OFFICE OF THE HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR AUSTRALIA IN THE UNITED KINGDOM
Australian News and Information Bureau, Australia House,
Strand, London, W. C. 2 Telephone: TEMple Bar 2435
PRI1 MINISTER'S A1ZRIVAL AT LONDON AIRPORT.
MOINDAY, IvQ! RCH 6. 1961. INTERVIEW, B. B. C.,
I. T. V. AITD PRESS. 3.30 P. M. APPROXIMATELY.
CESTION:, Sir, you are a very senior member of the Commonwealth. Do
you think that the Commonwealth can keep its present
character if South Africa continues to be in the Commonwealth
with her racial discrimination?
ANSWER: You are now inviting me to say something in public about a
matter which will be discussed in private by the Prime Ministers.
I have nothing to say in public.
QUESTION: Well, youtve recently been seeing Mr. Kennedy, the President of
America, Mr. Prime Minister.
ANSWER: I have indeed.
QUESTION: Did you come to any conclusion with him about the major problems
of disarmament, peaceful co-existence, and so on?
ANSWER: No.
QUESTION: Can you give any impression of Mr. Kennedy?
ANSWER: I was very impressed by him. I thought that I'd never met
him before, except once, rather informally and so I was very
anxious to find out what he was like, if that was not an
impertinance, and I must say that, in the course of two hours
0or more with him, I was very impressed. I think he has a
lively mind, and I think we can look for active, positive
0policies from him.
QUESTION: Can you say, Sir, what you think will be the most important
* question that will come up at the Conference?
ANSWER: I would expect that we would have major discussions on disarmament
and on the future of the United Nations. I mean by that that
there is twice as many nations now belonging to the United
Nations as there were, and arguments are going on as to whether
the Security Council ought to have its structure altered, because
you have so many more countries in. There have been these
arguments that have gone on about the Secretariat, largely
promoted by Mr. of course, at the last Assembly, and broadly,
I think that it is an appropriate time for Prime Ministers to
discuss the relations between the Commonwealth and the United
Nations, they being two utterly different bodies, but their
members having a good deal of relationship with the others.
Those, I think, are two great things the important question
of the future of the Commonwealth, of course, is there South
Africa, of course, is one point that has been tremendously
canvassed in public, but there are other questions about the
Commonwealth, its future we have more colonies that will
achieve independence. Are they automatically to be members
of the Commonwealth? Are there to be any rules about this
matter? This problem has engaged a good deal of thought, both
here and in my own country.
QUESTION: Would you like to see some sort of Bill of Rights drawn up among
the Commonwealth countries?
ASER: You icnow, I've a very great respect for the Bil]. of Rights of
this country, largely because it passed its way into the, what
I regard as the common law inheritance of Australia. I don't
go nap on new Bills of Rights I think if the people run their
Parliaments, they'll see that their rights are protected.
QUESTION:, W~ at da you think, Sir, what' s your attitude towards Britain,
supposing we join the Common Market?
ANSWER: Now, look, I'm not going to make a kerbstone statement on that,
because, the other day, some views were attributed to Mr. Heath
on the question of the relationship between, if not the Seven
and Six, at any rate, the United Kingdom and the Six, and they
seem to me to be, possibly, very important. But I want to
know far more about them than I know now no doubt, I'll have
an opportunity in London to find out what the directions are,
whit the possible developments in contemplation are, but
Australia will need to know all about them and have proper time
to consider them, before we offer a view, but none here.
QUESTION: What will be your attitude if the question of decimal coinage
comes up at the Conference?
ANSWER: But will it?
REAK There seems a possibility.
What a horrible thoughti We've just had a Decimal Currency
Committee in Australia making a report, and we're still, you
know, grappling with it. I hope you're not going to ask me
to grapple with theirs, too. Are they?
QUESTION:. Changing the subject, Mr. Menzies) what do you think of
Australia's chances in the nexct Series?
ANSWER: Now, that question can be answered only in the light of
patriotism, not in the light of knowledge, because I don't know
what your young ones are like.* All I know is that we've had
to go for our lives this year against the West Indies, who
played magnificent cricket,! and the result of the Series was in
the balance two or three times.
QUESTION: You don't think you're going to spin out this Gonference
sufficiently long to see a bit of it here, Mr. Monzies?
ANSWIER: I think that's one thing about which I can be positive. I
will not be here for the Test matches.
REKU K: RPEMiRtKy: l Thank you very much indeed.