Australian capitals besieged as truck blockades spread

Press, 7 April 1979, Page 1

Australian capitals besieged as truck blockades spread

NZPA

Sydney

Australia's main capital cities were under a slate of virtual siege last night as the truck drivers’ national blockade and the potential for violence grew.

With trucks immobilised across main highways at 40 points from the east to the west coast, the possibility of fuel and food shortages became a real danger.

In Sydney last evening about 40 policemen confronted about 13 semitrailer drivers and their rigs who had sealed off the Cooks River railwaymarshalling yard on Canal Road in the inner western suburb of St Peters.

Two country freight trains were due to be loaded and the police had been ordered to clear the yard regardless of the blockade.

In another development, New South Wales train drivers threatened to use their locomotives to block railway crossings if the state Government gave in to truck owner-drivers and abolished road taxes.

Sydney police fought a running battle of wits throughout the day to head off convoys of trucks which they feared could threaten more arterial roads and freight marshalling yards. Petrol supplies to the outlying Sydney areas of

Penrith, Windsor. Camden, Liverpool, Campbelltown. Wollongong, and Gosford were cut.

In Canberra, the Eederal Transport Minister (Mr Nixon) appealed for a cool-ing-off period by both the New South Wales Government and the blockading drivers. The New South Wales Premier (Mr Neville Wran) approached the Prime Minister (Mr Fraser) to seek national action to settle the crisis. Mr Fraser said that the Federal Government would not reimburse state governments if they dropped the road tax. He condemned the drivers’ action and called on New South Wales to take more positive action. State transport Ministers will meet in Melbourne today in another bid to end the deadlock ovei road taxes that caused the localised drivers’ blockade in New South Wales to spread acres", the country. Mr Nixon said he would attend the Melbourne meeting, for which he had put forward two proposals.

One was that the man who was conducting the

inquiry for the New South Wales Government into the road-haulage industry, a Mr McDonnell, should be present The second proposal was that the meeting should consider putting the matter to arbitration.

Queensland truck drivers yesterday continued their blockade of main highways in southeast Queensland. More than 300 trucks were still blocking the highway at Boggabilla, just inside the New South Wales border, while at Goondiwmdi, in Queensland, about 80 trucks were parked on the Queensland side of the border and another 200 in New South Wales. Around Adelaide, more than 350 trucks were blocking at least 10 vital roads, slowing all traffic movement.

Truck drivers blocking the Hume Highway at Kalkallo, north of Melbourne, reportedly threatened to stop all vehicles from passing the blockade because of alleged police intervention yesterday. In Perth, police broke up a blockade on Greenmount Hill and threatened to arrest anyone who was illegally parked.