The Age from Melbourne, Victoria, Australia • Page 6

1 MONDAY 11 JANUARY 1993 Steps from Aboriginal lore mm ier urges Picture BRUCE PQSTLE Lawrence gives WA an economic vision of hope II or inquiry after judge's rape case remark her announcement the coalition was unveiling its health policy on the other sideof Perth. The coalition leader, Mr Richard Court, said an important objective of the policy was to reduce hospital waiting lists by encouraging more people to take up private health Insurance. 4 "One of the most alarming facts Is that around 20,000 people are now on our public hospital waiting list and they are only there because of Government policy," Mr Court said. I The coalition would seek also to improve administrative procedures, curb red tape, restructure the Health Ministry and establish a formal complaints system; Meanwhlle, the Australian Democrats, who are unrepresented in the WA Parliament said they would officially kick off their blg-gest-ever WA election campaign tomorrow. The WA Democrats Mr Richard Jeffreys, said the party's candidates would contest as many as 40 of the 57 Legislative Assembly seats, up from only 10 in 1989.

Nominations close on Friday; 1 AAP Dr. Lawrence; proposals to be funded from royalties account. cost of the Value Added proposals, to be funded from the royalties account would be released later In the campaign. Other elements of the plan include increased assistance under the investment attraction program and a 35 per cent cut in power tariffs for downstream processing by the year 2000. While Dr Lawrence was making 1 Law body rejects high fees' claim man charged with rape in marriage.

In his summary to the jury, Mr Justice Bollen said women sometimes invented sexual allegations. Mrs Kirner said she would call on the State Government to have the Parliament's justice committee hold a broad inquiry Into gender and the law, an inquiry the recently abolished Law Reform Commission was to have held under her Government Mrs Kirner said she would suggest a national inquiry to the Prime Minister's advisory council on women's issues, to look at instances of bias against women in the legal system, why It occurred and methods to combat it. A Government spokesman said the Victorian legal system was exemplary In this area, although he acknowledged that anomalies could arise such as the 1991 case In which a Supreme Court judge ruled that raping a prostitute was a less grave crime than raping a chaste woman. A Democrat candidate for the SA Legislative Council, Ms Sandra Kanck, is circulating a petition calling for Mr Justice Bollen to be sacked. Ms Kanck said yesterday that she had been outraged when she heard on Friday of the remarks made by Mr Justice Bollen.

She said she believed the judge was out of touch with the rest of the community. Other comments he had made to the jury implied that women made up stories about rape, she said. The case highlighted the need for the judiciary to be more accountable by appointing judges for fixed terms or having them elected to their position, she said, The SA Government has ruled out sacking the judge. with AAP J. all iMVjt IV 1 1 1 Going through their paces: Russell Page, who plays the spirit of the Handy, as the daughter of a mixed marriage and torn between Bangarra Dance Theatre of Australia ptoduction 'Urban Aboriginal Malthouse Theatre tonight.

that the criticisms of the profession are relevant to Victoria." Dr Hughes took issue with the commission's figures on the fees charged by solicitors, and said that a survey conducted last month by the Institute of city, suburban and country solicitors showed that the average conveyancing cost on a $130,000 property was about $550. Ad velorum scales, with the fees fixed according to the property price, were abolished In Victoria In 1983, although they continue to be used in other states. He said the transaction costs of buying a $130,000 property would include $4000 stamp duty, $391 to the Titles Office, and $561 to the solicitor. In the sale of a $130,000 property, the estate agent's commission would be $3260, and the solicitor's fee would average $557. Dr Hughes also said the Victorian average fee compared well with charges in South Australia and Western Australia where licensed conveyancers operate widely.

He said conveyancers' charges ranged from $434 to $755, and did not Include the fee for preparing contracts In South Australia, where an additional $350 would be charged. The commission recommended that solicitors be permitted to advertise their fees, which occurs in Victoria, that scales of costs be reviewed or abolished and that non-lawyers be permitted to offer conveyancing services. Dr Hughes said that conveyancing companies could already operate in Victoria, provided legal services were done by qualified lawyers, which he said was a protection for the consumer. id a. By LVN DUNLEVY The state Opposition Leader, Mrs Ktrner, has called (or a parlta- -mentary inquiry into the attitudes of" 'the Victorian legal system 'towards women.

