The Age from Melbourne, Victoria, Australia • Page 1

0m AUCTION RESULTS PAG29 Monday 8 December 1986 250 Spencer Melbourne, 600 421 1 (Classified 604 1 144) 36 Pages 133rd Year 40c Robert Kabbas on the art of the meteoric rise World Cup PAGE 32 of insurance hands PAGE 25 Hospital dispute moves into the maternity ward Cm smalty Hayden calls for action to block Murdoch to walk ut today 1 labor ward of the Royal Women's Hospital. By MICHELLE RATTAN, chief political correspondent CANBERRA. The Foreign Minister, Mr Hayden, has called on the Federal Government to examine all avenues Including a possible approach to state governments to try to stop Rupert Murdoch's takeover of the Herald and Weekly Times chain. In what amounts to a direct challenge to the "hands off-approach of the Prime Minister, Mr Hawke, Mr Hayden said the Federal Government should "rigorously establish what authority we have, if any, to prevent this sort of thing happening at the hands of any The takeover is likely to be canvassed in Federal Cabinet today; But Government sources believe there is little the Government can do because of lack of constitutional power or would want to do. Mr Hayden acknowledged the constitutional difficulties yesterday.

Other Government sources said he would not have the numbers, anyway. Mr Hayden, speaking on Channel 9's 'Sunday1 program, also strongly attacked Mr Murdoch for using his papers to promote his own self-interest Mr Murdoch did this in a way which "undermines the whole credibility of journalism and its claim to be objective and to pursue issues on the basis of objective Mr Hayden said that as "a matter of principle" he would not like to see anyone have the level of media ownership and concentration that Mr Murdoch appeared about to establish. In particular, he did not want to see Mr Murdoch get this, because of his record. Mr Hayden believed he was very much in step with the Labor Party's thinking on this. "Put Mr Murdoch to one side," he said.

"It is undesirable to have an excessive degree of concentration of ownership and control of the media in any country, in pluralistic societies like ours, in democracies, where minds can be influenced, opinions bent by the way in which news is presented and Mr Murdoch has a solid record of doing that behind him." Asked about Mr Hawke apparently regarding Mr Murdoch as a Mr Hayden said: "I'm not aware he regards Mr Murdoch as a mate. I'd be surprised. I think Mr Hawke is careful about the company he keeps." Mr Hayden recalled being in a discussion, with other politicians, in 1972 where Mr Murdoch was outlining what he was going to do to help the Labor Party: "I didn't think much of it then, because it did not seem to uphold the principles which I understood were those always enunciated by people In the media that they were above beading the presentation of news to serve a particular political party or purpose. "And I saw him in 1975 when he was against us and I've seen him for and against people on the A new By MICHAEL PIMIE Walkouts planned today by nurses staffing the labor wards and emergency section at the Reyal Women's Hospital mark an emotional new phase la the loag-rsaatag nurses' dispute. Tie hespitars chief executive officer, If Gary Henry, said yesterday that the vote by aarses shewed "that the dispute is no longer about improving patient care but about blackmailing the women of Victoria to get higher pay for nurses." Mr Hayden: "We might have to approach other side.

I think it most undesirable." Mr Hayden said he thought all proprietors engaged in this distortion to some extent But Mr Murdoch had perhaps "lifted it to a very rough art "We can pass laws about corporations but we cant pass laws about newspapers," Mr Hayden said. "I'm not sure how we get around that There may be something in the trade practices legislation. "In thei final result if we are determined that something should be done, we might have to approach states to see if they are prepared to do something." Mr Hawke was brief and tight-, lipped yesterday when asked to respond to Mr Hayden's comments. "If Bill wants to raise that matter in Cabinet he has the opportunity. That's where I'll discuss it if he raises it I wont be discussing it on television." The ALP national secretary, Mr Bob McMullan, said yesterday he regretted that the Government could not prevent a shrinking oft the number of proprietors but that, was the the product of "an antiquated He said that it would be a change for the worse to have the number of proprietors go from' three to two, but not a change of.

overwhelming significance. He certainly did not regret the break-; up of the Herald and Weekly' Times, which had been a bastion! of conservatism. Mr Ron Brierley has indicated that he is still a force to be reckoned with in the battle for control of the Herald and Weekly Times, and that Mr Rupert Murdoch's $1800 million offer for the media giant may have to be sweetened considerably if he Is to accept Appearing on the 'Suadvy' program yesterday morning, Mr Brierley, whose Industrial Equity Ltd holds a pivotal 12 per cent stake in the Herald, said he was a 'genuine potential bidder" for the company. PAGE IS: Nicholson's view. PAGE 11: Brierley havers, watching far spoils; Michelle Grattan's eemmeat By MARK DAVIS Nurses will walk out of emergency wards at two of Victoria's busiest hospitals today despite a Royal Australian Nursing Federation decision to recommend a return to work at a mass meeting of striking nurses this week.

