Cablegram T322 CANBERRA, 24 October 1947, 2.09 p.m.
SECRET
Your I.T.O.394, 403. Modification of Ottawa obligations.
Cabinet Sub-Committee desires the questions of free entry into United Kingdom and our own obligations under the Ottawa Agreement to be dealt with quite separately. The agreement with United Kingdom relating to the former will be general to a number of Commonwealth countries while the latter will be peculiar to Australia. Any reference to the other agreement such as that made by Coombs at the beginning and Helmore towards the end of the draft agreed minutes as set out in your I.T.0.394, modified by I.T.0.403, should therefore be deleted. In any case the more specific form of agreement covering the question of free entry into the United Kingdom which is proposed in our T.308 would necessitate this change.
2. With these alterations the text of the agreed draft minutes is approved for purposes of establishing a modus vivendi. At a later date however, the Committee desires the agreement to be embodied in a formal exchange of notes.
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[AA : A1068, ER47/l/29]