This follows revelations that a South Australian juthje told a rape case jury that It was not wrong for a husband to sex from his wife or to use "rougher than usual handling" to (:. change her mind. Mrs Kirner: appalled by comments in SA Supreme Court. "'Mrs Kirner said the remarks, by Mr Justice Derek Bollen in the SA Supreme Court, were appalling. It a'ow.

appeared that a leading judge saying women must consent to sexual Intercourse, she said. Jtape In marriage was against the law in SA, as It was in Victoria, Mrs Kirner said. SA director of prosecutions, Mr Paul Rolfe, launched an appeal to the full bench of the Supreme Court on Friday over statements-by Mr Justice Bollen in the case last year. The jury acquitted a OJS, Pacific Islands tip sign Ikgreement -'The United States is about to Tslgn a development agreement IS Pacific Island nations. The agreement, to be signed at 4he Eaat-Weit Centre in Hawaii on Tuesday, will establish a joint --commercial commissi with parpsM of promoting and economic relations, according to a briefing prepared by the centre's Office of Pablie Programs.

Pacific nations signing will be Papua New Galnea, Fiji, Soloma Islaads, Vanuatu, Cook 4 -Islands, Tonga, Nine, Western 2 Samoa, Kiribati, Nauru, Tuvalu, Islaads and the --Federated States of Micronesia. "The JCCs functions Include opportunities for expanding trade and Investment -a. In good aad services, providing training and technical assistance, fostering development initiative tand ecaBic policies, and promatlag Investment of US HZ builnes raterprises In the Pacific Islaads region," the draft briefing said. 2- President George Bosh 4: proposed the commission at the I United States-Pacific Islands A summit meeting held at the East-West Centre in ltN, It said. aap Body of CARE worker arrives The body of Stuart Cameron, the CARE Australia aid worker killed by gunmen in northern Iraq on Thursday, arrived in Ankara, Turkey, yesterday.

It will be flown on the first available flight to Brisbane for cremation. Another CARE worker, Joe Martlnico, has also arrived in Ankara after being wounded in an arm, hand and shoulder in the same Incident. Mr Martlnico still has a bullet lodged in his upper left arm. He will be examined by Turkish doctors and may undergo minor surgery before returning to Australia. CARE said he had had his Injuries x-rayed and was resting comfortably.

The Western Australian Government regained the election campaign spotlight from Its opponents yesterday with the launch of an economic vision for the state by the Premier, Dr Lawrence. The plan, called Value Added, is aimed at reducing WA's reliance on mineral exports by building Its processing and manufacturing sectors. Dr Lawrence told the launch that a key part of the plan would be the use of the $250 million to $300 million paid to the state in royalties each year to support new investment, and increased research and development. "We must ensure that by the year 2000, at least 50 per cent of all Investment In the state Is in downstream processing and further manufacturing," she said. Dr Lawrence announced last week that WA would go to the polls on 6 February.

The Liberal-National coalition needs a two per cent swing to regain office after 10 years on the Opposition benches. Dr Lawrence said the estimated Arts Centre faces cash shortfall The Victorian Arts Centre faces a budget shortfall of $800,000, largely because of a significant fall In attendances during the past six months. The Arts Centre's general manager, Ms Sue Nattrass, said yesterday she was confident that the situation could be turned around before the end of the financial year. "I don't allow those sorts of deficits to arise. We are taking cost-cutting measures to make sure that it doesn't happen," she said.

Ms Nattrass said the cost-cutting Included not replacing staff, but redundancies were not being considered. A 20 per cent drop in numbers attending shows at the State Theatre had contributed to the Arts Centre's heavy losses during the first six months of the financial year. "We hire out venues. If the people who hire them are not doing well, we are not doing well," Ms Nattrass said. Selling the arts was a roller-coaster, she said, because some shows did well, others badly; some promoters took chances with new shows despite the recession, while others played It safe.