The federation state secretary, Ms Irene Bolger, said yesterday that nurses would walk out of labor and casualty wards at the Royal Women's Hospital and out of the Preston and Northcote Community Hospital casualty ward. The walkouts, which nurses at the two hospitals decided upon last week, will go ahead despite an undertaking by Ms Bolger to the State Industrial Relations Commission that she would recommend that all striking nurses return to work. The Minister for Health, Mr White, said last night the decision to continue the walkouts was with dangerous implications for public health. The Australian Medical Association's Victorian branch presi-dent, Dr John Met hew, condemned the planned walkouts, claiming they were the worst news since the strike began. He said if the walkout went ahead, the AMA Immediately would implement a contingency plan to recruit volunteers with suitable medical experience to staff abandoned wards.

The executive director of PANCH, Dr Ian Brand, said nurses in the hospital's casualty section were expected to walk out at about 10 am, forcing the closure of what is considered to be Victoria's biggest casualty ward. He said people needing emergency treatment would be referred to other hospitals. The commission went ahead with private talks on the nurses' dispute yesterday after receiving Ms Bolger's undertaking. A statement issued by the acting commissioner, Mr Ken Williams, said Ms Bolger had assured the commission there were "no strings or conditions attached" to the RANF's return-to-work recommendation. But after the talks finished for the day, Ms Bolger said she had not been satisfied with the attitude of State Government and private employer representatives.

She said not enough progress had been made to justify calling off today's walkouts. "Action will be occurring tomorrow and at this stage there is nothing that has occurred from my point of view that would change the situation," Ms Bolger said. "If there had been progress, I would have been willing to consider (calling off the walkouts)." Ms Bolger said a mass meeting of nurses would still be called for later this Week to consider a return-to-work recommendation. Although she would put the recommendation to the meeting, it would be up to the nurses to decide whether to accept it Ms Bolger said she did not believe her undertaking to the commission meant the RANF leadership was "locked-out" of arguing against the recommendation at the meeting if satisfactory progress was not made at the private talks, which are scheduled to resume today. "It doesn't lock us out of anything at all," she said.

Mr White said: "In one breath, Ms Bolger has given a fiim commitment that ffee witt recommend a return to work and in the next breath she has endorsed a serious escalation of industrial action. "What does an unequivocal recommendation to return to work mean when at the same time she is escalating the dispute, with most dangerous implications for public health? "The commission has made it clear that there are gains for nurses 1f they work within the system. "It is hard to see how the decision to escalate industrial action is in the best interests of patient care, the community generally or the nurse workforce." The Opposition spokesman on health, Mr Birrell, said today's walkouts would endanger progress which had been made towards settling the nurses' dispute. "There is certainly no justification for any further walkouts," Mr Birrell said. "Individual nurses should now move quickly to get our hospitals working again, secure in the knowledge that the Industrial Relations Commission will promptly process their claims." Mr Birrell said the State Government deserved condemnation for its handling of the strike.

PAGE 4: The state of play. Brunei Sultan back-up plans that Mr Heary said weald ensure that labor wards weald remala open with the aid of coesoltant obstetricians, registered medical officers and other medical staff. After talks on the dispute yesterday, the state secretary of the Royal Australian Nursing Federation, Ms Irene Bolger, said not eaough progress had been made to Justify calling off today's planned walkout, which was voted for by anrses last Friday. Contras Reagan's entreaties and cut off the Contras' US military funding. The affair added a new twist to the emerging picture of the extraordinary power that Colonel North amassed as a middle-level official running secret operations across three continents.

"Oliver North had complete discretionary control of several million dollars the whole time," one official said on Friday. "And no one no one knows where it went" Mr Shultz, who visited the oil-rich Borneo principality in June, is said to have lobbied Brunei's strongly anti-communist ruler at the suggestion of the Assistant Secretary of State for Latin America, Mr Elliott Abrams. I Continued: PAGE 7 mother is tended by nurses from the He condemned the plaaaed walks aa aapre fesejesal as4 "Wltfie I understand many of the aarses' grievances. I believe they can be addressed their satisfactiea through tat arbitration system. I caaaet believe that If the RANF -la tpwterait that srriBjg considered a respectable profession that they would have asked their members te take this action." The Royal Women's Hospital It the biggest midwifery hospital la eral officials indicated that there was no reason to suspect that Colonel North had personally profited from the transaction.

The Swiss Foreign Ministry announced today that the bank concerned had agreed to freeze the account at the request of the US Justice Department American officials said the department had dispatched several investigators to Switzerland in search of bank records but it was hot known how much money if any remained in the account The State Department refused to confirm or deny that Mr Shultz had solicited the contribution but noted that it would not have been illegal for him to do so as long as the money was not intended as military aid. The incident was the first confirmed instance of the State Sink or sail for FREMANTLE. The New York Yacht Club, which lost the America's Cup to Australia II in 1983, faces its second "race of the century" tomorrow. When America goes out to race against Britain's White Crusader, the club knows defeat could mean that $25 million and two years of preparation will sink to the bottom of the Indian Ocean. A further loss, beyond the three America II has already suffered in this third Challenger series, could put the boat out of the semifinals.

