AUSTRALIAN MINERS

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIII, Issue 171, 22 July 1942, Page 5

AUSTRALIAN MINERS

Federal And Union Leaders Plan To Prevent Strikes APPEASEMENT POLICY OVER SYDNEY, July 21. Action to discipline any striking miners was agreed on at the vital conference between the Federal Government and miners' leaders. The Federal Prime Minister, Mr. Curtin, was among the Government representatives. Although the draft agreement has to be approved by the miners' executive, it provides:—(l) Suspension of miners' striking unjustifiably from the reserved occupation list, thus making them available for other manpower purposes; (2) longer production hours. The atmosphere when the conference adjourned to enable the miners' delegates to consider the agreement was that valuable progress had been made and the miners would co-oper-ate with the Government. Ministerial representatives said the Government's attitude represented the end of the appeasement policy. An earlier report said that at the conference with representatives of the Miners' Federation to-day Mr. Curtin would announce that the Government was determined that sufficient coal should be available for war industry. Mr. Curtin considered the mining industry had been shown more tolerance than any other in Australia.

The Government had now decided that in return the miners must get the coal, or get out and make room for men who were prepared to work. It was believed that the Government was prepared to stake its future on the issue.

Mr. Curtin's determination to speak plainly at the conference was reinforced when the Rt. Hon. Peter Fraser, Prime Minister of New Zealand, told him that New Zealand needed more coal from Australia. Mr. Fraser said New Zealand needed more coal because much traffic had been transferred from the roads to the railways. Some coal had already been received from Australia, but more was urgently required. Mr. Curtin said later that stoppages of production not authorised by a decision of the district executive of the Miners' Federation would in future be a breach of the National Security Act. A special national security regulation to implement this decision was being drafted by the Attorney-General, Dr. Evatt. It is understood that, pending the issue of the regulation, the Miners* Federation will itself discipline men causing unjustified strikes.