The Sydney Morning Herald from Sydney, New South Wales, Australia • Page 3

THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD THURSDAY, MAY 29, 1997 Murder nigra; record, altered. 1 fex i 1 iff k- fc Assembly in uproar at 'racist pigs' jibe By ARDYN BERNOTH Racial tensions erupted in State Parliament yesterday when the Minister for Roads, Public Works and Ports, Mr Scully, called the Liberal-National Party "racist During the furious exchanges that ensued, one shadow minister was suspended from Parliament and the Opposition front-bench staged a mass walk-out of the Legislative Assembly. Later, after hours of horse-trading between the two sides of politics, the Government forced Mr Scully to issue a humiliating apology for his comment and agreed to drop the suspension of the Opposition ports spokesman, Mr Peter Cochran. It began with a question by the National Party Leader, Mr Armstrong, about a recent native title settlement at Crescent Head. The question triggered a torrent of abuse from the Government, led by the Premier, Mr Carr, and in scenes resembling a school-yard slanging match, Mr Scully called the Opposition racist pigs.

When Mr Scully repeated this remark, Mr Armstrong, his face red with fury, leapt to his feet and described Mr Scully as a "disgrace to Parliament" and an Trying to restore order amid the exchange of insults, the Speaker, Mr John Murray, a former schoolteacher, suspended Mr Cochran for two sittings for "wilfully and persistently obstructing the business of the Given five minutes to speak before being thrown out, Mr Cochran accused the Speaker of showing "the greatest bias in your position as the chair that's ever been on record in this It had all begun because Mr Armstrong wanted to know if the Government would continue to do deals with Aborigines outside normal land title settlement procedures. He had asked whether Aboriginal land title claimants would receive the proceeds of future Crown land subdivisions, as had happened at Crescent Head, and not schools, hospitals and housing. It ended with the Parliament revoking Mr Cochran's suspension and the episode was then expunged from the official Hansard record. Muir, with her battered straw hat, pictured at Melbourne Airport before leaving for Everest. Photograph by WAYNE TAYLOR The two uniformed police on patrol were charging a motorist with drink-driving when Mrs Morrison made her calls.

The Police Commissioner, Mr Ryan, declared after the four-day internal investigation that police had been cleared of any disciplinary matters. However, the NSW Ombudsman is now reinvestigating. The Police Service has refused to release the report of the internal investigation, saying it considers the matter to be "de facto complete" but that the report will not be made public until the Ombudsman is satisfied with its contents. Inspector Leacy and several other Lithgow police have requested and been granted transfers from the station in recent weeks. Mr Tink said yesterday that the irregularities on the occurrence pad needed to be fully investigated.

"I am concerned that the time of the entry where the patrol commander was informed appears to have been clearly altered," he said. Mr Tink said there were also questions about why it took two hours for detectives to be notified and why only one of Mrs Morrison's three telephone calls to police was recorded on the pad. "I can't understand how senior police could conclude that the investigation is 'de facto complete' in these circumstances," he said. The man charged with murdering Miss Lewis, 22-year-old Jay William Short, of Lithgow, appeared briefly in Lithgow Local Court yesterday on two new charges relating to attacks on her friends on the night she was killed. Police yesterday charged Short with aggravated assault with robbery and assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

an Everest family double i just waiting for Ms Muir to get down the mountain safely, said newsagent Mr Greg Radford. "She is an incredibly intense and focused lady one of those people who is always just They are just like any locals. You can see them in the pub on Saturday night." Ms Muir is a Belgium-born naturalised Australian who married Mr Muir in 1983. The first two years of their married life were spent in a large, family-size tent under Mount Arapiles, near Natimuk. They spent years picking grapes and doing casual jobs to finance their climbing.

Three years ago they set up their own company, Adventure Plus. Before she left on this latest expedition, she said: "The thing Heading for the top Brigitte Brigitte By JANE FREEMAN and HONEY WEBB The first Australian woman to climb Mount Everest, Brigitte Muir, made it a family double when she reached the top on Tuesday. Her husband, Jon, became the fifth Australian to conquer the peak nine years ago. Ms Muir's climb also makes her the first Australian to climb the highest peaks of the orld's seven continents. The other six are Mount McKinley in North America, Kilimanjaro in Africa, Aconcagua in South America, Elbrus in Europe, Vinson in Antarctica and Kos-ciuszko in Australia.

On her latest Everest climb -her fifth attempt she reached the top with two Nepalese li Mr I Central 1 -a Jft KINGS CROSS Moore Park Light rail plan helps clear way for eastern road link By MARK RILEY A key time has been altered on Lithgow police station's written record of events on the night teenager Alison Lewis was killed, police documents show. The station's occurrence pad also reveals that a written record was made of only one of three distress calls from a taxi driver about attacks on two of Miss Lewis's friends in the early hours of March 2. It also shows that detectives were not called in to investigate the attacks until two hours after the calls were made and about 50 minutes after uniformed police responded. The copy of the pad was obtained under Freedom of Information by the Opposition spokesman on police, Mr Andrew Tink. The taxi driver, Mrs Barbara Morrison, has said she called police at 3.18 am and 3.22 am to report attacks in a park on Ms Melanie Spillane and Ms Kerry Tonkin.