It was given some unexpected breathing space whea USA defeated White Crusader by just three seconds yesterday. But the gravity of the situation has not affected club commodore Tastcrc: 'Age cuef cricket writer Trevor Grant expects fast bowlers Craig McDermott and Merv Hughes to be recalled for the third Test" PACE 31 Naw Zadsndl Opan Golfer Rodger Davis wins' the New Zealand Open by eight shots from Bob Shearer. PAGE SI A Boston man suthrtnt mm claustrophobia was trapped for twohourainaccviihotmliftvn Ms way to plead guitty to income tax evasion. ff was sentenced to ttm spent the MIL Australia, delivering on average between and babies a day. It la aa average the hospital has maiatalaed threeghont the dispute, despite having te shut dowa two of fear labor wards.

The wards normally operate nurses a shift, bet the strike has seen numbers tall te between 12 and 14. Today, for the first time la the hospital's history, the wards could be without aarses. Management has activated Mr Shultz: remaining silent. Department seeking and obtaining! aid for the rebels from another country during a period when Congress had rejected Mr America again Arthur Santry, a 68-year-old lawyer and chairman of a big engineering company. "You give it your best shot and if it doesn't work out there's nothing you can do." PAGE 31: Richard Yallop interview PAGE 32: Sooth Australia pulls oat: USA back with a chance.

Coach Terry Hennessy was battered to the ground while trying to protect referee. Frank Deak during the England-Turkey semi-final of the World Cup soccer series at St Albans on Saturday. Hennessy stepped between referee Deak and about 100 charging spectators because he did not think Deak would reach the play ers' race In time. I PAGE 32: Report gave aid to Hp rtmmiati) rioM Economy fuels a boom in By DOYLE McMANUS and MICHAEL WINES, of the 'Lot Angeles Times' WASHINGTON, 7 Dec. The US Secretary of State, Mr Shultz, persuaded SUltan Hassanal Bolklah of Brunei to donate several million dollars to Nicaragua's Contra rebels earlier this year, according to administration officials.

Department of Justice investigators are attempting to determine what happened to the money, which may have passed through the same Swiss bank account used by Lieutenant-Colonel Oliver North to handle profits from the sale of US weapons to Iran. Colonel North, a National Security Council aide sacked by President Reagan last week, left no clear record of the funds, one senior official said. However, sev the suburbs 57.6 per cent of Melbourne's total. The bureau's figures for August showed that professionals made up the second biggest occupational group (19.3 per cent of all workers) in the inner municipalities of Richmond, Melbourne, South Melbourne, Port Melbourne, Prahran, St Kilda, Collingwood, Fltzroy and Brunswick. This compared with the western suburbs, stretching from Bulla to Melton and Williamstown, where only 7.4 per cent of employed people were professionals.

Similarly, tradesmen made up 18 per cent of the western suburban workforce, compared with 10.3 per cent in the inner region. PAGE 19: Growth la the east Taiwan atacOon In Taiwan's first two-party election, the ruling Nationalist Party receives notice that the people like the idea of a choice. PAGE PerlM protaata Police quell another outbreak of violence in Paris after the death of a student deinonstrator. PAGES One Sydney; end tW UemotuW tew firms are. to nsaiss ley forai one of Australia's larsest; law groamv tl.

the domain of professionals and the middle-class. Bureau of Statistics figures show just how the outer suburbs have become the true heart and soul of Melbourne during the postwar period. In 1947, 169,481 people 12,6 per cent of the population lived in the suburban area beyond Mordialloc, Box Hill, Coburg and Williamstown. By last year, the estimated population of the outer area was 1.681,000 By SHAUN CARNEY People drifting away from the suburbs surrounding the city centre. The middle suburbs ageing.

The traditional Industrial base eroding. It sounds like a troubled city. It la Melbourne. Melbourne, estimated population 2.9 million, is changing and the recent exposure of the Australian economy to world markets is hastening the process. The metropolis is now a series of big suburban centres surrounding a central business district of white-collar workers, moat of whom travel In from the eastern suburbs.

The inner suburbs, traditionally the home of the working class, have increasingly become A redevelopment Is set to turn St KiMa into the boom city of the 1980s. PAGE AGE POLL The latest AGE POLL finds that the Prime Minister, Mr Hawke, has marginally improved his approval rating. PAGE Kbnmr setback r-: Tb MlnJsterr for GonstractioaV Forests and Lands, Ms Kirner, receives a setback in a preselection bid. PAGES The Qut frulind Premier. Sir Joja BjeUPeteraea, wans that cos ditions at Brisbane's Boggo Road jail will worsen after Friday's riot PAGE 4 Ad9laldm storm Adelaide tallies the toll of a storm that killed a fisherman, injured 20 people and damaged dozens of homes.

PAGE LcccU-tj prcpo9l vFefleral Cabinet is likely to consider a compromise on logging in Taaniaaia which would-Include the Jackeys Marsh area. PAGE II Third party issss The National Party Vtetort- ans win enjoy ueeeatuafalreet Vaatf meet cost-ef fecwwaystem of motor accident fek ''r 1 -b hrv, PAGE St rill 111 ad..