Tonight opposition to propose to Wumba shopping mall grows, an organized gang
blamed for car thefts and a rural leader slams the government task force.
Good evening and welcome to Thursday's late edition of Here Tonight. A protest
vigil is planned for outside the council chamber early tomorrow morning to
coincide with the closed meeting of council on the future of the 40 million
dollar shopping center proposed for Toowoomba. The Toowoomba City Council
will meet twice tomorrow to make a decision on the controversial proposal.
Mary-Anne and Ryan today sought opinions from both sides of the issue. The first
meeting tomorrow will probably be a closed one to allow Alderman to discuss
the proposal in private. According to the mayor the protest scheduled to coincide
with this meeting will be a waste of time. I don't care how many signatures
they come or what they do it's out of order now it's out of the objection time
but we've got these others to consider and all these things that they're doing
has all been explained in the actual objections that we have that we're
dealing with in the morning. Ryan Manhattan however feels that it may be
some people's only opportunity to express their strong opposition to the
proposal. It is something that is a very important issue it's restructuring the
whole of the commercial life of Toowoomba by allowing a rezoning along
the lines that is proposed and we really think that it has been rushed given that
the application was made just around about Christmas time with the Christmas
New Year then the council themselves admitted that they required a three
month extension only to be told that they would have one month and which is
virtually expired and really I really feel myself that the the whole thing has
been and I'm not one who's sort of saying that there's a conspiracy
mentality existing but when you look at the way the whole thing has been
programmed it certainly has been rushed through and it's a very important
decision. Mayor Berghoff says some people who now complain about the haste of the
decision have in the past criticized him for being too slow with other decisions
the protest methods fail to impress him. Well I think there's ways of doing
things and is this the right way or not I don't know that's up to them there's
doing it not me but sometimes I think you can get people offside. But Mr.
Manhattan hopes that's not the case. It's purely to be a peaceful gathering
where we hope that those who are looking for a bit of support can get it and those
who are a little bit uncertain of the position can see that there is a
community interest and certainly a community opinion on it. The federal
government's appointment of a country task force has been criticized by a
cattle industry leader. The task force will visit country areas and discuss
the problems of rural Australia. However the chairman of the Cattlemen's Union
Ray McNamara says the government instead of acting positively is merely flag
waving. Task force will have its first meeting with country people in Warwick
next week. However Ray McNamara says its appointment is just flag-flying by a
government that's fully aware of rural Australia's problems. He describes the
mood in the country as pretty irate and says people are genuinely concerned
about where the country is headed. One of the parts of the title issue is that
we've priced ourselves out of the world market. It's not just the price of
sugar on the world market or the price of wheat it's our cost of production and
our input costs our tariffs our taxes that we're buying and we've reached the
stage where we cannot sell on the world markets at the present level of
production. Ray McNamara says the fuel price issue is very important. The full
extent of the drop in world oil prices must be passed on. We've got this
piecemeal 5.3 per cent 5.3 cents a litre overall on petrol and 10.6 on
diesel and that is not the true picture because half of that 10.6 is road taxes
on off-road vehicles that should have never been put there in the first place.
According to the Cattlemen's leader Australia has been trading at a loss
for years and it's now the seventh most indebted nation in the world. So who has
the solution? Well it's directly in the federal government's hands it was in
Fraser's hands and he made a mess of it. It's in Hawke's hands and he's made a
mess of it. I don't know where we're going the government doesn't seem to
have the answer and the worrying part of it is that the opposition parties
haven't come up with the solution as yet. Farmers with sound prospects of long
term viability will be able to borrow almost 26 million dollars more from the
rural adjustment scheme. The Minister for Primary Industry John Kiran says the
federal government will give the states an additional six hundred thousand
dollars interest subsidy to meet demands for the remainder of the year. Mr. Kiran
says the funds will be used for debt reconstruction, farm build-up and farm
improvement. The rural adjustment scheme isn't designed to bankroll the whole
rural sector. What it is designed to do is meet the needs of those people who are
assessed as viable in the longer term who have been refused assistance by the
banks and in some cases a Commonwealth Development Bank. You say that these funds
are going to be available to farmers with sound prospects of long-term
viability. How in the world are you going to judge that? Well with the very states
with their rural adjustment boards, rural finance commissions call it what you
will. There's farmers on it and people of finance and they have the unenviable job
of making the decision individual by individual and by and large it works. They
have very few bad debts. They give them budgets in terms of debt
reconstruction seven to ten years and it works. But wouldn't a lot of this
long-term viability depend on the sort of interest they're going to have to pay?
