Gibber’s Creek Gazette, 17 March 1973
Abuse of Power by Attorney-General
Commonwealth Police raided the offices of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation yesterday on the orders of the attorney-general, Senator Lionel Murphy. Senator Murphy alleges ASIO was withholding vital information on right-wing Croatian extremists in Australia, undermining security prior to the visit of the Yugoslav prime minister, Džemal Bijedić.
This is the first time that an attorney-general has so highhandedly breached security protocols, causing many in high office in Canberra to wonder if Labor can be trusted with sensitive matters they know little about.
See the Editorial: Labor Outrages Allied Intelligence Agencies, page 3.
JED
Jim Thompson sat at the head of the Drinkwater dining table, folders in front of him, fountain pen in hand. Matilda sat at the other end, acknowledging that the head of Thompson’s Industries should sit in the seat of power for a Thompson’s Industries board meeting.
‘Tea or coffee, anyone?’ asked Matilda.
‘Mum, perhaps after the board meeting . . .’
‘Leafsong has made a delicious carrot cake and some melting moments.’
‘Mum, perhaps later . . .’
‘Just a taste,’ said Matilda wickedly as Leafsong entered with a plate of freshly made apple fritters.
She’s doing it deliberately, thought Jed, amused. I bet she hasn’t behaved like this at other meetings, or Jim would be used to it.
Matilda was playing ‘old lady’. Why? Jed grinned. She could guess. She accepted an apple fritter from Leafsong and winked. She bit into it as the girl left the room. Crisp on the outside, warm apple on the inside, with just a hint of lemon. Delicious.
And the negotiations for the Bluebell were going well too. Thank goodness she was now twenty-one and Jim no longer had to give permission for her to spend her money. She was grateful for his investment advice, but a run-down café that had been a failure for each of its successive owners for nearly a century was not his idea of a good investment. But this was a people investment, more than a money one.
‘You were saying, dear?’ said Matilda.
‘Thank you, Mum. The first item on the agenda is to ratify the minutes of the last meeting. You have all read them? Any changes?’
‘I propose they be passed,’ said Michael.
‘Seconded,’ said Matilda.
‘Excellent. The motion is passed unanimously. The second item.’ Jim smiled at Jed. ‘We would all like to welcome Jed Kelly onto the board of Thompson’s Industries.’
A small round of clapping. Jed flushed. She hadn’t expected that.
‘Are there any questions about last year’s chairman’s report? No? Then I declare this meeting closed . . .’
Jed put up her hand. ‘May I add two more items to the agenda? Maybe as Other Business?’
‘What? Well. Yes. Of course.’
‘I’d like to propose two motions.’ Jed had learned a lot from meetings of the Student Union and a single encounter with an optimistic student-workers revolutionary group that lacked both workers and any possible hope of fomenting a revolution, whose meeting she’d (only just) managed to sit through without giggling. ‘First, I propose that Thompson’s Industries accept the principle of equal pay for equal work. When the same jobs are done by men and women, the women should receive equal pay.’
Jim blinked, then smiled. ‘Very well. Any seconders?’
‘I second it,’ said Michael.
‘Those in favour? Those against? Carried unanimously.’ Jim’s smile grew. ‘Thank you for your contribution, Jed,’ he said smoothly. ‘You’ve moved Thompson’s Industries towards the next millennium. Now, I declare this meeting —’
‘The other motion,’ said Jed. ‘I propose that all jobs at Thompson’s Industries, including apprenticeships in all areas, be open to female as well as male applicants.’
‘What? That’s impossible! The men would never stand for —’
‘They don’t have to,’ said Jed. ‘They can quit if they don’t want to work with women. Or strike.’
‘We’d be opening the door to, well, exactly the sort of people Thompson’s Industries certainly don’t need. No respectable girl would ever want to be a welder. Or a mechanic.’
‘You forget the war, darling,’ said Matilda gently. ‘Quite a lot of women did both extremely well.’
‘That was different.’
Jed shrugged. ‘If no “respectable” girls apply, then there won’t be a problem. I’m not suggesting Thompson’s employ anyone unsuitable, male or female. Is there a seconder?’
Matilda held up her hand.
‘Those in favour? Those against?’ Jim hesitated. ‘The motion is carried three to one.’
Jed grinned cheekily at Jim. ‘Now you can close the meeting.’
‘Not yet,’ said Matilda. ‘I would like to propose that the Thompson’s Car Radio calendars no longer feature scantily clad young women.’
Jim looked shocked that his mother even knew about such calendars. ‘Mum, every firm with male clients makes calendars like that. They’re meant to be hung in male-only areas where women won’t see them. Garages, workshops —’
‘Which may not be male-only much longer,’ pointed out Jed.
‘Every flaming garage in this country has a calendar of half-naked women . . .’ began Jim hotly.
‘Well, they won’t be in ours.’ Matilda smiled sweetly. ‘Motion seconded?’
‘I second it,’ said Jed.
‘Those in favour?’
Two hands went up: Matilda’s and Jed’s.
Jed gazed at Michael. So did his mother. Michael slowly put up his hand. ‘Under protest,’ he said. ‘Because if I don’t vote for this, Nancy will make my life hell.’
‘Motion carried,’ said Matilda. ‘Now if you’d like to declare the meeting closed, darling,’ she said to Jim, ‘there’s a lovely curry for lunch, with pappadums. Just the way you like it. Will Nancy be joining us?’ she asked Michael.
He shook his head. ‘She has business at River View.’
‘All going well?’ asked Matilda.
Michael hesitated. ‘Everything’s fine. They’ve just accepted another child, that’s all. A baby really.’
‘What’s the baby’s name?’ asked Jed, to make conversation.
‘Gavin,’ said Michael. ‘The baby’s name is Gavin.’