PM Transcripts

(-7
F 77/ 263
, Jij AUSI AL I( A J1,
FOR PRESS 18 NOVEMBER 1977
COMMONWEALTH REGIONAL. MEETING.. MELBOURNE,. FEBRUARY 1978
A meeting of Commonwealth regional Heads of Government,' which
was an Australian initiative at the Commonwealth Heads of
Government meeting in London, is to take place in Melbourne
early next year.
Present planning is proceeding on the basis of a meeting in
Melbourne next February.
Invitations have been extended to the Heads of Government of
eleven regional Commonwealth countries Bangladesh, Fiji, India,
Malaysia, Nauru, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Singapore,
Sri Lanka, Tonga and Western Samoa.
The agenda for the meeting will consist of international and
Commonwealth matters of interest to the region, and is expected
to include, subject to consultations with the Goverinments
concerned, regional economic and functional co-operation,
international economic issues and regional political trends.
The agenda will be discussed in detail at an officials' meeting
in London next month, and will then be submitted to the participating
Heads of Government for approval.
The communique issued after the Commonwealth Heads of Government
meeting in London in June endorsed the concept of informal
regional consultative arrangements among Commonwealth countries.
The matter was one on which I spoke in London suggesting that
informal consultations among regional leaders would have a
number of advantages. I am pleased at the progress-~ made in
recent weeks.
The Commonwealth Secretary General, Mr. Ramphal, has been
encouraging in his reaction to a regional meting, and has
accepted an invitation. to attend.
In London, the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting saw
regional consultation as enhancing co-operation on matters of
Commonwealth interest and furthering collective Commonwealth
objectives. The Australian initiative for a' Commonwealth regional
meeting has been taken in this spirit.