I mean five percent could make all the difference. Yes, well the scheme is now
targeting on 50% interest subsidy so that's that's quite a big help and if
general interest rates come down interest rates vary and as each person's
budget is assessed and is assessed regularly sometimes they come to
viability quicker. The money's got back quicker they go on to commercial rates
so it's a very flexible arrangement that really does cater for the individuals
needs. The state opposition claims it's been necessary to make major
modifications to equipment at Tehrong power station to enable it to use the
local coal. Deputy leader Tom Burns says Tehrong coal is incompatible with the
original equipment to the extent that the plant is being gummed up. He says two
boilers have been modified, work on a third is underway and the fourth will be
soon modified. Mr. Burns says the government was warned in 1978 that the
coal at Tehrong was of poor quality. While Mines and Energy Minister Ivan Gibbs
maintains the cost of the modifications is the responsibility of the
construction contractor, Mr. Burns says consumers will eventually pay for
Tehrong's problems. Thieves broke into a Tehwumba car yard last night stealing a
Commodore Balina car and the keys to all the cars kept in that yard, the third
crime of its type in recent days. The repetition and method of the crime has
led police to assume that the crimes are being committed by an organised gang of
thieves. Commodores are apparently the flavour of the month among car thieves
with thieves in Tehwumba having stolen two in a matter of days. The theft of a
$15,000 car from Reese Edwards Enterprises last night has forced the
proprietor to spend $4,000 replacing the old chain fence around the yard to
satisfy insurance requirements and deter similar thefts. Reese Edwards who is
offering a $700 reward for the return of the car feels it's the work of an
organised gang. I think it's organised because they broke into our office and took all the
keys to the motor cars and they selected a particular motor car and they had
bolt cutters. There had to be a people of three or four people to organise all this and
to start the motor car and take the right car they wanted and drive through.
Tehwumba police too are convinced the crime is an organised one. We think it
could be an organised gang from down south and had an order for that sort of
car and here they are. So they're particularly targeting Commodores by the
looks of it? At the moment it's Commodores, yes. Next week it could be Falcons or
Fair Lanes, anything at all. It all depends on their orders. So what sort of
measures are being taken to catch these people? We've stepped up our patrols and
we've asked for cooperation from the night security people and we just hope
that one of these nights that somebody might ring in and say listen could you
have a look at such and such he's got the car that you're looking for. We
certainly rely on public support. Well motorcyclists in Queensland represent
about 14% of the state's road users but about 25% of road casualties. Despite
continuing efforts to reduce the number of accidents involving bikers the
figures continue to escalate. Jim Sweeney reports. Road safety authorities,
bikers and bike associations all have their own thoughts as to why so many
accidents involving motorbikes occur but according to the Queensland Motorcycle
Training Centre part of the reason is that some bike riders don't have the
handling capabilities of the bikes they ride. It's the centre's aim to teach
riding skills and road safety procedures to all who listen and fortunately there
are plenty who will. Today we took to the track with instructor Stuart Watson and
with cameraman Jack Hardy hanging on for dear life our pictures show what
negotiating a slalom at some speed looks like. When Jack recovers from the
experience he may tell us what it feels like to ride this Yamaha 750 but the
point is this bike in trained hands can do everything and do it safely and that's
the message the training centre wished to impart to all local riders this week.
Stuart do you think bikers generally are sufficiently safety conscious? Well Jim
I'd like to think so but unfortunately the majority of riders out there
have a lot to learn there's still a lot there that is not covered in the
licensing procedure and consequently that's what we're here for to bring them
up to date make them more aware and safer on the road. And to teach
additional skills? Oh yes of course. The major problem would be I would think to
convince bikers that they're not quite as good as perhaps they think they are. No
we've got a saying that we use around the rider training centre just thinking
you're a good rider may cost you your life I think that says it all. Sports news
coming up next with Pat O'Shea and Robin Fellows offered a scholarship with an
American University. Welcome back everyone of course you're watching here
tonight now it's time for the sports news with Pat O'Shea. Thank You Carolyn.
