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

THURSDAY, MAY 7, ifillli Howtothare-Hma No raS TELEPHONE 2 0944 FIR8T rUBUSHED 1831 36 PAGES 20 CENTS LATE EDITION i Ipi COLUMN It was an error of judgment on my part and the part of the Prime Minister' -Howard Mr Howari Cr fo Govt Mows Inquiry told PM, Howard get burnt playing with the media From RUSSELL BARTON CANBERRA. In two extraordinary confessions, the Prime Minister, Mr Fraser, and the Treasurer, Mr Howard, said last night that they were wrong in giving background briefings to journalists on the outcome of Monday's Premiers' Conference. died in union The admissions came in two hastily arranged press conferences. The first was Mr Howard's, the most torrid of his career. Then, because of questions on why Mr Fraser was not facing the press, Mr Fraser called a conference.

They followed a day of rising anger from Premiers over reports that they could have won up to $70 million more, in irevenue grants from the had they been tougher on Monday. The NSW Premier, Mr wanted, the Premiers' Conference reconvened. Sir Charles Court (WA) called for Mr Howard's resignation. It was not done to chortle' Billy Longley; Mr Costigan; out attribution to either himself or the Treasurer, Mr Fraser said he regarded it as legitimate information to the media. He said that during the Premiers' Conference he was wor MELBOURNE.

A former member of the Painters and Dockers Union, now serving a lite sentence tor the murder of one of its officials, said yesterday that he believed between 30 and 40 people had died in power struggles within the union since 1958. Billy "The Texan" Longley, 55, was giving evidence at the Royal Commission into the union, before the commissioner, Mr Frank Costigan. Longley told of the violence, crime and bloodshed which sur rounded the December, 1971, union elections, during which he stood for president of the Victorian branch. He claimed that he had won the president's position by a large majority, but his opponent was declared the winner. The ballot papers disappeared more than a month after the polls the same time as a fire in the union office.

Longley said the returning offi cer, Pat Cullen, resigned just before the declaration of the polls after he received "an offer too good to refuse." He said: Rumour has it that it the offer was a pistol to the head." Longley said he did not attend the declaration. "I wanted to breathing." Mr Douglas Meagher, counsel assisting the commissioner, asked Longley if he agreed that the election was marked by violence. Longley agreed. Mr Meagher: Guns were fired? Longley: Yes. Bombs were exploded? Yes.

People got hurt? Yes. Some people got murdered? Yes. Longley said- that although both sides had suffered "casualties" in the election, those on his side were greater. Mr Meagher asked Longley how many people he thought had died during that election. Longley: It was Mr Meagher: About how many people? Longley: Considerable.

considerable? 10, 20, 30, 100, 200 perhaps? Are you talking about the immediate election period? Mr Meagher said he was talking about events leading up to and after the December 1971 election. Longley said: "I would say that beginning with the death of Freddie Harrison in 1958 my personal belief is between 30 and 40 casualties." Mr Meagher asked what he meant by casualties: Do you mean survivors or people who did ALTHOUGH few NSW drinkers have noticed it, there has been a little more beer In cans and bottles in the past few' months. Since January 1, the quantity in cans has been raised by about a thimble-full from 370 to -375 ml and in bottles from 740 to 7S0 ml. The changes are meant to standardise packaging. Yesterday, we learnt that the extra beer in each bottle leaves a smaller cushion of air between the beer and the bottle top than breweries would like.

The result: Sydney breweries are now considering using bottles that are the same size externally but have greater volumes inside. COLUMN 8 has been perplexed lately by tne number ot colleagues and acquaintances who have been diagnosed as suffering from hiatus hernia, a condition which results from part of the stomach bulging into the chest cavity. Have stomachs always been so mobile, we wondered, or are we experiencing a new medical fashion? According to a Sydney surgeon we consulted, hiatus hernia was, indeed, a "vogue diagnosis" in the 1950s when doctors became more aware of its symptoms and treatment. IF there is a higher incidence today and the statistics have not yet confirmed it it is probably a consequence of our affluent, obesity-prone society. It seems fat people are at greater risk because their midriffs tend to push the stomach up towards the chest.

FOLLOWING our story about the painters who painted around a wardrobe rather than move it (Column 8, Tuesday), a Balniain man has reported a similar experience with contractors who repainted the guttering of his house. After the job was finished, he discovered that rather than remove a dead seagull in the gutter, the painters had simply painted over it. Its remains were preserved in a high-gloss brown. SOON after the Pointer Sisten' conceit began on Tuesday night, a young man in the audience produced a lump of blue vein cheese and some crackers from a paper bag and began eating. People up to two rows away could not decide whether the smell or the noise was worse.

