Mrs Thatcher passes the Outback test

Mrs Thatcher had her first glimpse of the flat red earth of the Ausralian Outback yesterday when she flew 700 miles from Sydney to Broken Hill, the celebrated mining town.

The day was another test of the Tory leader's amazing stamina.

As usual she got up at 6 a.m. and after a glass of orange juice, spent the day going down a mine, visiting the Flying Doctor service and broadcasting on the School of the Air.

Wearing a light print dress, Mrs Thatcher and her husband Denis left Sydney in a private Lear jet. On the journey Mrs Thatcher worked on a speech to give to businessmen in Sydney today.

Broken Hill was fascinating for Mrs Thatcher. It is totally dominated by a union called The Barrier Industrial Council. This is dominated by two men—President Joe Keenan and the unofficial “king” of the town, Shortie O'Niel, known by the miners as His Royal Shortness.

Mrs Thatcher was told that it is impossible to live or work in this town unless you belong to the union.

Before lunch looking well-groomed as ever her perfect make-up was slightly at odds with her miner's helmet and white overalls as she climbed down into the mine.

Miners' pay

She was treated delicately by officials until, rather impatient with the protocol, she lifted up a huge drill which brought slow grins of approval from some of the miners.

One of the most interesting discoveries for Mrs Thatcher was to learn the salary of the average face-worker in a mine in Broken Hill. It works out at £190-a-week and with bonuses the take-home pay is not far short of the £10,000 of the Leader of the Opposition.

Lunch was a barbecue in a dried creek under gum trees. She had yabbies, which are like tiny lobsters or enormous shrimps, and barbecued lamb chops.

In the afternoon she was driven off in a Range Rover to see some of the outback, passing kangaroos and emus and little villages with aborogine names like Nelungaloo which means lizard.

At the School of the Air, her training as a teacher was evident as she talked easily with children 200 or 300 miles away in places like Mongrels Downs and Horse Shoe Bend.

Listening to the disembodied voices of children called Marlene and Glen, Mrs Thatcher asked them what they had been doing. Most of them said they had spent the morning rounding up the sheep. Mrs Thatcher told them that they had really interesting lives.

In turn they asked her about her job and how she managed to cope with running a home and being a busy politician.

After a cup of tea she met one of Australia's best-known painters, Pro Hart. His style is a mixture of Brueghel and Lowry. Mrs Thatcher talked about her love of Lowry's work.