Ms Nattrass said catering and car parking, two of the centre's most important revenue earners, had been badly affected. Two shows, 'Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat' and 'High Society', opened at the Arts Centre this month. Ms Nattrass said 'Joseph' was doing tremendous business. She felt optimistic about Improving the centre's financial fortunes. AAP if- Nelson Cooke admirea the hand Karl Urban In Germany, to be cnted young Australian player have my iMtrameat" because be waa so Impressed after hearing Mr Cooke perform.

On Tharsday four finalist from all over Australia will be solected as this year's winner. Tboy will perform for half an hour on their own Instruments Knight hunger strike reported CARE said that thousands of Kurds protested on Saturday against the shooting of Mr Martlnico and Mr Cameron. The gunmen flagged down the pair in their clearly marked CARE and United Nations vehicle on Thursday, after they had tried to settle a dispute over food and kerosene distribution in a nearby village. The agency said in a statement that as the body of Mr Cameron, 45, of Brisbane, and Mr Martlnico, 43, of Melbourne, left the Kurdish town of Sulaymaniyah on Saturday, hundreds of local Kurds lined the streets to pay their respects. Local officials and militia management unit yesterday, she had been told of Knight that "under the circumstances, considering he's not eating, he's doing Knight, who is serving a minimum 27 years' imprisonment for the 1987 Hoddle Street shooting, is said to have begun his hunger strike to protest his innocence and object to his continued detention In solitary confinement Mr Eastwood, who is a close friend of Knight, said he had relayed messages to Knight through other prisoners asking him to give up the strike because he was playing into the hands of prison officers.

Mr Eastwood has maintained in media interviews that prison officers are trying to force Knight to commit suicide. Ms Hamilton-Vaughan said she had visited Knight In Pentridge on By PRUE INNES The Law Institute has rejected a claim by the Trade Practices Commission that Victorian conveyancing charges are considerably higher than in states where non-lawyers do conveyancing. Responding to the commission's draft paper on conveyancing, the president of the institute, Dr Gordon Hughes, said that in Victoria there was already healthy competition, and that the commission had failed to take full account of how conveyancing services were provided in Victoria. Dr Hughes agreed with the commission that competition for conveyancing services was desirable. But Victoria had already introduced the main reforms the commission recommended, he said.

He said that with liberal advertising rules, and the availability of simple information, consumers were well informed and shopped around for the best price and service. About 80 to 90 per cent of conveyancing in Victoria is done by solicitors, with the rest divided between conveyancing companies and people using conveyancing kits. "The criticisms of the legal profession (made by the commission) simply don't apply to the profession in Victoria, and we think the position that the TPC wants conveyancing to reach has already been reached In Victoria," Dr Hughes said. "For that reason we are not particularly concerned by the report. What concerns us most Is some lll-lnformed comment that suggests Pictuw ANDREW DE LA RUE made Benedikte Long cello from awarded to a promising cellist.

before a panel of two musician and a conductor. Mr Cooke said: "I began in tbe profession with a cello, and I would have given my back teeth for an Instrument like this. All our finalist are very good and they'll all become International performers." By THOMAS TAYLOR Friends of the convicted mass murderer Julian Knight say he Is on hunger strike in Pentridge prison to protest over a charge of threatening a prison officer and being put in solitary confinement. The director of prisons, Mr John Griffin, last night rejected claims that Knight was on a hunger strike, saying the officer in charge at Pentridge had told him Knight had been eating since being placed In solitary confinement on Christmas Day. However, Mr Edwin John Eastwood, the recently released Faraday kidnapper, said yesterday that Knight had been on a hunger strike since 6 January.

Ms Andrea Hamilton-Vaughan, the publishing director of Mr Eastwood's book, said that when she telephoned the Pentridge praying mantis, and Patricia two cultures, rehearse for the Dreaming Story' opening at the in Turkey "However, they are standing together as a team and are eager to maintain the spirit of Stuart Cameron's humanitarian commitment." Mr Yallop said that local Kurd-' tsh CARE staff had been temporarily placed under the supervision of UN aid workers to continue the movement of UN relief convoys into northern Iraq. However, all distribution of food and kerosene has been suspended until a full report on the shooting has been reviewed by senior CARE management AAP Cello maker sends a gift for talent he has not seen By ENRICA LONOO Karl Urban laughs loudly. "Ah, yes, I think It is a bit generous." The 71-year-old German string-Instrument maker has given three lo.Ht cellos to premising Australian musicians, he baa never met Mr Urban has been making string Instruments for 5J years. He and his employees at the Ben-edlkte Lang company, In the German village of Mlttenwald, make them by hand from local wood. He gave the third cello to the Australian cellist Nelson Cooke after a meeting In Germany.