She made the third call from Lithgow Hospital a short time later to raise, concerns about Miss Lewis, who was to meet the women in the park. Miss Lewis's body was found partially buried in a sandpit in the park later that day. A man has been charged with her murder. A copy of the occurrence pad shows that the time the area's then Chief Inspector, Mr Barry Leacy, was recorded as having been informed of the events was typed onto the page and later changed by pen. The record has been altered to show Mr Leacy was informed at 5.20 am, just five minutes before detectives were called out at his instruction to investigate.

Internal affairs officers inquired into the police response on the night, after complaints that the police patrol car on duty took about 70 minutes to respond to Mrs Morrison's calls. New National Gallery director Brian Kennedy: popular choice. Irishman to head National Gallery By ANGELA BENNIE Arts Writer Months of speculation ended yesterday when the Minister for Communications and the Arts, Senator Alston, announced the appointment of Irishman Dr Brian Kennedy as the new director of the National Gallery of Australia. There wasn't a raised eyebrow in the place. Dr Kennedy's appointment ended a protracted hunt for a replacement for Mrs Betty Churcher, who has been trying to vacate the position since 1995.

Dr Kennedy is the assistant director of the National Gallery of Dublin. The 35-year-old will take up his appointment in September. From his home in Dublin, Dr Kennedy said last night he was "absolutely delighted" with his appointment' "It is a gallery of vision," he said. "It has a first-rate staff, there is a whole vision there I find very exciting. "I am extremely impressed with its rigour in regard to its national and regional identity and commitment to its collections and exhibitions." Senator Alston said Dr Kennedy's appointment was a coup for the gallery.

"He is a talented all-rounder with unique experience," he said. "He had all the credentials we were looking for. He has a double-first in the arts," Senator Alston said, "but there is a lot of knowledge about finance in there, too." Mrs Churcher said she was "genuinely thrilled" with the appointment "He is a young man, a young and dynamic director, with a proven track record and reputation amongst his peers around the world." PAGE 15: Full Report. I like about mountaineering is the space. I get a feeling of pushing myself, which is something I really like.

You make your ow rules and if something goes wrong, you have only yourself to blame and you have to fix it." Husband Jon was not around hen television crews turned up yesterday. He left a two-word message "Gone Mr Lincoln Hall, a member of the first Australian Everest expedition in 1984, said: "She is a very accomplished climber. If you think back to this time last year when 11 people died on Everest, the dangers are still very great." The first woman to climb Everest was Japan's Junko Tabei in 1975. 01 uf sen makes it guides as part of an eight-member British expedition, originally led by Mr Malcolm Duff, who died in his sleep at base camp on April 22. Ms Muir, 39, is no stranger to danger on the world's highest peak.

On her fourth attempt last year she survived storms which killed several other climbers. On another effort she became separated from her companions and had to spend three hours alone, fighting the threat of hypothermia. In Natimuk, population 500, in Victoria's Wimmera district, where the couple run a mountaineering company, Brigitte and Jon Muir are just another local couple except that Brigitte keeps clambering up George Souris, said a NSW Auditor-General's report critical of the selection process for the private tollway builder and disclosing a late payment of $2.4 million imposed after June 10 was not sufficient grounds for the Coalition to reject the motorway development. The State Chamber of Commerce applauded the Opposition's support for the Eastern Distributor, saying the business community was concerned that "politics should not get in the way of the construction of the road and its transport Even if the legislation is carried, the Minister for Urban Affairs and Planning, Mr Knowles, has final say over the project. Awaiting a departmental report, Mr Knowles said the late payment was "irrelevant" to the planning process and he would not be pressured to make a quick decision.

The RTA disclosed the details of a $12 million compensation package it is to pay the Centennial Park and Moore Park Trust for lost parklands. The package includes $1.5 million for the demolition of the Frank Saywell Kindergarten at the intersection of Drivers Triangle and its relocation on the E. S. Marks Field, plus a $2 million bus interchange in Gregory Avenue. accidents' 7 Suzuki THE SAFEST Mighty Boy 1.5 Death or injury risk 0 0.5 1.0 Volvo 700 Series 84-92 Vjt miium i in i mi i in mil Q.94 BMW 5 Series 82-95 1.24 1.29 1.31 Honda Accord 86-90 Holden Jackaroo 84-95 wmmmmmKmKmBsmmam 1.32 Among the best performers in their respective categories were: Daihatsu Applause, Honda Chic, Peugeot 505, Subaru Liberty and Magna TRTS.

The Guide, based on data collected by the Monash University Accident Research Centre, is available at NRMA branches and RTA registries. niwig ram SCGi Anzac Parade REDFERN Randwick Racecourse WHY NOT STAY HOME TONIGHT AND WATCH A LITTLE CD Introducing BeoSound 9000. In one stroke of genius, it renders all other multi-CD players obsolete. It has the capacity to display 6 CDs and play them in any sequence you want. Moving the laser, not the CD, the mechanism flies across the surface at phenomenal speed, selecting your choice of individual discs, tracks or random selections for up to 12 hours at a time.

