London, 22 November 1972
Personal
In common with millions of Australians—and I am sure most Old Commonwealth citizens everywhere—I would like to express my gratitude for the campaign on our behalf which you initiated in the Daily Express. Having relinquished my post as High Commissioner only 4 weeks ago l would find it impossible to enter this controversy publicly, although I have been engaging in some activities behind the scenes. However, when I am back in England a year hence I will no longer regard myself circumscribed in what I say or do, and l shall certainly be even more outspoken on this and similar issues affecting the Commonwealth than during my 8 years as High Commissioner.
Whatever the result of tonight’s Division in the House of Commons, I should imagine you will have caused the Government to re-examine, in the long term, the basis of British immigration policies. Your immediate contribution is immensely valuable in that you have shown Australians that a large section of British public opinion does care for the British nations overseas, and that the all-too-large element in the House of Commons which is Euro-obsessed does not represent the sentiments of the average Englishman.
For all this, as an Australian public man, and also of one who loves England and intends to act in future as an unofficial ambassador between the two countries, I am tremendously grateful to you and your virile, patriotic, John Bull newspapers.
Everything you wrote in your initial article on 16 November is true. 1 You are just so right to warn of the ultimate consequences, as in various speeches I have also done, that if British Governments continue to act towards Canadians, Australians, and New Zealanders in this manner The Queen will lose her throne in our countries. Should this happen, it would not only be an historical tragedy, but a condemnation of Conservative policies which historians of the future would never forgive.
1 ‘Make way for our friends Mr Heath, or reap the whirlwind’, Daily Express , 16 November 1972.
[NAA: M 1002, 284]