EMPIRE COUNCIL

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 78, 24 November 1943, Page 3

EMPIRE COUNCIL

PROPOSAL REGARDED AS DESIRABLE VIEWS OF PRESS DELEGATION LEADER Wellington, Nov. 23. In the course of a press conference in Wellington this morning British Press delegation leader, Sir Walter Layton, was questioned with regard to the proposal of the Australian Prime Minister, Mr Curtin, for an Empire Council. “I think it is very desirable to have closer consultations and for the Empire to know exactly where it stands before it launches off into the troubles of the peace,” he said. “It is most desirable that there should be no feeling within the Empire and for consultations to take place in advance. “Mr Curtin’s point is that the foreign policy of the Empire may land Australia in a war in the Pacific, as indeed it has, and Australia naturally feels that being a country on the spot which can have its finger on the pulse of events in the Pacific it should be consulted in advance, or even lead in imperial affairs in the Pacific. None at home could even challenge that view. The thing is how to do it. “Again New Zealand and Australia are interested in Europe and should be in at an early stage in discussions. The problem is how to get the mechanics of some organisation to bring that about.”—P.A.