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Press, 1 December 1988, Page 2

The Leader of the Opposition, Mr Bolger, and the member of Parliament for Yaldhurst, Mrs Margaret Austin, try out a tracked squad motor-bike during their tour of Scott Base. The two parliamentarians head a group of V.I.P.s visiting New Zealand’s Antarctic base this

week. With the Chief of General Staff, Major General John Mace, and the- secretary of Internal Affairs, Mr Peter Boag, they have visited field research sites in the Dry Valleys and Cape Bird, and the historic Cape Evans hut, from which Captain Scott mounted his last attempt to reach the South Pole.

Also at Scott Base this week is a group of eight Russians on an official inspection tour of various Antarctic stations. Their visit marks the first time the Soviet Union has exercised its rights under the Antarctic Treaty to inspect other nations’ bases. Having visited British, Argentinian and Chilean bases on the

other side of the continent, they have flown via the American Amunsden-Scott Base at the South Pole to McMurdo, and were to stay at New Zealand’s Scott Base last night. They will be flown out by R.N.Z.A.F. Hercules to Christchurch.