A CREMORNE man believes he has encountered Sydney's ideal taxi driver. The driver collected him at his home for a trip to Surry Hills in an air-conditioned taxi and immediately handed him the Herald to read. During the trip to Surry Hills the driver listened to his two-way radio with an ear plug to allow the passenger to enjoy the soothing music he played on a cassette recorder. On the back of the front seat there were pockets filled with tourist brochures about Sydney. "Best, of all, he was extremely polite," the passenger told us.

Arts 8 Comics, Crosswords 34 Federal Parliament IS Finance 23-26 Home and Family 17-22 Law Notices .32 Lotteries (1899) (3330) 31 Lotto 35 Mails 32 Radio 21 Shipping 32 Showscene 17 Sport 33-36 Television 21 Weather 32 Classified index: 26 Personal notices: 26 TODAY'S WEATHER Metropolitan: Few showers. Temps: City 16-22. Liverpool 14-22. Pollution: Low. Yesterday: City 1 2-23.

Liverpool 10-23. Pollution: Medium. NSW: Rain in southern half. Mainly dry in north. The Sea: Slight, mod swell.

Temp: 21. Tides: High 10.52 am (1.4) 11.01 pm (1.8). Low 4.48 am (0.1) 4.37 pm (0.3). Full details, Page 32. ried about making the 1 per cent concession to the Premiers, which he said was worth $30 million.

"I believe that if there was an error the only error was in relation to that additional $30 million." The row erupted yesterday morning when the West Austra lian Premier, Sir Charles Court, read reports that the Commonwealth could have gone further. Sir Charles sent a telegram to Mr Fraser demanding that he deny the report and that the per son responsible be dealt witn immediately. During the day, in a press statement. Sir Charles demanded that Mr Howard deny the report or resign. "If the Commonwealth Gov ernment were sitting around chortling about stealing even more money from the States than it thought it could get away with, we have reached the absolute nadir of federation," he said.

"Apart from producing flick knives or Molotov cocKtails, don't know what these anon ymous 'officials' are supposed to mean about being tougher. "Premiers' Conferences are not a game of bluff poker in which the biggest cheat gets the most money. Mr Howard said last night he had not been put under any pressure to make his confession. He said the Premiers would not be getting any more money revenue grants despite ius Freddie Harrison An offer too good to refuse not survive? People who did not survive. What was the issue that brought forth emotions to such an extent that people were being hurt and killed? A struggle for power, I suppose.

Since then, Longley said, all union officials had been elected every year unopposed. Longley was sentenced in 1975 to life imprisonment for the murder of Pat Shannon, a former Victorian secretary of the union. During yesterday's hearing, Mr Meagher repeatedly asked Long-ley if he knew who was responsible for the murders, bombing and shooting. Longley said he could not tell what lie did not know. He had been the target of some violence.

After the 1971 election he fled into hiding with NSW friends. Shots were fired at his house, his house was bombed and he had been shot at. while getting into a car after the poll. The murders and woundings included a man being beaten 30-40 war Pat Shannon nearly to death with a housebrick, a man wounded by machinegun fire, fire bombings, and pistol killings. Also included in yesterday's evidence were claims that: SOME painters and dockers ran waterfront prostitution.

Longley said this had been an "underlying current" in the violent 1971 elections. THE UNION ran a "chauf feur" service for outside indus try. "Chauffeur" was a word used for strongarm bodyguards. THE UNION manipulated work rosters to buy the favour of the union's rank-and-file and for money gains. Longley said any man who controlled the rosters could benefit by thousands of dollars a week.

Longley said members who lived off waterfront prostitution were known as bludgers. He said the murder of the union official Freddie Harrison in 1958 could be said to be linked with Harrisons opposition to "bludgers" and that his own views about them were also well known. Longley also revealed he had originally joined the union from the Waterside workers Federa tion with a plan to build up WWF influence and power in the Painters and Dockers Union. The hearing continues today. Mr Stewart had been directed by Cabinet to tell the other State Health Ministers that NSW had decided that charges would be increased and an outpatient service fee reintroduced.

