Canberra, 22 November 1972
I refer to cable 18759 [sic] of20 November from the Australian High Commission in London concerning immigration to Britain. 1
It is indicated that, following discussion in White Hall on 21 November, the Acting High Commissioner will be cabling an appreciation of the new rules; that he hopes at the same time to be able to offer recommendations about the handling of the situation and will then be seeking the earliest possible guidance on future handling and presentation in London.
It is timely, therefore, to emphasise that the Department of Immigration, with our own restrictive policy in mind, has consistently discouraged criticism of, or interference in, the immigration policies of other countries.
When Sir Robert Menzies was Prime Minister he opposed any attempt to have Australia’s immigration policy discussed at meetings of Commonwealth Prime Ministers. He took the view that every country has the right to determine its own immigration policies.
It must be borne in mind that a significant and increasing number of United Kingdom citizens resident in the United Kingdom are ineligible for residence in Australia, and cannot enter Australia, even as visitors, without first obtaining authority to do so.
It was my experience during two terms as Chief Migration Officer in London that the British immigration authorities adopted a liberal and sympathetic attitude in dealing with Australians. It is the way in which their new rules are administered that is really important. As a result of discussions with British immigration officials before I left London in June 1971, I do not think that Australians who wish to go to Britain as visitors or for working holidays will have any serious cause for complaint. This category accounts for the great majority of Australians going to Britain. The relatively small number—those wishing to live in Britain and take up employment there—will of course have to comply with a new set of rules and obtain prior approval.
I fully endorse the attitude taken by my predecessor, the late Sir Peter Heydon, that by complaining to the British about their immigration laws ‘we make a rod for our own backs’.
1 Document 345.
[NAA: A1838, 67/1/3 PART 6]