MR. MENZIES CRITICAL

Evening Post, Volume CXL, Issue 59, 7 September 1945, Page 7

MR. MENZIES CRITICAL

ACTIONS OF DR. EVATT

CANBERRA, September 6. The attitude of the Minister of External Affairs, Dr. Evatt, to Great Britain, "merits the strongest criticism" said the Leader of the Opposition (Mr. Menzies) in the House of Representatives. "The Minister fails to realise that while the new world charter has value which is as yet untested, our relationship with the British Empire has proved its value over long generations," he said. The House was discussing the second reading of a Bill for the ratification of the United Nations Charter. Mr. Menzies first praised the "technical skill and pertinacity" that Dr. Evatt had displayed at San Francisco, and later he said: "The practice of carrying into the public Press matters of dispute or conflict with Britain which ought to be matters of private iiscussion seems to me to be a deplorable one. Public conflict between the Government of this country and Britain may give satisfaction to some elements which it is not hard to find in this world, but it is an extremely dangerous thing, and we on this side of the House entirely dissociate ourselves from it." Mr. Menzies supported ratification of the charter as "a great gesture towards peace." The Deputy Prime Minister (Mr. Forde) denied that Australia was in conflict with Britain. "'After my experience in London and San Francisco I have nothing but the highest admiration for the representatives of the United Kingdom Government and for the representatives of the other Dominions," he said. "No unfriendly feeling existed."