PM Transcripts

FOR PBF& SS P. m. 40o1964
RESIGNATION OF SIR WILLIAM SPOONER
Statement by the Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. Sir Robert
Menzies
The front page story in the i'Sydney Morning
Herald" referring to the resignation of Sir William Spooner
is entirely false and in all its implications malicious,
The story states that " only two months ago he
refused Sir Robert's offer to appoint him Australian
Ambassador to Washington", and that I resented his " refusal".
This is completely untrue, since no such offer was made.
It was, I thought, pretty well understood in Cabinet
circles that Sir William had no ambitions to go to Washington.
In any event, I knew three months ago, when he first
approached me, that he wanted to secure relief from his
Cabinet work. It would have been very strange for meo, under
these circumstances, to have endeavoured to talk him into
taking on the exceedingly arduous labours of Ambassador
to Washington. The whole basis of this story is false.
Furthermore, the story is wickedly unjust to
Sir William Spooner. I would have thought that an honourable
man with fifteen years of continuous Cabinet service,
interrupted by very few holidays of any kind, might be
entitled to reach the conclusion that he would like to go
Lack to private life without being gratuitously pursued
by the groundless allegation that he had been dismissed.
CANBERRA, 3rd June, 1964.