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

WEDNESDAY APRIL 30 1997 Howto profit from the Games MONEY COLUMN 8 a The verdict stabbed us in the back be able to have only one beer when they go to the the words of Chris Bailey yesterday on the fate of his fellow real target: 8 workers 000 Photograph by QUENTIN JONES jobs THE BOOK Pauline Hanson The Truth with its claims of cannibalism among Aborigines and an attack on Manning Clark is not in stock at bookstore in the city says Michael Kennedy of Manly It was published privately and sold to her supporters but if it goes into a second edition will still not be stocking it WHEN Sue Rudov of Rand-wick was returning from a cruise on the Fair Princess she found she had to fill in an Australian Customs form with this intriguing question: Are you bringing into Australia food of any kind including anything you can eat? TWO LATE Anzac Day stories: MOST at the pre-dawn Anzac Day service at the Cenotaph were touched and impressed by the fact that the Ode of Remembrance was read by Tempe High School students Nathan Powter and Jennifer Bautista There have been complaints however to Bill Jenkins president of the Australian Legion of Ex-Services Clubs because Jennifer is not white Anglo-Saxon They were listened to politely Her people were Filipino and Mr Jenkins is proud that people from other nations want to pay their respects on Anzac Day JACK Hagerty an elderly Digger of North Balgowlah rang for a taxi on Anzac Day to take him to Manly Wharf where he planned to catch a ferry to the city for the march But he dialled the NRMA by mistake No problem an understanding serviceman dashed Jack down the hill to catch a JetCat and he made it to the march on time THE DREADED goes back further than we thought (Column 8 Thursday) Bill Newton of Pymble says that in January 1980 at a restaurant in Aspen Colorado he was told waitperson will be with you He asked for the statement to be repeated burst out laughing and was duly punished by my showing me to the worst table in the SOMETHING that happens in most households Margi Abraham of Warrawee having cleaned out her wardrobes has hundreds of wire coat hangers rang a major chain of dry-cleaners but they take she says your readers have any There be too many cars needing wire coat hangers as aerials STRANGE advertising claims (Column 8 yesterday): Allen Fox of North Sydney offers the claim on the back of a Harpic bottle: Cleans Freshens and Kills Germs Nice to know he says that germs go to their Maker clean and fresh THE STEEL SHAKE-UP NEWCASTLE Integrated steelmaking closed by 1999: Facility to become bar and rod division employing about 500 people directly PORT KEMBLA Will be sole domestic integrated steelworks producing 5 million tonnes of steel a year Further investment to bS WHYALLA To supply raw steel to Newcastle $80m upgrade to retain production at 12 million tonnes a year Focus on structural steel and rail products GEELONG Rod mill to close in 1999 Production shifts to Newcastle SYDNEY Wire Mill closed Steel restricted into four core divisions Will involve at least 5000 extra job losses from a total Australian workforce of 24000 J0BSM35I BUSINESS REACTION and ABACUS Page 27 By BRUCE HEXTALL MICHAEL MILLETT and PAUL McGEOUGH In a massive reorganisation of its Australian steel operations BHP will sack 3000 workers across two States The hardest hit will be Newcastle where 2500 jobs will go effectively ending the Big 82-year link with the steel city Describing the move as BHP has taken the drastic action as part of a program to save $500 million a year in Steel Division costs after falling profitability There are strong fears at least another 5000 jobs from the 24000 Australian steel workforce will go Stockbroking analysts say these losses will come as a result of commitment to continue streamlining its steel operations into the next century BHFs announcement yesterday will also affect steel-making operations at Port Kembla Geelong Whyalla and Sydney where the closure of the Abbotsford wire plant will cost 300 jobs BHP faces fierce union opposition with the Australian Union warning yesterday that national strikes would be considered It claimed the company had reneged on undertakings to continue its commitment to the Newcastle steelworks into early next century The closure of the steelmaking facilities is at least a year ahead of schedule and is expected to cost many more jobs in Newcastle which has relied on the steelworks as the backbone of its economy since BHP opened a plant in the city on June 2 1915 The Premier Mr Carr made a flying visit to Newcastle yesterday calling deci- The way it was workers stream through the main gate at BHP for the change of shift in 1955 when the steel town was booming Steel production has been at the heart of Newcastle since BHP built first plant there 82 years ago The anger bums red-hot for these men of steel By PAUL McGEOUGH in Newcastle not much room for the little man in the big picture Take Chris Bailey Oozing anger from every pore the 27-year-old reduced decision to a simple working equation: be able to have only one beer when they go to the Same with Ian Poetschka a 36-year-old blast furnace operator whose preoccupation is private education He said: have a daughter starting high school and school fees to think By way of explanation he adds: the missus a And Harry Ciezak sees only unemployment between now and when be allowed to sign up for the aged pension: my age 51 be grim got a wife and three kids Two go to university and still paying off the house and the Another downcast worker coming through the main gate later in the day had little to say except that BHP seemed to have made him an also-ran in its efforts to avoid the same fate And as the smell of greasy chips wafted from the works canteen time to boycott the farm Mr Djerrkura said: that have already been indicated by Geoff Clark are some of the options available for consideration