Gatton Rugby League is riding high at the moment after its performance in the
Woolies preseason competition. Gatton shared top billing with Warwick after
the series and on Sunday it hopes to continue its good form when it takes on
Newtown. Meantime club coach Graham Pimenta says the club has been boosted
by the announcement of its sponsors. Mr Alan Muller from Muller's Industries
we're fortunate enough to have him again this will be the fourth time he's been
with us. He'll sponsor the A and C grade Darrell and Paulette Gollin from the
Tats O' Teller sponsor in the reserve grave and Tony Snackbar a local Snackbar
and Gatton will sponsor the under 18 combined with Eben Lodge
Refrigeration who sponsored the under 18 boys right throughout with jackets so
it's great news really. After a shaky start in the Newtown night
competition you rose to the occasion in the Woolies preseason comp. Yeah well
probably the night against South and the Newtown competition we just didn't fire
quite as well as we had hoped dropped a few balls at vital times and things like
that but sort of picked ourselves up again and put a little bit together
through the Woolies so hope we can go on with it. You've already won an Ipswich
Premiership and you've had a lot to do with Toowoomba football how do the two
competitions compare? The Toowoomba competition definitely faster and John
this is what we've tried to work on in the first month or so to get the players
used to that pace but the hardness I think in the defence I think it might
have shown a little bit in our games that the boys certainly tackled a little bit
harder and that's helped us so far. The $75,000 Easter Sires sprint series
commenced today at Clifford Park there were nine heats and there was plenty of
speed we've got some of the highlights for you races four and five and you can
certainly see there's no time lost in sprint racing. Off they go and Dex
Sunder came out pretty straight here away well with Magic Dozen also Felica
Cross and Pine Deck went very quickly and Bucko's pal further out with Ray
John King and behind there was Sunder Show and Miss Jet Travel here's a Pine
Deck moving up and Magic Dozen they're going to fight out the finish of this
but Pine Deck has gone to be far too good. Pine Deck has won from Magic Dozen
third is Ray John King. Off they go and Jet Flare got up in the air a bit and
played up and so Master Bolero away a bit awkward settling down was Don's
Dozen has stride quickly and also Chatty Chance and behind them is Runaway
Anyway and down the outside was Etador but Don's Dozen has cleared down the
running Don's Dozen has got the shot to pieces Don's Dozen has won it from
Chatty Chance and Etador then Master Bolero. Last night we ran the story about
Robin Fellows being the Butler's Toyota 1045A Sportstar for the month. Now
there's been quite an amount happening since that announcement last night and
as our story went to air Robin was on the phone and has been offered a full
scholarship to the Peugeot University in Indiana. Robin is keen to look at the
situation because she wants a degree and the University want a champion thrower
with potential and Robin seems to fit that bill. Now the Australian Institute of
Sport so far haven't actually found a place for her. Perhaps now that this
offer has been made there may be changes in that particular direction as well.
That's the latest news on Robin and obviously the USA with their talent
scouts here and there are plenty of them are of the opinion that this young lady
can develop into an outstanding athlete she's on that way at the moment and the
scholarship to Indiana would be very hard to refuse. I know Robin's thinking
seriously about it at present and we will watch with interest and see if the
Australian Institute of Sport can also come up with an offer for her because we
would hate to lose such a great athlete or potentially great athlete to
Australia. Unfortunately over the years we've lost a lot to the USA with
scholarships. We've now got our own Institute of Sport and we hope that
there'll be some sort of a counter offer from them. That's our sport for tonight
now it's back to Rod. Thanks very much Pata that's the Sporting News and now to
find out exactly what's the weather going to be like for a Friday it's once
again a very good evening to Kate. Good evening everyone well little change in
the weather news unfortunately the Bureau says it should stay fine virtually
over all of the interior although some of the southeastern districts may be
favored with a shower or two. Warmer centers today were Inglewood and
Gundawindi where the mercury climbed to 32 the lowest minimum was 11 degrees at
Tenterfield. Next a satellite photograph. There are showers and storms in the
Arafura Sea and Torres Strait near a monsoon trough and the bright cloud off
the Queensland coast is Cirrus associated with a jet stream. Dull cloud in
the Tasman and off the South Queensland coast is low level cloud that's brought
some shower activity. The spots of bright cloud off the coast north of
Brisbane are thunderstorm cells. There's an extensive low and cold front system
crossing the south of the continent. Now let's take a look at the chart and get
some idea of possible developments. A high near New Zealand has a firm ridge
along the Queensland coast and it's produced scattered showers however the
main activity has been over the far northeast tropics and dry conditions
have continued over virtually all the interior although there were some
showers this afternoon over the South Coast ranges. A front lying across South
Australia continues to slip southeastwards and even though it will
reintroduce a trough into the interior of the state for the weekend there's
not likely to be more than isolated showers or storms near it. Well that's
all the weather information we have as supplied by the Bureau of Meteorology
for our Thursday late edition of Here Tonight. Right now it's back over to Rod.
