Alternatives to Australian Proposal
9 In theory these could be:
(a) the status quo
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(b) one of the options in paragraph 3 above
(c) the current proposal for the trunk route, but with the
Australians doing a deal with (say) the Dutch, to bypass
British objections
(a) some modification of the current proposal to make it more
palatable to Singapore and others.
10. The Australians took the line that (a) was impossible for them for domestic political reasons and that (d) was impossible because they had researched exhaustively for a soft option and come up with none. They hinted that if HMG
refused a commitment in principle to the present proposal, they would have to turn to (b) or (c). Neither of the options at (b) above would be satisfactory to us, both
have serious deficiencies and it is doubtful if the
Australians would be attracted to either. (c) above could
be introduced without our concurrence and would inevitably
lead to a serious deterioration in our air services
relations with Australia. It would be seriously detrimental
to BA's position. It is most unlikely however thick Australian's world
So
to such lengths.
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