Cablegram 292 CANBERRA, 4 October 1945
Cabinet last night agreed to the appointment of a number of Trade Commissioners including Peterson at Batavia. [1] The submission by Commerce [2] was not shown to us in advance but Mr. Makin has stated that he made the point, to which Cabinet agreed, that this appointment did not prejudice in any way the appointment of a Consul-General under whose jurisdiction the Trade Commissioner would work.
In view of the situation in N.E.I. and of the Cabinet decision an early appointment as Consul-General at Batavia seems essential.
Would Langley [3] be interested and suitable?
_1 See AA: A2703, vol. 3.
2 Agendum 956 (in AA; A2700, vol.19) argued that Trade Commissioner services would be more important than ever in the post-war world, and that strong and efficient representation must be maintained, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It sought approval for the return of A. E. Hyland as Director of Trade Publicity, London, with C. E. Critchley as Trade Commissioner there (or equivalent); J. U. Garside as Commercial Counsellor, Washington, R. R. Ellen as Trade Commisioner, New York, and a further appointment to San Francisco; the return of H.
A. Peterson to his pre-war posting at Batvia, and an appointment as yet undecided to Singapore. Cabinet was further informed consideration being given to appointments to Cairo, India, China and Brazil.
3 It has not been possible to establish his iddentity.
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_[AA : A3195, 1945, FOLDER, TO AND FROM DR. EVATT IN LONDON. FOREIGN MINISTERS’ CONFERENCE, 0.25497]
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