Thanks very much Katie well that's what it's going to be like for a Friday. Hope
you have an enjoyable one. We'll be back very very shortly to continue our late
edition of Here Tonight straight after this break in fact so don't go too far
away. You're watching Thursday's late edition of Here Tonight. Thanks very much
for your company. The controversy surrounding the Queensland Film
Corporation has continued this week with the resignation of a senior officer.
Corporation Secretary Helen Sweeney says she's resigned because she no longer has
a job to perform. For more on the troubled corporation this report from
State Affair. The Queensland Film Corporation is the centre of a
political storm which has rocked the state government. Amid claims of fraud
and corruption half the corporation staff has resigned. First to go was the
corporation chairman Alan Callaghan. He's since been charged with
misappropriating $17,000 from the corporation. Next to resign was
corporation secretary Helen Sweeney. In her letter of resignation she said she
could not work with the corporation's executive director Brian Williams. She
also said she had no confidence in Mr. Williams ability as sole administrator.
The corporation's administration officer has also resigned. To complicate matters
Callaghan has also alleged a further case of fraud within the corporation.
These matters we can't talk about because they're the subject of court
cases and police investigations. But to say that something is wrong with the
corporation would be an understatement. I'm a bit sad that the controversy that
the corporation is embroiled in because basically it's been a good board.
Alan Callaghan, the man at the centre of the storm, he was one of the people
responsible for setting up the corporation. He now says it's time to
shut it down. I'm one of those rare people who say when the quango's done
the job time to get rid of the quango and the Gatsby and the government's
rhetoric I merely say okay live up to the rhetoric. The Queensland Film
Corporation was set up in 1977. Its aim was to encourage the production of
movies in this state. The corporation's first chairman Sid Schubert said our
climate and our locations made Queensland the ideal base for the
Australian film industry. Queensland we were told would be Australia's Hollywood.
Yet despite the claims few movies were ever produced here. Directors like Peter
Weir looked us over and moved on. Movies like Buddies and the big budget Cool and
Gatter Gold got a lot of publicity but died at the box office. So what went
wrong? So maybe Queensland was never destined to be the Hollywood of
Australia. I think basically Sydney and Melbourne will always remain the centres
of the film industry. Was that part of the reason you decided to resign? No it
wasn't. The reasons are in my letter of resignation. Will this be the end of the
corporation do you think? The fact that several of the staff members have left? I
don't know Chris. I think the corporation's charter is until October
1987 and it would be up to the government to decide what they're going
to do with it. Right from the beginning there was talk of a film studio being
set up in Queensland probably on the Gold Coast. The government wanted it to
be privately funded but that much money could never be found. We never got a
studio but we do have a small but viable film industry. Do you think it's as good
as we could have? What was it about Queensland that southern producers may be
turned away from? Is it the distances? The cost and distance. To bring a
fully fledged film crew to Queensland costs a lot of money just to bring them
from Sydney to Brisbane and then to take them from there to say North
Queensland. That costs an absolute fortune so unless they needed a film
with a Queensland style location or a different location they weren't going to
come here. Despite the industry problems the corporation was self-destructing
from within. Its headquarters in this city office building were far from
peaceful. According to Alan Callaghan the Queensland Film Corporation had a
history of staff problems. He said there were a series of people who were unable
or unwilling to work with the corporation's executive director Mr.
Brian Williams. That was one of the reasons that the former Minister Mr.
Elliott had to intervene and give certain directions within the corporation.
As far as I knew that was working up to this point but it appears it wasn't. Do
you think the corporation got the kind of support from the government that it
needed? In essence no I think the government could have increased the
budget annually. The cost of living rises, the cost of film production rises. The
budget remained static and has for the last seven years. I think it would have
helped the industry if we had more to invest in film. As one of the prime
movers in setting up the corporation are you at all disillusioned now? No I'm not
disillusioned. We were given a job to do and I think we've done it and
the reason I recommended winding up the corporation is to save the
taxpayers money. Why keep paying out money for a job that's already done. The
job may be done but the corporation's dirty laundry is still on view. When the
police, the courts and the politicians are finished there might not be much
left. A sad end for an ambitious project. Well that brings to an end another late
edition of Here Tonight for a Thursday. We certainly look forward to your
company again tomorrow with our full hour of news from 6 o'clock and until
then have a very pleasant evening. Good night to you all.