It's a performance of futuristic precision which uses new digital technology so revolutionary, it's been patented. With an ingeniously concealed AMFM radio, it is also a complete system in its own right. A system which can be placed in 7 different positions, from flat on a shelf to up-right on its optional stand. See it for yourself in our showroom now. Mount Everest, wearing her favourite crownless straw hat with a bunch of pink roses on the side, and Jon, who sports rabbit-skin coats and shaggy hair, takes holidays kayaking around Cape York and walking across Lake Eyre.

The residents of Natimuk are Port Arthur and Africa: two narrow escapes A Melbourne aid worker who survived the Port Arthur massacre last year had another narrow escape yesterday when she was evacuated by helicopter from Sierra Leone as fighting spread after a military coup at the weekend. Her father said last night that when Ms Natalie Smith, 28, a World Vision occupational therapist, was told that the helicopter was arriving for the evacuation "she just had enough time to grab her toothbrush and towel and Ms Smith had worked in the city of Bo in the West African republic for 10 months, helping people mutilated by rebels. More than 100 people were reportedly killed in the capital, Freetown, as Nigerian troops went in to restore order after Major Johnny Paul Koromah ousted the elected President, Mr Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, on Sunday. World Vision said Ms Smith and 24 other aid workers and their families from the United States, Canada and France were airlifted to Monrovia, Liberia, when the fighting spread yesterday to Bo, 150 kilometres from Freetown. Her father, Mr Lindsay Smith, a Baptist minister in Melbourne, said she and a friend had passed gunman Martin Bryant in the Broad Arrow cafe at Port Arthur minutes before he took a gun from his bag and killed 20 customers.

"She looked at this chap with long blond hair and thought, is that a fellow or a girl, nearly tripped over this bag at his feet and thought, why did he bring such a big bag with him and not leave it on the bus? "Then when they saw the food they said that just looks like hospital food so they went to the bakery, bought a croissant and, just as they were walking out, the shots started. "If they had decided to buy food in the cafe they would have been there when the shooting started," Mr Smith said. He said he was sure the April 28 massacre motivated his daughter to leave her job in Burnie, Tasmania, and go overseas with World Vision. "She used to say life is short and could be cut off so quickly." PAGE 10: Nigerian naval boats move in. University of NSW nating at the University of New South Wales.

Denying that there was any deal done between the Opposition and Government, Mr said the Roads and Traffic Authority (RTA) would fund the study and its representatives would form part of a steering committee, chaired by the Department of Transport. Meanwhile the Opposition spokesman on roads, Mr 'worst in By LINDA MORRIS Transport Writer The1 State Government has announced a feasibility study into a light rail link between Central Railway and the University of New South Wales in a bid to guarantee passage of legislation permitting construction of the Eastern Distributor. The light rail link was one of a series of concessions the Opposition demanded in exchange for supporting the Centennial Park and Moore Park Trust Amendment (Eastern Distributor) Bill, which allows for the handover of 2.2 hectares of city parkland to the motorway project. It also meets a key demand of the Independent MP for Ms Clover Moore, a long-time critic of the motorway project and the lack of public transport to Sydney's eastern suburbs. The Minister for Roads, Mr Scully, announced yesterday that the bus lane running through Moore Park from Drivers Triangle parallel to Anzac Parade would be retained to ensure its availability as a light rail corridor.

The study would consider a link running from Central Station, passing Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney Cricket Ground, Moore Park and Rand-wick Racecourse before termi- Mini vans By ADAM HARVEY The NRMA has called for tougher safety standards for vehicles and 4VDs following an alarming analysis of all NSW and Victorian car crashes between 1987 and 1995. Three of the four worst performers in the Used Car Safety Ratings Guide, released yesterday by the NRMA, RTA and RACV, are light commercial vehicles (mini delivery vans). An occupant of a Daihatsu Handivan had a 5.9 per cent chance of being killed or badly injured if involved in an accident; a Subaru SherpaFiori occupant 5.88 per cent; and a Honda City occupant 5.86 per cent The worst performer was the Suzuki Mighty Boy, which had a risk rating of 6.09 per cent. An RTA spokesman supported the call for higher safety standards for commercial vehicles. Four-wheel-drives were safer than light commercials, but some, such as the Daihatsu Feroza with a risk rating of 3.51 per cent, were yp USED CARS DEGREES OF SAFETY Death or injury risk tHi 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 Suzuki Mighty Boy 85-88 Sf94SS9S M'MClSfN'n Wtf-itmii Mf'tatM Daihatsu Handivan 82-90 Subaru SherpaFiori 82-92 SESI Honda City 83-86 vtftiaHfiitS HKfiMfiysSSf jSMBWK Holden Scurry 85-86 fit' a S-5! Mitks not as safe as other large cars.

The NRMA's manager of vehicles and environment, Mr Jack Haley, said that like commercial vehicles, 4WDs were exempt from Federal safety standards for passenger vehicles, and were not subjected to the same crash and side impact tests as passenger vehicles. If! 1 Bang 570 Oxford Street, Bondi Junction. Phone: 9387 5955.