OPINIONS FROM DOMINIONS

Southland Times, Issue 25512, 4 November 1944, Page 5

OPINIONS FROM DOMINIONS

MR SULLIVAN SPEAKS AT CONFERENCE (Rec. 10 p.m.) WASHINGTON, Nov. 2. The Australian Air Minister, Mr A. S. Drakeford, in 'a speech at the air conference at Chicago, said that New Zealand and Australia had both publicly declared in the interests of the future peace of the world and in order to facilitate the rational development of the world’s air commerce in international air transport, that an authority should be appointed which, through the appropriate organization, would own aircraft and operate proscribed international routes on behalf of all nations and that such international air transport authority should be the organ of the proposed world security organization. These services would be operated effectively if all countries in the world were willing to concede to an international air transport authority the greatest possible measure of freedom in its development of air commerce.

“Only through an international authority does it seem possible to achieve that permanency of tenure, making for efficiency, economy in operation'and certainty of satisfactory service that all nations expect when peace returns,” said Mr Drakeford.

“There is no more favourable time than at present to achieve these desirable objectives. Any postponement of the solution of these problems can result only in the development of vested

interests in many countries which will prove a stumbling block in later years when inevitability will necessarily bring about a greater measure of international control. “At the same time New Zealand and Australia realize that it is the sovereign right of each nation to develop air services within its own territory for the benefit of its own people. The principle of international ownership leaves each country complete freedom regarding the’ development and control of internal air communications and the right to make agreements to establish secondary air route services with contiguous countries for the purposes of the promotion of regional development and mutual interests and as a contribution to regional security.

ENDORSEMENT BY NEW ZEALAND The leader of the New Zealand delegation, Mr D. G. Sullivan, traversed much the same ground as Mr Drakeford and pointed out if the prevention of future wars is to be entrusted to an international body there should be no hesitation in empowering an international organization to own and operate international air transport services. Any other system must lead to international competition. International ownership would, through supervisory power, afford a very large degree of safety against the misuse of aircraft. “By this means,” concluded Mr Sullivan, “national rivalries which have been such fruitful sources of misunderstandings and have led to open breaches among the nations will be avoided.”