The Case Of The Missing Scores

Press, Issue 32345, 10 July 1970, Page 1

The Case Of The Missing Scores

(By

D. D. L. BORMAN)

New Zealanders are sought by Australia as tourists and contribute greatly to the Commonwealth’s growing trade; but once there they find themselves very much young brothers when it comes to getting news from home. Eighteen journalists who went with Air New Zealand for the opening of Tuliamarine, Melbourne’s new international airport designed to meet the jumbo jet age as well as put Australia’s second biggest city on the international airport circuit, were surprised that New Zealand and its airline were given no prominence. There were only three international airlines at Tuliamarine for the opening by the Prime Minister (Mr Gorton), and only Air New Zealand’s DCB was the first to fly

direct to Melbourne from overseas. The others— Alitalia and Pan American Airways—had flown in via Sydney, but they were the ones whose aircraft appeared in newspaper photographs. Even a reference to New Zealand was hard to find in the reports. Yet in spite of an apparent slight, Air New Zealand, which, as T.E.A.L., gave Melbourne its first overseas service by flying from Christ? church to Essendon in 1951, and Qantas, Australia’s overseas airline, are likely to remain Melbourne’s major direct-flight contributors.

Other international air carriers are not looking enthusiastically on Tullamarine. Sydney is their main point for picking up passengers and will remain the main destination of overseas passengers, in spite of Tullamarine and its exemption from Australia’s curfew on airlines which has plagued schedule planners—who must have their jets in by 11 p.m.

Mr Gorton’s announcement that the curfew, imposed because of home-owners’ objections to no;se, would be lifted was greeted by Victorian delight. Ip New South Wales there is a feeling that Melbourne has stolen or been given a march; and another talking point has been provided for the traditional jealousy between the two states.

It was hard to find any mention of New Zealand as having an airline; harder to find the All Blacks score in South Africa last week. Many of the New Zealand journalists were interested to know the result of the game against North West Cape. Inquiries in Melbourne, the home of Australian rules football, met blank stares and sometimes a return inquiry about who or what were the All Blacks. At other times there was a recollection of having read something—it was a report of a riot among black and white spectators at an earlier game.

Half the party went to Adelaide for a day while the others went to Hobart. Again news or interest was absent; but when they met again in Canberra at the week-end a telephone call to the head of the New Zealand defence liaison staff and defence adviser at the New Zealand High Commissioner’s office, Air Commodore J. J. McDowell, elicited the wanted score.

The neglect of New Zealand’s major sport was remedied in Sydney. The “Sydney Morning Herald” on Monday morning carried the score of Saturday’s match against South West Africa. It took some finding in small type at the foot of the New South Wales club games results: but it was there. Other New Zealand sportsmen were not entirely ignored. Both radio stations and newspapers gave some prominence to a report that the Commonwealth Games team had drunk its aircraft dry on the way to Edinburgh.