DUTCH RELIEF SHIPS

Evening Star, Issue 25730, 1 March 1946, Page 9

DUTCH RELIEF SHIPS

MAY BE ALLOWED TO SAIL BY WATERSIDERS SYDNEY, February 27. . Following the compulsory conference in the Arbitration Court, it is now probable that a trial Dutch relief ship will leave Australia for the Netherlands East Indies. The Dutch and British authorities in Java are to be asked to permit an observer approved by the Australian trade unions to accompany the ship to see that the cargo is distributed "only for relief and.without discrimination.

This is the position which the negotiations had reached earlier this month, when the whole matter was nullified by the categorical refusal of the waterside unions to accede to the request by the Australasian Council of Trade Unions. It is thought that this time there will be no hitch. The Conciliation Commissioner, Mr D. V. Morrison, in his opening address, steered clear of political questions, and pointed out that his main concern was the fact that the hold-up meant the loss of seven ships to the Australian trade, with a carrying capacity of 24.000 .toils every six weeks.

Mr Morrison has called another conference for to-day concerning the refusal of the men to carry out repairs to the four Australian corvettes which are to be transferred from the British Navy and then will probably be handed on to.the Dutch.