FUTURE COLLABORATION

Evening Post, Volume CXXXVII, Issue 16, 20 January 1944, Page 5

FUTURE COLLABORATION

AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND

(Special P.A. Correspondent.) Rec. 10.10 a.m. CANBERRA, Jan. 20. The agreement on all matters by the Australian-New Zealand Ministerial conference is authoritatively accepted here as a substantial first step along the road of Imperial consultation and collaboration. Such co-operation inside the single political unit of the British Commonwealth of Nations, it is felt, must form the core of any new world I order. The talks between the two Governments have dominated the Australian political news, and their significance is being placed much above the protection of the common interests of the two countries. Indeed, these talks are seen as pointing the way to vital postwar co-operation in the broad international sphere. Now that Australia and New Zealand have reached agreement on matters of common concern, permanent machinery is being devised for continuous consultation. The High Commissioners of the two countries will be given added facilities; a permanent secretariat is certain to be established, while other important liaison work will be carried out through extension of the scope of the Australian and New Zealand External Affairs Departments. Additional suggestions for collaboration include the creation of standing joint committees on matters of common interest. More frequent conferences between Australia and New Zealand are certain, and it is possible that later a meeting may be held in Wellington. Australia is believed to have already proposed further talks on the post-war economics of both nations. Leading Australian spokesmen outside the conference, including the former Commonwealth Prime Minister Dr. Earle Page, have pointed out the importance to Australia of New Zealand's development. Emphasis has been placed on an industrial sphere in which Dr. Page considers New Zealand should be treated as one of the constituent States of the Commonwealth. New Zealand's adverse trade balance with Australia has also been the subject of comment. The bonds which the present conference has cemented, it is believed, would further be strengthened by a continuous interchange of administrative representatives between Australia and New Zealand. Thus in a few years an important pool of experts would be created, with knowledge of the affairs of both countries. In the larger sphere of southern Pacific regional collaboration no time has been set for the suggested conference of representatives of the United Kingdom, the United States, France, Australia, and New Zealand. But such a conference is unlikely until after the Imperial Prime Ministers' meeting in London, since agreement and cooperation within the Empire is accepted by both Australia and New Zealand and the basic necessity for collaboration with broader allied interests.