Government sources said last night that although the $15 outpatient fee would be higher than the charge by many general practitioners, the figure was not being set to turn people away from hospital services towards GPs. The $15 fee would include all the services provided when a patient went to an outpatients' department of a hospital, whereas doctors in private practice charged for individual services provided, such as blood tests. Representatives of hospital insurance funds said yesterday premiums would rise because of the increases Mr Wran foreshadowed, but did not want to discuss by how much. The pesident of the NSW Association of Health Funds, Mr Ron Archibald, said "I don't think any of the funds would be ready to quote contribution rates, probably for some weeks or even months." Mr lack Cade, general manager the largest private health insurance fund. Medical Benefits Fund of Australia Ltd, snid the new rates would be affected by the number of new contributors the fund gained as a result of the increases.

felt like fools who. had forgotten to collect their change lying on the-shop counter. Sir Charles Court asked for both his money and Mr Howard's resignation. What happened was simply that Mr Fraser and Mr Howard, who' usually talk in such pious terms about Cabinet secrecy and solidarity decided to leak a Cabinet decision to Improve their media image. The substance of the issue is flimsy.

Everyone knows that Premiers' Conferences are bargaining sessions in which both sides reach a mutual truce at the day's end and walk off either complaining about the concessions they failed to extract or seeking applause for those they did extract. This issue is about politics and public The irony for the Government is that after having a successful Premiers' Conference in economic terms, it is being caught out in political terms. The Premiers are more angry than ever. At the June conference they will be. more determined than ever to.

collect any other funds which the Federal Government might still have up its sleeve. J1 The event is only likely to hurt the already, strained' relations between the Fraser Government and the press, strained because of the consistent policy of using the electronic media most of the time and occasionally giving some "background" material to the print media. Michael Parkinson Parkinson fails Michael Parkinson's' Australian chat show failed to capture its expected share of viewers, according to the latest television ratings survey. In fact, more people watched the repeats on ABC in March. But Parkinson said yesterday: "I care more about the standard of the show." Page 9.

Victims protest Amid the world-wide wave of sympathy over the death of IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands, a Protestant woman whose hus band and brother were killed by the IRA has launched a campaign on behalf of the relatives of vic tims of terrorism in Northern Ireland. Mrs Edith Elliott said she was angered by the publicity given to Sands-and his fatal fast. "He chose that. The hunger striker has choice but neither my husband nor -brother had any." Page. 4t Sands's funeral to be vast show of IRA strength.

Survey improves The latest Australian Chamber of Commerce-National Bank business survey has returned the best figures for any March quar ter, since 1974. rage 23. 'Think pink' pays The think pink" quarrying and concrete group, Farley and Lewers Ltd, has posted a record r3r'6fit of $5.06 million and lifted dividend payout after a year of expansion and development Page 23. From PAUL KELLY, Political Correspondent CANBERRA. The Treasurer, Mr Howard, gave a startling insight last night into the news management techniques of the Fraser Government.

Mr Howard publicly said "Mea culpa" my fault because he and the Prime Minister, Mr Fraser, were caught out after they made a massive miscalculation. The Government's trouble stemmed from its obsession about appearing "macho" tough men taking tough decisions a particular predilection of Mr Fraser. It is a safe bet that after the events of this week, the Premiers' Conference in June will be both long and stormy. After the Premiers' Conference broke up last Monday, Mr Howard and Mr Fraser had a quick chat. They decided to "leak" to journalists that although they had given the Premiers one per cent more (about $70 million), this was still a full percentage point below the ceiling set by Cabinet.

In short, the Fraser Government was acting tough and this was the image both men wanted projected in morning newspaper reports of the Premiers' Conference. They, wanted, at all costs, to avoid appearing to have made major concessions to the States. But they grievously miscalculated. When the news- hit 'them, the Premiers were incensed. They Big rent rise recommended An advisory committee to the State Government has recommended big increases in Housing Commission rents.

It believes the rents should be increased to full market rates. At present they are no more than 80 per cent of market rental. Page 3. Court told of leak A detective-sergeant told the District Criminal Court yesterday that he had not made notes of his investigations in a conspiracy case because he believed the information would get back to the suspect. He told the court of a "security leak" at the CIB.

Page 3. Radar assurance The KR11 mobile radar unit will not be used on groups of vehicles, according to police. They gave this assurance yesterday after a university expert expressed doubt about the unit's ability to pin-point the speeding vehicle in heavy traffic. Page 11. Pay rise today Australia's six million workers are set to get a $10-a-week wage rise today.

The national wage hearing in Melbourpe is expected to take only one day. National employers will not oppose the granting of 80 per Cent of the consumer price index figure for the December and March quarters. LATE NEWS Carjsn ships in- collision v. v-1 Wevlnevlay. i ship collided in IK-nrv in i' 'Hi and crewmen fr-rii "i ih- iw hail -n 'I1'-.

CYat I i- Hi 'V-i a fVo 11111'. and the 320m Aifniico, n'cistcrcd in Great v.cu- involved. There vu'i iu rri'ori rf inmiicv (AAP-ATP) prHMetf and published bv Jfthn Mlrfav tntf Sons Lte of Jones ttreet. roadway. Postal Iddrassi Box S06, GPO, Sydney.