Like the other two, it will be awarded to a talented cellist at the Rlverlna Summer School for Strings this week in Wagga Wagga. Mr Cooke, an International cellist and music teacher at Melbourne University, says he believes the Benedlkte Lang cellos are the only modern ones to come close to his coveted Stradl-varlus, made In 171. When the two men met In 1MI, Mr Urban already knew of the summer school that Mr Cooke founded six years ago. Mr Cooke says the conversation went something like this: the Instrument maker asked the music teacher how his pupil were and how the summer school was pro greasing; Mr Cooke replied that he owed flMt and had ISM In the bank; to his astonishment Mr Urban handed over two handmade cellos and said: "Sell them." Mr Cooke aald he could not bring himself to sell the Instruments because anyone would buy them, not necessarily a talented musician. So the Idea was born to hold an annual competition to search far a talented Australian cellist la Its first year a lt-year-old boy, Llwel Qin, who had recently migrated from China, won.

The Judging panel was struck by his eaormous talent He Is now oae of Mr Cookt's osails. Mr Urban has never boo to' Australia, hot ho says bo never-tholes fools Mroaajy that "Ul-; formed an honor guard as the convoy of CARE staff, UN guards and UNICEF workers passed out of the town. Thousands of Kurds bad also demonstrated in the town, demanding that local officials bring to justice the culprits in the shooting, CARE said. One man has reportedly been arrested in connection with the Incident "The CARE team in Sulaymaniyah and their colleagues in Arbil and Dahuk are deeply shaken by this Incident," CARE Australia's Middle East regional director in Amman, Mr Robert Yallop, said. Friday.

She said Knight had told her he was on a hunger strike and did not Intend to stop until the charges had been dropped. Prison officers allegedly found Knight and two other prisoners in division on Christmas Eve with knuckledusters made from dowelling and a sharpened piece of dowelling about 45 centimetres long. However, Mr Griffin said last night that a prison internal Investigation had been unable to prove any link between Knight and the weapons. He said Knight had not been charged with weapons offences. However, Mr Griffin confirmed that Knight has been charged with threatening a prison officer during lock-up on Christmas Eve and will face a governor's court within the next fortnight.

IN BUSINESS Ttm NmwnMp 21 1 2 Welfare of survivors is at stake, say groups The welfare of injured road accident survivors was seriously threatened by the State Government's proposal to sell the Transport Accident Commission, a road accident victim lobby group said yesterday. Headway, which represents people with acquired brain damage, said the sale of the TAC to private insurance companies could have disastrous consequences for Its members. "Private enterprise is motivated by profit," said Headway's acting executive director, Ms Jan Sparke. "Rehabilitation of people with acquired brain injury is essentially a caring and compassionate, long-term process, and cannot be profit-driven," she said. Tbe Attendant Care which represents Victorians with a disability who need attendant care, has also decried the proposed TAC sell-off.

The group's president, Mr Geoff Bell, said the Government must ensure that future compulsory third-party insurance provided for the life-long attendant care needs of road accident victims. Last year, 4000 people were admitted to hospital after road accidents and many would require attendant care for the rest of their lives, Mr Bell said. But a Government spokesman said the groups had no reason to be concerned about the likely sale of the commission. "The Government is confident that private insurance companies will be able to operate efficiently and provide full, fair and just rehabilitation programs," he said, "There is no need for any injured person to be disadvantaged." Ms Sparke said that every year hundreds of young Victorians had their dreams shattered by crashes that left them brain-damaged. TAC funds had established the Alfred Hospital's road trauma centre and assisted the work of two other Melbourrie rehabilitation centres, Ms Sparke said, i Ms Sparke said TAC Initiatives such as the "bloody idiot" anti-drink drive advertisements, booze buses and speed cameras had all contributed to a dramatic reduction In the road toll.

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