London, 8 November 1966
I have sent [the attached Times article, ‘Cool Greeting for New Foreigners’]1 out to Jack Bunting, saying that I will take an opportunity of having a talk with the Commonwealth Secretary privately. This is a situation which, if it develops, could do untold harm to Anglo-Australian relations, and from what various people have told me during the last eighteen months I am quite sure that the article is not exaggerated in any way. It is a sad reflection on our kinsfolk here that at times they seem to have a genius for affronting their best friends.
1 On 7 November 1966 the Times published a story under the provocative headline ‘Cool Greeting for New Foreigners’ that served to raise public awareness about the effect of the UK immigration rules on Australians, and became the subject of diplomatic exchange. The opening paragraph stated: ‘A girl who burst into tears at London airport when ordered to leave the country within 24 hours is one of a growing number of angry Australians. Another who arrived back in England this month after a continental holiday says she was told by an immigration official: “ I am sick to death of you foreigners coming here, earning money and spending it abroad.” When she protested that she was not a foreigner but a British subject, she was asked if her parents were British. “ No” she replied. “ In that case, we are not interested” , was the alleged answer. These Australian are adding their protests to complaints by coloured immigrants. This at least shows that not only coloured people are feeling the sharp bit of the regulations.‘ The article concluded that ‘Australia, Canada and New Zealand have ties with the motherland which go far deeper and mean far more to them than most Britons realize. For decades they have welcomed thousands of “ pommies” and “ limeys” to their shores. When their own young people are treated as unwelcome strangers in an alien land, they feel hurt and bewildered’. The story was quickly picked up by the Australian papers and became something of a minor controversy (see Document 315).
[NAA: A446, 1970/95741]