Canberra, 30 June 1976
0.CH375152 CONFIDENTIAL IMMEDIATE
Message to the President from Prime Minister
The following is the text of the message referred to in our immediately preceding telegram:1
Begins
Your Excellency,
I have asked my Ambassador, Mr Woolcott, to see you personally to give you background information about my talks with the Chinese leaders. I have in mind that he particularly discuss with you press reports which could give a misleading impression of the substance of our discussions.
I am particularly upset about press reports which imply that comments had been made reflecting on Indonesia and your own distinguished leadership. You should know that during my discussions I was very conscious of the need to keep Indonesian interests in mind, and the Ambassador will be able to make this clear to you. I want you to know that I hold the relationship between Indonesia and Australia in the first importance and I attach great significance to the development of a close relationship between us personally.
With this in mind I feel it important to have a personal meeting with you as we had agreed in our previous exchanges.2 I should like to visit Indonesia at a time that is convenient to you, but the dates I have tentatively set aside are 10 to 12 October. I would be grateful if you could confirm whether these dates would be convenient to you, or any alternative dates you may have in mind around this period.
Malcolm Fraser
Ends
[NAA: Al838, 801/13/10/1, v]
- 1 In Cablegram CH375151 (30 June) Renoufinformed Woolcott that the Prime Minister wished him ‘to see President Soeharto at the earliest possible moment and pass on to the President himself the contents of the message Dan has already delivered lower down the line’. He asked Woolcott to emphasise to Soeharto the importance which Fraser attributed to relations between Indonesia and Australia as well as ‘the importance to both countries of the avoidance of Great Power conflict or interference in South East Asia’. Woolcott was also asked to ‘assure the President of the high regard Mr Fraser has for him, for Mr Fraser’s appreciation of what the President has done in Indonesia and Mr Fraser’s feeling that very much in Indonesia depends upon the continuation of the President’s leadership of his country’. It concluded by advising Woolcott that the immediately following cablegram contained the text of a message which Fraser wished the Australian Ambassador to pass to Soeharto.
- 2 See Documents 343 and 344.