Cablegram 1664 CANBERRA, 8 November 1945
IMMEDIATE SECRET
I have sent the following to Attlee.
‘I regard the discussions which you are to have in Washington on the atomic bomb [1] as most important and I would like to be kept informed. As you know, Australian scientists made contribution and we should like to share in the decisions which might be taken as to the future use of the knowledge which has been acquired.
2. Dr. Evatt will be in Washington during your discussions and I hope that you will be able to bring him into your conversations.’ [2]
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1 Held 10-15 November.
2 In cablegram 1022, dispatched 13 November, Evatt reported his meeting with Attlee. They discussed the destructive potential of the new weapon, including the possibility of timing devices and rocket mechanisms. Evatt informed Attlee of his talks with Oliphant (see Document 272) and of Oliphant’s view that atomic research offered constructive possibilities, including the control of climate and fertility in central Australia. He established that there was no proposal to make pooled technical knowledge available to the Soviet Union and believed Attlee agreed with him that that matter could not be solved by the large powers alone. He understood that both Attlee and Truman thought, as he did, that the problem of atomic energy could not be separated from the general problem of international relationships and that protection against its destructive use depended on the establishment of an atmosphere of international goodwill. On file SFU : Evatt Papers, Evatt-Overseas Trips-1945-Cables-Washington.
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[AA : A1066, H45/780]