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By Sydneysider

Sydney is the hub of the South Pacific, and its news is your news. Here are some of the things that made May-June headlines.

The abortive effort of garage proprietors to get another Id. a gallon out of petrol buyers has let some air into the question of the multiplicity of service stations in this fair city—five to the mile, according to one newspaper esti mate.

Since the oil companies intro duced one-brand stations, the number has increased at least five-fold, with the result that operators (who lease them from the oil companies) find it hard to make labourer’s wages even working a 70-hour week—again according to the newspapers.

Previous to the solo-site era, service stations sold all brands; now when one brand starts, five others selling different brands, all pop up like weeds in the same locality.

In one mile of road that your Sydneysider travels twice daily, there were no petrol stations two years ago. Then there was one; immediately a rival company acquired a block of land and a house opposite—sawed the house in half and carted it away. Then there were two. A third soon appeared at the other end of the mile, and now three more are in course of erection—one required three houses to be cut in half and towed away. This is a road along which cars travel by inches at week-ends (it leads to a popular beach); and bumper-to bumper on week-days. Unless in dire want, no one pulls out of that sort of traffic to buy a fav ourite brand of petrol. Most Australians learned during the long years of rationing that any car will manage to move on a judicious blend of kerosene and white spirit. So, in spite of ad vertising and “additives,” as far as the average motorist is con cerned the oil companies might as well have continued to dis pense Pool petrol—the brew they combined to produce during the war. * * *

Secret Weapon: Dr. Billy

Graham preached to 3,242,000 during his 4 months Australasian campaign, and departed these shores May 31, leaving behind 142,000 people who had seen the Light, and saying that he might go to Moscow “next month or maybe later this year”. * * *

You Could Be Still In

DUTCH: Australia’s famous “dictation test” (a device for keeping undesirable migrants out

by subjecting them to a written test in any recognised language, never their own) ceased on May 31. The doors are no wider open, however. You now have to get a Permit to Land—and if you aren’t wanted, that’s just as hard to acquire as an Honours pass in Tagalog. * * * UP AND UP: Third Party in surance (compulsory) that started out as 35/- a year when it was introduced less than 20 years ago, is now £7/18/- a year for a pri vate car, and, if the insurance companies have their way. will go up another £2 shortly. The Government Insurance Office which handles 82 per cent, of this business (most of the other com panies won’t touch it) has lost £4 million. Introduced to protect the innocent, it has resulted in fabulous sums being awarded by juries to those injured in traffic accidents. It is common for a child, riding in his parent’s car at the time of an accident, to sue the parent for damage if in jured. A completely irresponsible attitude to damage payments— because the insurance company “can afford to pay”, has re bounded on motorists generally until an average insurance bill (3rd party and comprehensive) is now around £3O per year. * * * BASIC INFLATION: Although the Unions put on a big front of complaining that it “should be 23/-”, employers cursed and even the man in the street thought of it as a two-edged sword, when the Federal Basic Wage went up by 15/- per week in June.

The mathematicians were soon busily at work showing that it would cost the whole country an extra £50,000,000 in wages per annum—which would mean more income tax, more payroll tax, higher cost of goods, thus more sales tax; the philosophers were saying that no matter what benefits accrue to the individual, the tax-man gets it in the end; and the people who have been waiting for the cost of living to fall have no doubt all decided to jump over the Gap en masse.

The priceless words of one of our best-known politicians—that management should organise better, labour should work harder, and everyone should produce more so that this 15/- will really be a benefit —has just got a horse-laugh.