We want to make it clear that we will pursue every means available to protect our legal rights and entitlements will pursue our options through the Parliament and the courts we will be putting our case to the public as well as to the international The Queensland Premier Mr Borbidge said yesterday he had the support of industry groups for his rejection of the plan PAGE 4: More reports PAGE 17: Alan Ramsey Frank Brennan the education-conscious Ian Poetschka said with resignation: stabbed us in the The backdrop for these vignettes on the human consequence of what in jargon is called corporate downsizing was gangling museum-like steelworks spreadeagled on hundreds of grimy sooty hectares in the heart of Newcastle with its belching smoke stacks diluting the early morning sun These furnaces have burned red-hot since 1915 squishing out huge chunks of scorching steel which giant rollers then shape with the ease of a chef working pastry And so too have they shaped Newcastle and its people For decades this was a company town Just as the angry' young Chris Bailey remembers his father putting in 25 hard years for BHP others recall doing school lessons in BHP safety-bonus exercise books while their mothers washed up with BHP bonus dish cloths Today BHP in Newcastle is like a shrunken old man with the city as his ragged ill-fitting trousers Since the early 1980s the company has hacked into its workforce But the shrivelling steelworks remain Newcastle insists that it has moved on in the world into aluminium and services and back into coal in a big way but BHP and its bits and pieces dominate the city like monuments to obsolescence Continued Page 9 iyit- sion a betrayal of working-class He said: want to hear from the workers first-hand We knew of the probability of these cuts the news is not a surprise so much as sad The markets however applauded decision with BHP shares up 48c to SI 786 In Canberra the Industry Minister Mr Moore said: major company can afford to ignore the realities of its marketplace The decision was widely expected and is consistent with the drive for The Federal Opposition Leader Mr Beazley said: announcement by BHP that it will close its steel-making operation in Newcastle is another serious blow to regional Australia and another stark failure by the Howard Government to protect jobs and As well as the 24000 people employed in its Australian steelmaking facilities there are Options Mr Gatjil Djerrkura native title issues Mr Geoff Clark attacked the Prime decision to legislate a 10-point plan guaranteeing pastoralists security while drastically winding back Aboriginal rights Mr plan is in another 5000 workers internationally While the Newcastle operations will bear the brunt of the cost-cutting exercise head office in Bourke Street Melbourne will be trimmed back to about 50 employees from 140 The Port Kembla steelworks will remain intact and could even expand if productivity is increased from 700 tonnes a year per employee to a target of at least 1000 tonnes a year BHFs South Australian operation at Whyalla will receive a S70-80 million upgrade but this will not lead to further jobs at the steelworks which announced a cut of 250 workers last October In Geelong 70 jobs will go Announcing plans to close two blast furnaces and coke ovens the key components of the steel-making process chief executive Mr John Prescott said it was a move the company regretted But he said it was a decision BHP needed to take if Continued Page 8 response to the High Wik decision which ruled native title and pastoral leases could co-exist Mr Clark said: will take our action domestically as far as it needs to be We will certainly be at CHOGM Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Scotland later on in the He said Aborigines would lobby black nations over their participation in the Olympics He added that those taking Aboriginal land were and accused them of theft and called for people to oppose the Federal actions by mounting an immediate boycott of beef and dairy products believe it is Threat to boycott Sydney Games 1 in 4 voters would consider Hanson party One in four voters would consider voting for Pauline fledgling One Nation party at the next election a new Herald-AGB McNair poll reveals But the Prime Minister has dismissed the controversial Queensland Independent (pictured) as an who would not last politically The poll suggests the publicity surrounding Ms campaign launch has served only to heighten public interest in the party PAGE 2: Full report PAGE 16: Editorial GEOFF WTNEY COMMENT: PAGE 2 Pauline Hanson gang will probably stand a candidate in Newcastle at the next Federal election It could be the perfect place to exploit the fear and disillusionment which is making her nasty narrow politics appealing to By JAMES WOODFORD in Canberra A black boycott of the Sydney Olympic Games and a domestic boycott of beef is possible in response to the decision to effectively extinguish native title the chairman of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission Mr Gatjil Djerrkura indicated yesterday Mr Djerrkura appointed by the Federal Government expressed disappointment that his invitation to address Conference as well as the one for the ATSIC legal adviser Mr Noel Pearson had been withdrawn commissioner for INTERNET wwwAmhcomau Home DELIVERY (02)92823800 ISSN 0312-6315 WEATHER TODAY Sydney 14 to 26 Early fogs chiefly in the west Fine warm and mostly sunny Liverpool 11 to 28 Richmond 9 to 28 NSW: Isolated showers on the Far North Coast remaining fine inland Sunrise 629 am Sunset 516 pm TOMORROW Sydney Fine and a INSIDE Crosswords 25 Opinion 17 PHONE maximum of 25 degrees Editorials 16 Personal Notices 33 NSW: Isolated showers persisting Amusements 22 Features 13 Sport 4246 Editorial 9282 2822 in the far north fine in the Arts 1415 Law Notices 41 Stay in Touch 26 Classified remainder Light winds Business 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