Canberra, 10 January 1962
Secret
Thank you very much for your letter of 2nd January and for the very useful information which you gave us about the American attitude to the Common Market negotiations.
2. In your last paragraph you ask for an assessment of the likely effect of the election results here on the Australian Government’s attitude to our negotiations with the Six.1 I am sure that George Warwick-Smith2 is quite right when he says that we shall find the Australians even more difficult than hitherto. As you know, Mr Menzies himself conveyed to the Secretary of State when he was here the idea that he would have to be unforthcoming before the election and that from that point of view he hoped that the crunch of the negotiations, necessitating the taking of positive attitudes by Australia, would not come until after it. As it happens this has worked out all right on the timing, but unfortunately the result of the election is such that Australia is plunged once more without intermission into another pre-election atmosphere. It is generally thought here that it is likely that there will be another election about next December, if not earlier. If there is not, the present pre-election atmosphere will only be indefinitely prolonged. Our hopes therefore that the Australian Government could take a more statesmanlike and less finicky attitude to our negotiations after the election have been dashed.
3. As to the ways in which this will manifest itself, I am afraid I can only say that it is likely to be on all fronts i.e. on consultation procedures, on desire to participate in negotiations and on the substance of the negotiations in both big and little matters. In particular, I fear that the Australians will now stick with undiminished rigour to the line enunciated by Mr Menzies in his message to Mr Macmillan on 6th October last3 that ‘we cannot regard any of our trade items, upon which so many whole communities depend,4 as expendable.’ As you know, some of Australia’s exports to the United Kingdom which may not appear as greatly significant in the overall total of Australian exports to Britain, are nevertheless of real importance to individual communities of producers (and voters) geographically located in particular constituencies. Canned and dried fruits are the outstanding examples. I am afraid that it is on items like these, as well as on broader and quantitatively more important matters such as wheat exports, that the Australians will be very sticky.
1 The election was held on 9 December 1961 and the Menzies Government was returned with a majority of two.
2 Deputy Secretary, Department of Trade.
3 Document 157.
4 This clause is misquoted (see Document 157).
[UKNA: DO 159/56]