glml.rrl, Mal.trn SO 1541, A.H. 10 117. But for this match, the most famous first meeting in women's tennis since Suzanne Lenglen and Helen Wills at Cannes, France, in 1926, he had two thoughts. "He told me to come in to the net as much as possible," Evonne said. "And second, he told me to cut them short on her backhand side, so that Chris would have to come up." The weakness of the Florida teenager is that she's content to remain at the baseline.

It didn't work against a competitor with the speed and fluidity of Miss Goolagong. But it must be remembered that Chris Evert is only 17, a child in a women's world. She will develop a stronger serve-and-volley game as she matures. Evonne Goolagong realises that, because when the match ended, she told her American rival: "I can't believe the match is Anally over. It seemed like we were out there for ever today." And even though she lost, Chris Evert wasn't discouraged by her failure to hold her lead.

"I enjoyed the match," she said. "I know Evonne and I will be playing many more matches in the future." Next time, Rolls-Royces, please. New York Times. CHRIS EVERT and Evonne Goolagong were under the stands at Wimbledon on Wednesday, about to walk on to the centre court, when the 17-year-old American turned to the 20-year-old Australian. "How do you curtsy?" Chris asked.

"Just bob, that's all," Evonne said. Moments later they were strolling on to their grass stage, the American in her prim little steps, the Australian in her casual stride. Suddenly they turned towards the Royal box, and cur-sied quickly as if embarrassed. "The worst two curtsies I've even seen," a man grumbled, smiling. "Who's that in the Royal box, anyway?" "I thought it was Lady Church-Ill," one woman said.

"But then I saw she was chewing gum. I know she wouldn't." It was Princess Alice, the Countess of Athlone not chewing gum, incidentally. But the long-awaited confrontation today between the two precocious tennis females deserved kings and queens, pomp and ceremony. And when it was over each deserved a Rolls-Royce to return to her lodgings, oppose each other for the first time. Above the black-roofed enclosure grey clouds moved slowly.

Beyond, two high-rise apartments infringed on the atmosphere. So did an occasional aroma of hamburgers cooking in a nearby concession stand. But when the match began it created the tension of a heavyweight title fight. In retrospect, there were two matches, so to speak. Miss Evert won the first, 6-4, 3-0, then Miss Goolagong rallied, 6-0, 6-4.

When the Australian, the defending champion, began to play well, the spectators betrayed their loyalty to her. Whenever she produced an artful stroke, applause crackled instantly through the enclosure, as quickly as a lightning belt. Miss Evert's best shots provoked polite, slower applause. "I think the crowd was behind her," Miss Evert said later, "because she's the defending champion." Miss Goolagong's slow start might have been prompted by the intrustion of strategy in her stroeks, Her mentor, Vic Edwards, never before had outlined a battle plan. Until this year each would have had one, too.

Until this year the Wimbledon tournament officials hired black Rolls-Royces with chauffeurs to transport competitors to and from the matches. But, influenced by a saving of they commandeered a fleet of small white British Ley-lands with attractive girls as drivers. And on Wednesday, slowly, so as not to disturb those strolling past the red and blue hydrangeas, Miss Evert and Miss Goolagong arrived separately in small white cars that purred to the main gate of the All England Lawn. Tennis and Croquet Club. Quickly, each hurried inside the ivy-covered enclosure, virtually oblivious to the quiet stares of men in blazers and women in tailored coats.

Quickly, to Mrs. Bi Hie Jean King cleared the stage with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Miss Rosemary Casals in the other women's semi-final match. And now, on the famous centre court, under the peering eyes of 14,000 aficionados, Miss Evert and Miss Goolagong were about to INVESTMENT FOR SALE WHY NOT LEASE A BEAUTIFUL OWN YOUR OWN FLAT IN A CHOICE AREA 39 ROCKLEY ROAD SOUTH YARRA AN OUTSTANDING BLOCK OF 13 LARGE LUXURIOUS FLATS BUILT AS O-Y-O. Purchased by ono owner, who will grant long term leases (up to i years) to selected tenants, NOTE! 2 Bedrooms ensulte shower room, separate toilet, large bathroom with washing machine, lounge plus dlnlngroom. Sun balcony, security phone, CENTRAL HEATING, Quality carpets, beautiful garden.

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