Canberra, 12 August 1966
1330. Restricted Immediate
Please deliver following message from Mr Hasluck to the Tunku informing him that Mr Hasluck has in mind publishing text within the next day or so. Please advise when delivered.
Begins—
I am sure that you must be greatly heartened by the agreement formally concluded yesterday between Malaysia and Indonesia, and deeply thankful, as we are in Australia, that the distressing conflict in your region is at an end. The achievement of an honourable settlement owes much to the spirit which you and your colleagues have engendered in Malaysia since its formation in 1963, and the example you have set in combining resolution with flexibility, and forbearance with strong leadership. In standing with you during these three troubled years we have never ceased to look forward to a time when peaceful conditions would obtain in the region. I am confident that the associations between Malaysia and Australia, already fortified by their closeness in the recent past, will be further strengthened in the years of peaceful co-operation now in prospect.
Ends.
[NAA: A6366, KL1966/06T]