XOOI. Realstereet for postlnaj as newspaper Caleoory 'Recommended and maximum price only. Interstate by air extra. In a vain attempt to head off the row at earlier and separate press conferences, Mr, Howard and Mr Fraser admitted going into the Premiers' Conference with "guidelines" or "negotiating positions" authorised by Cabinet. Mr Howard admitted he 'backgrounded" certain journa lists after the Premiers' meeting telling them that the Commonwealth's outer limit on State PAGEyi2: Howard, PM defend background briefings; Wran demands new conference; Hayden call to defend 'deceit' ignored.

revenue grants was a rise of 10 per cent plus a further 1 per cent tor the absorption of some specific purpose grants. Trie States received a 9 per cent increase plus the 1 per cent extra "absorption." Mr Fraser said he also had briefed journalists on the Com monwealth negotiating limit because he was asked certain ques tions by journalists in a back ground briefing on Tuesday night. I did not regard the briefing ts one that would lead to stories. But it did. So what," he said last night.

Both men that they had decided, in a discussion after the Premiers' Conference broke up, to give briefings. According to Mr Howard, the discussion centred on the public presentation of the outcome. I hey were concerned that the decision bend to the States and litt the Commonwealth's offer from its. starting point of 8 per cent plus per cent "absorption" to 9 per cent, plus 1 per cent would appear to be inconsis tent with the new 'tough line on spending, as evidenced in the razor gang" report. In that context thev aereed that the background briefings should be given, outlining the ceiling authorised by Cabinet on March 31.

Mr Howard briefed some journalists on Monday night. Mr Fraser widened the briefing the following night. Mr Howard said, he did not provide the information with the intention of sneering at the Premiers. "It was not done for the purpose of point-scoring. It was not done to With the benefit of hindsight' "I think with the benefit, of hindsight it was an error of judgment on my part, and the part of the Prime Minister in deciding to do that" he said.

Then began the barrage of questions: Why was he taking the blame when everyone knew the. Prime Minister had also briefed journalists on the matter? "I think it's fair to say the initial backgrounding on this was done by me and I believe that the first published reports of this particular information were on the basis of the backgrounding that I had done." So the effect was to embarrass the Premiers? "I can understand some of the Premiers being annoyed." Mr Fraser at his press conference said that Mr Howard had indicated that there "may have been an error of judgment." "I accept that entirely." But when asked why the information had been "leaked" with Hospital fees to go up 60pc Test likely on new $15 outpatient fee i tt The Premier, Mr Wran, foreshadowed yesterday a 60 per cent increase in public hospital bed charges and the introduction of a $15 fee for outpatients at public hospitals. The proposed increases, to operate from September 1, would mean a daily charge of $80 for a hospital bed in a shared ward. The present fee is $50. The new $15 fee for outpatient service would be higher than the standard general practitioner consultation fee of $11.20.

At present, outpatient service is free. Mr Wran said the introduction of a means test or some other measure would ensure that disadvantaged people did not suffer undue financial hardship. He would not specify precise charges because the issue is to be "rStZ'j'i SLSS of State and Federal Health Min isters in Canberra. Jut he said at a press conference after a State Cabinet meeting' at Glen Innes that his Ministry, had decided on increased charges for patients in public hospitals and the introduction of outpatient service charges. "You would not have to be a detective to work out what its likely to be because Mr Fraser has already said that the States must impose at least a bed charge of $80 and outpatient charges of $15," Mr Wran said.

The secretary of the Doctors' Reform Society, Dr Andrew Refshauge, described the proposed outpatient fee as "excessively high" and Many would still visit the outpatients' section of a hospital because people generally felt that high quality care was provided 24 hours a day, Dr Refshauge said. But the new measure would turn away those unable to pay. Those same people would not he able tn afford to visit a general Practitioner. "What they're doing is chuck- ing people out in tne gutter again," Dr Refshauge said. The medical secretary of the NSW branch of the Australian Medical Association, Dr Noel van Dugteren, expressed surprise that the outpatient fee should be higher than the standard general practitioner consultation fee.

However, he supported the principle of charging those who could afford to pay for medical services, provided pensioners and Mr Wran the disadvantaged were properly cared for. Mr Wran said yesterday that Cabinet had asked the Minister for Health, Mr Stewart, to look into safeguards for people who would suffer undue financial strain. Asked whether a means test would be introduced, he said a whole "complicated series" of tests might be used. "No person would be refused hospital services towards GPs..