VISIT TO THEUS96
L I Bl SYPNEY
PRESS CONFERENCE GIVEN BY THE PRIME MINISTER
MR JOHN GORTON ON ARRIVAL HOME AT MASCOT
AIRPORT 2ND JUNE 1968
PRIME MINISTER : Good morning to you all. Well, we have just done 24
hours of flying, so I don't feel particularly in the mood for a very lengthy
session, but in this room before I left, I said I hoped on the journey I would
have the opportunity to form better impressions of American attitudes towards
Asia and of the attitudes of the various candidates for the Presidency.
I think I have been given the opportunity to do that, and I think it has been
valuable. I haxe had, of course, many meetings with President Johnson, who
is going to be in control of matters until January next year. I had quite -a
long talk with Vice President Humphrey, the Democratic candidate whom
people in the United States appear to give an edge to for nomination at the
moment I wouldn't know. I had about an hour with Governor Rockefeller,
one of the Republican candidates. I was unable to see Mr Nixon, but I did
have quite a long telephone conversation with him. I saw the Secretary for
Defence, and the Acting Secretary of the State Department ( because Mr Rusk
was ill), and the Secretary of the Treasury, I had good opportunities to
talk to leading members of the business community in New York. For these
reasons, I believe that the trip was valuable, and in discussing it with my
own colleagues, I will be happier in my own mind about any decis , ions we
may come to regarding our own actions. I think that is all I wanted to say.
If you have one or two questions you would like to ask, fire ahead.
Q. Prime Minister, can you say whether your discussions with
the candidates and President Johnson in any way indicate a firm attitude
on America's part to remain in Asia after 1971?
PM: Well, when I arrived and was received by President Johnson
in the morning, I made a speech at the White House, indicating our wish that
the United States should maintain an interest in Asia. That night at the
W,-hite House Dinner, he gave unequivocal assurances as far as he was
concerned that that interest would be maintained unequivocal assurance
in language whicha is open for you to read. This, of course, as he pointed
out, has validity, specific validity as far as he is concerned only until
January next year, but he is going to be significant in the Democratic
Party even after that.
Q. And the candidates?
PM: The candidates appeared to m-e to support the attitude expressed
by the President.
Q. When you say " appeared" to you to support this attitude, they
w'CI~ i11 t anyv iore defi ni te rhan j Lst appearing to. support it? ./ 2
-2
PM: Well, they were private conversations with each candidate,
and I don't think I ought to go into details of it but just say 1 came
away with the firm impression that they did go along with maintaining
an interest in Asia.
Q. You don't feel uneasy then
PM: No.
Q. of the likely policy under a new President?
PM: Of those candidates to whom I spoke, I don't feel uneasy.
Q. What sort of bearing do you think your discussions will have
on the Five Power talks beginning this week?
PM: Well, the Five Power talks are talks between Great Britain
Australia, New Zealand, Malaya and Singapore concerning the Malaya/
Singapore area, and I don't know that my conversations would necessarily
have a direct bearing on the outcome of those talks.
Q. Nor on what contribution we might make
PM: Well, you are getting a bit close to the conversations.
Q. Prime Minister, were you able to gauge how the Viet Nam
peace talks were going?
PM: Yes; I had the opportunity during a breakfast session with
President Johnson and a number of members of his Cabinet to receive a
briefing from Mr Vance who had come back from Paris from the peace
talks. I can only say that the briefing indicated that very little progress,
if any, had so far been made, but the talks were continuing.
Q. Did he indicate any optimism, or of
PM: He indicated hope.
Q: In what way, Sir?
PM: Well, the talks were still going on. That is about it.
Q. Could you say, Sir, how your talks on trade went?
PM: Only that we re-expressed our hopes that quota systems
wouldn't be imposed on products that we particularly wished to sell
there such as meat and other products of that kind. If people want to
put tariffs on, that is one thing. We put tariffs on ourselves.
After all, this is a matter for their legislature, not for their executive.
Q. Anything on the wool tariff, Sir?
PM: Only a discussion expressing hope that something might
be done about it. / 3
-3
Q. Mr Prime Minister, in your absence, there has been speculation
about the defence relationship between the two countries. Did you
get the impression in the United States that they wanted us to indicate
our intention of firmness in staying in South-East Asia before they
committed themselver,; and were they willing to commit themselves
regardless?
PM: I think they would be prepared as a world power to
maintain their interest in Asia but they would be happy for assistance
provided to them as they are happy for assistance provided in Viet
Nam.
Q. They didn't lay it on the line
PM: Nobody was twisting anybody's arm.
Q. You weren't twisting their arm by any chance?
PM: I'm not in a position to. I'm not big enough.'
Q. Will you be making a statement to Parliament, Sir?
PM: Well, I will consider it and discuss it with my colleagues
whether a statement should be made to Parliament or not. These
were very largely private conversations, other than the ones that were
on public record speeches by myself or by the President. It is a
little difficult for me at this stage to work out what value a statement
might be to Parliament, but if there appears to be value in information
which Parliament should have, then I would seek to give that to
Parliament.
Q. Mr Gorton, regarding your statement about the Israeli-type
army for Australia. Mr Eggleton made a remark about it being the
" last resort". Would you care to amplify that at all?
PM: I have no idea concerning Mr Eggleton, but on the matter
you raise, they asked me a question concerning Australian defence,
and they brought in this matter of an Israeli-type army. I sought
to def ine what an Israeli-type army in the Austraian context could be
considered to be which is a regular army allied to a citizen military
force. One hopes, as Australia grows that a citizen military force
would'build up and be better equipped and so on. This, of course, is
existing policy; there is nothing whatsoever new in that at all. This is
what we have been seekling to do for some time. As to the programme
of achieving this, nothing at all was said, nor will anything be said
until such timie as we k-now what resources are available for defence
as a whole, for the Arnig.,+, 1, whole, and for allocation between the
various kinds of regular/ citizen military forces and so on. At that
stage, of course, the first statement will be made to the Parliament.
Q. Did you take the opportunity, Sir, of informing yourself
per sonally on the F IllI?
PM: No. The Air Force have a team of experts over there,
and I think they would probably be better able to do this than I could. ./ 4
a I. -4
Q. Sir, during your absence there have been certain allegations
made about tapping of Parliamentarians' telephones. I bring this up
because in August last year, the late Mr H-olt said he had received an
assurance from the Attorney that before any Parliamentarian' s telephone
was tapped, the Prime Minister would be informed. Gould you say, Sir,
whether any Parliamentarians' telephones have been tapped?
PM: Not as far as I know.
Q. This is in relation, in the case of one of them, to
conscientious objectors and Viet Nam.
PM: No matter what it is in relation to, not as far as I know.
Q. In your absence, on this matter there has been a rumpus,
as you no doubt know, about....
PML: Well, I have been moving pretty fast. I haven't this in any
depth. It has just sort of washed across me as I have been going, but
go on,
Q. Are you likely to enquire personally into the Simon Townsend
affair, to give it that tag or will you leave it to the Minister concerned
and the...
PM: I think I would like to k1-now a bit more about whatever it is
that went on while I was away, before I could answer that sort of question.
I have really been on a split-second schedule for almost as long as
I can remember, a split-second schedule dealing with the matters over
there. Thank you.