CANBERRA TALKS

Press, Volume XCV, Issue 28217, 4 March 1957, Page 9

CANBERRA TALKS

Subversion A Main Topic (Rec. 9 p.m.) CANBERRA. Mar. 2. A programme to combat Communist subversion and propaganda is to be one of the main topics discussed by delegates to the South-east Asian Treaty Organisation conference which will open in Canberra on Friday, sources connected with the conference said today. The sources said the conference would discuss two main ways of doing this. The first would be a public information programme to keep member nations informed of latest Communist infiltration tactics. The second would be a drive to make known the aims of SEATO and so counteract what one official called the “idea held by some that collective security is an evil thing.” SEATO military advisers will meet first to prepare a report on collective defence for the Ministerial meeting. Official sources said that the conference will discuss a counter-subversion programme to meet the full range of Communist underground activity. The programme would include studies of Communist exploitation of youth groups, AfricanAsian committees, cultural exchange programmes and overseas Chinese organisations. It is understood that the SEATO annual report, to be released next week, will deal at length with the question of Communist subversion, and steps already taken to counter it. Canberra Prepares Canberra is a hive of activity this week as officials prepare for the conference. Canberra has not been host to a major international conference before. Member nations of SEATO are Australia, Britain, France, New Zealand. Thailand, the Philippines, Pakistan and the United States. " The seven visiting nations are expected to send more than 200 representatives to the conference. Delegations of all countries except Britain and France will be led by Foreign Ministers. Canberra’s hotels are packed to capacity to get *all the people in. And embassies, many of which are only temporary, will be crowded out too. Ministers and members of Parliament have given up their rooms in the House of Parliament for offices for the delegations.

Security officers have had one of the biggest jobs in preparing for the first big secret conference to be held in Parliament House. Some doors have been sound-proofed and offices connected with the conference screened. It will be the first time that the House of Representatives is used for.a multi-lingual conference. A headphones system has been installed so that delegates can follow the debate in either French or English translation.