Its Own

TEAL is On Its Own

It was confirmed on April 27 that the Australian Government has sold its half share in TEAL to the NZ Government ( PIM, April, p. 21) for £A 1,014,250 which is par value of the Australian held shares. The deal will be dated back to April 1.

QANTAS has been given the right to compete across the Tasman, until now a TEAL monopoly, and will be able to fly to and through Auck land, Wellington and Christchurch.

TEAL will have the right to fly to and through Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Norfolk Island, The Tasman services will be ration alised so that TEAL will carry more than half the traffic.

Australia’s Civil Aviation Minister, Senator Paltridge, stressed that the agreement did not envisage the sale of TEAL to “any outside interest”. This was a reference to Ansett efforts to buy into TEAL.

Ownership of Fiji Airways, in which Australia and NZ both have interests, is not affected. The pro posed Fiji Airways fortnightly ser vice between Suva and Honiara, via the New Hebrides, was still not in operation in early May. The only factor delaying it was the fact that the British Colonial Office still had not decided whether to grant a subsidy to the airline. It will not operate without one.

REJECTED: The Federal Govern ment, on Tariff Board advice, has re jected a request from Australian growers for increased protection against peanuts from P-NG. It has also rejected a Territories Depart ment request for a £5 a ton duty on copra from sources other than P-NG.

For War

Dead

This was the scene in Noumea on Anzac Day—April 25—the day which, in Australia and NZ and many Islands of the South Pacific, is set aside to commemorate the war dead. The Australian Consul in New Caledonia, Mr. K. Douglas- Scott, accompanied by Dr. Richard Seddon, acting secretary-general of the SPC, place wreaths on the memorial. French naval ratings and army troops provided a guard of honour.

Photo: Fred Dunn