Australian Letter Impact Of TV On Election Campaign

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28752, 25 November 1958, Page 10

Australian Letter Impact Of TV On Election Campaign

(Australian Correspondent, N.Z.P.A.)

SYDNEY. November 24. : Television played an important ; part in the Federal election cam- < paign, and the one first to apprcci- ; ate the value of this new publicity medium was the Prime Minister (Mr Menzies). He took < part in two telecasts viewed in each instance by more than a million people in Sydney and Melbourne. before the Leader of the i Opposition <Dr. Evatt) sought a similar telecast. In one recorded programme, the i Prime Minister appeared for half : an hour before the viewers of three Sydney and three Meloourne stations which combined to tele- i cast this feature. For the first time, voters look- ; ing for candour from politicians found a wonderful ally in TV. i Liberal and Labour debaters alike i found themselves forced to speak ■ with a frankness on TV that they probably regret! cd later. TV enticed the politicians to commit themselves to honest personal 1 views which could cause their * parties some embarrassment. ' As an example of how careful the political candidate has to be 1 before the TV cameras is the ex- ; perience of Mr Eddie Ward, one * of Labour’s shrewdest and mod experienced debaters. Before a TV < audience. Mr Ward said he per- i sonally favoured nationalisation ' of farms, although he qualified 1 his reply by adding that it would be done “eventually” and not in : his time. The reaction of viewers ’ was unfavourable. As one of his i narty’s most vocal leaders, he I had committed himself to the J principle of “sovietising” the . country’s farms, and it led to wide ’ public protests. A fierce controversy has broken out over the release of green bolt ] land in Sydney. It is caused by : the release of 400 acres of land from the green belt in a shire on the north side of Sydney harbour. The green belt, embracing many thousands of acres of land, skirts the Svdney metropolitan area The main idea is to provide a permanent girdle of count rvside around the capital. It is intended to curb the untidy, outward growth of Sydney, and to bring about a more economical development of public services and utilities. Last week. creen-belt land worth about £1 million was “secretly” released in the north shire of Warringah. Warringah Shire Council was notified of the release after extraordinary precautions. and about 60 affected land owners were notified immediately. They were warned not to sell their land to speculators According to all the evidence, however, the speculators had prior information that the land was to be released. The Deputy-Leader of the State Opposition. Mr R. Askin, said in Parliament that a syndicate had ■?pent £250.000 in purchasing land I from owners in the green belt. : Mr Askin, three weeks previously I had issued a warning in a Warringah suburban paper that a huge deal in green belt land in I Warringah shire was afoot. I In Parliament, he recalled revei lations earlier this year about big ! land deals at Penrith *3O miles I west of Sydney) and at Bass Hill ton Sydney’s <wtskirts>. Estate ■ agents estimated that the rezonI ing of land at Penrith had in- | creased its value from £20.000 'to £150.000. A Melbourne com- : pany paid £107.600 for 60 acres jof green belt land at Bass Hill j when the unimproved capital : value of the land was only £14.230. No moves to rczone this land have yet been reported Two Warringah shire council- ; lors alleged that the proposed i release of 400 acres had leaked lout to speculators. They said the I leakage had come from the Cumberland County Council, which conceived Sydney’s green belt scheme, or the Department of Local Government. The State Government plans to overhaul town-planning machinery. including the methods of rezoning land. ❖ ❖ ❖ The Australian Public Service has withdrawn a questionnaire seeking “confidential” informa- I tion from its 6000 temporary employees in the Post and Telegraph Department. The withdrawal of the questionnaire fol- • lowed a union threat to take 1 direct action. : The secretary of the Postal j Workers' Union, Mr J. N. Lynch,

said the union feared that the survey was part of a plan for a drastic pruning of temporary employees. Immediately the questionnaire was sent out, the union threatened direct action. He said the union had not been consulted, there was no compulsion to give the information sought, and it was not a condition of employment. Among the questions were whether employees were single, married, divorced, separated from spouse or widowed: whether they were supporting children under the age of 16 or student children under 18 years: and whether they were totally dependent on earnings in the department. In withdrawing the questionnaire. the superintendent of the mail branch said it had been sent out "in error.” Australian detectives are be- j lieved to be on the trail of one] of the most audacious racehorse j doping gangs ever to operate inl Australia At least six horses j have been doped in Sydney, three j in Melbourne, and two or three dopings are suspected in Brisbane Using the “go slow” drug, hyoscine. the gang is believed to have attempted a large number of betting coups, some of them successful. on Melbourne. Sydney, and Brisbane courses. No arrests have yet been made, but Criminal Investigation Branch detectives are now working hopcfullv with | racing club officials in the three I Stales. Owners, trainers, strapper*, jockeys, stablehands and book-j makers have been closely questioned by detectives, who are reported to have uncovered several strong “leads” indicating the widespread use of hyoscine to stop horses winning in and around Sydney. * sjs ❖ A Now South Wales Government proposal to allow dental mechanics to deal directly withi the public in making false teeth has been sharply attacked by the Australian Dental Association. The New South Wales Minister of Health <Mr W. F. Sheahan), who is studying legislation brought down in Tasmania to register mechanics, has suggested that a deputation go to Tasmania to examine the legislation in operation. Tn Tasmania, mechanics gain registration through examination. The Australian Dental Association. which is sending a delegate with the deputation to Tasmania, said that it opposed any move to permit dental mechanics to deal directly with the public. “We say nnlv fullv-oualificd persons—dentists and doctors—should treat the human mouth, the gateway to the human system.” said Mr R. B. Newland, secretary of the Dental Association. ❖ ❖ ❖ Tn Queensland, there is to be an extension of the “flying doctor” service. Early next year a “flying surgeon” service will be established A hichly-qualified and experienced surgeon will be appointed to the new service. He will be based at Longreach Hospital. will make regular visits to hospitals in the western part of Queensland, and will go out in emergency cases by aircraft with a pilot provided by the Royal Flying Doctor Service. The new service has been established because of difficulty in obtaining doctors for country hospitals. Tn cases of major surgery, it has often been necessary to transfer natients from Queensland country hospitals to a base hospital, or to ; Brisbane.