Free Trade Talks Suffer Set-Back

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30827, 12 August 1965, Page 3

Free Trade Talks Suffer Set-Back

(Special Correspondent N.Z.P.A.)

CANBERRA, August 11

Because of the urgently called meeting of the Australiar Cabinet to discuss Singapore’s break from Malaysia, there ha; been a temporary set-back to the progress of the ministerial talks on the limited free trade area between Australia and New Zealand.

This was disclosed at the end of the second day’s talks this evening. A brief communique at the end of the day said the ministers, Mr Marshall, for New Zealand. and Mr McEwen, for Australia, had continued to make steady progress. The meeting scheduled for! tomorrow would be cancelled because Mr McEwen, who is Australia’s deputyPrime Minister, will be required for the Cabinet talks. “There will be no meeting tomorrow because of Mr McEwen’s Cabinet commitments, but Mr Marshall has indicated that it will not be inconvenient for him to stay over another day, and consequently the discussions will resume on Friday,” said the communique. In a brief interview at the end of the day’s meeting, Mr Marshall, who was accompanied at the meeting by the New Zealand High Commissioner, Mr J. L. Hazlett and a party of officials, said he was happy with the progress being made. Asked whether the fact that the meeting continued for almost two hours beyond the scheduled finishing time meant that a snag had been struck in the negotiations, Mr Marshall said the main reason for the delay was an endea-

Ivour to make as much progress as possible because of Mr McEwen’s non-availability tomorrow.

He said the talks were being conducted as a “package deal” with New Zealand's propositions, and those submitted by Australia, being discussed as they went along. It was impossible at this stage to give any details of the discussions so far as they had gone, said Mr Marshall, but he hoped it would be pos-

sible to give “a reasonably conclusive” statement at the end of the talks. It was not immediately certain tonight whether the change in plans would mean Mr Marshall’s return to Wellington being delayed. He was to have returned on Friday evening. There is still a possibility he will be able to keep to this schedule, depending on the time taken over Friday’s discussions.