Whitlam To Hold Talks In Us

Sydney Morning Herald

Monday June 18, 2007

Jonathan King

* The Australian embassy in Washington confirmed the US president, Richard Nixon, had agreed to meet the prime minister, Gough Whitlam, to discuss a wide range of issues. The meeting had been agreed to despite Whitlam's recent public criticism of US foreign policy and US bombing of Hanoi.

* The federal treasurer, Frank Crean, appealed to the states to help in the battle to keep down rising prices which he described as "a national problem".

* The Soviet Communist Party chief, Leonid Brezhnev, was welcomed by the US secretary of state, William Rogers, when he landed near Washington for talks which Democrat senator Edward Kennedy said should include discussions of a suspension of underground nuclear tests.

* A BHP bulk carrier, Iron Hunter, ran aground in Newcastle harbour blocking shipping. Heavy equipment was to be used to free the vessel.

* The English actor Sir Ralph Richardson, 70, was taken to hospital suffering from exhaustion after arriving in Sydney to appear in the play, Lloyd George Knew My Father. Richardson collapsed in the customs hall at Kingsford Smith Airport.

© 2007 Sydney Morning Herald

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