EMPIRE AIR MAIL

Evening Post, Volume CXIX, Issue 33, 8 February 1935, Page 4

EMPIRE AIR MAIL

IMPORTANT CONFERENCE

NEW ZEALAND DELEGATES

A New Zealand delegation, comprising the Postmaster-General (the Hon. A.;Hamilton>, Director-General of the Post Office (Mr. G. McNamara), and the Minister's private secretary (Mr. F. M. Sherwood), will leave Wellington by the Monowai this afternoon to take part in discussions on the Empire air-mail service between London and New Zealand, via Australia.

The English 'delegates, who are flying to Australia, include Mr. T. Guiness, M.P., Parliamentary private secretary to Sir Phillip Sassoon, Secretary for Air; Mr. Bertram, Deputy Director of Civil Aviation; Sir Edward Campbell, M.P., Parliamentary private secretary to the Postmaster-General; and Sir Frederick Williamson, Director of Postal Services.

The Postmaster-General (the Hon. A. Hamilton) stated yesterday afternoon that, though many communications had been received from the British Government and the Australian authorities on the subject, the full details of the scheme had not yet been received. The proposal would be discussed .thoroughly in Sydney, where the policy of the New Zealand Government would be submitted in detail. As already announced, the main aim generally was to establish within two years a fast and cheap air-mail service between the countries concerned. The question of cost could not be discussed in detail until the British proposal had been explained fully at Sydney by the delegates who were flying to Australia. The aim was to provide a service between London and New Zealand by way of Australia, the postal rate being ljd per half-ounce, but that charge was purely tentative. Australia at present charged 26. for ordinary letter postage, while the New Zealand rate was only a penny. So. far, nothing definite had been proposed about establishing a traris-Tasm'an airmail service. The present service by air. was between London and Sydney, so that letters for and from New Zealand had to be transported across the Tasman at poundage rates. All these conditions would have to be considered, as they involved the question of expenditure. The Government had decided to co-operate with the British and Australian authorities in the development of the scheme, and there was no reason to doubt that a satisfactory arrangement would be effected at the conference in Sydney. The experts are confident that the present schedule of fourteen days for air-mail services between England and Sydney will be reduced soon to ten days, and ultimately to seven and a half days.