C
?
expense of Singapore. Although again it will be for the
Australians
to make the running, Malaysia might see a UK-Australia agreement
as a barrier to the extension of her services to the UK, which she
is seeking. (We stalled on this in the recent talks, pending the
approach by the Australians.) This could lead her to postpone
further agreement to Concorde over-flying her territorial waters.
CONSEQUENCES OF TURNING DOWN THE AUSTRALIAN PROPOSAL
18 If the Australians are to succeed with their proposals, they
must have us as their partners. Their hand has no strength if they
approach other Governments without an indication of our agreement.
If we turn down the proposals, they could be expected to exert
strong political influence to get us change our minds. If that
failed, they would probably embark on an alternative course, such
is the intensity of domestic pressure to introduce cheap fares.
Possibilities could include either of the other options described
in paragraph 6: the introduction of charter services would still
shut out the third country carriers, such as Singapore and Malaysia.
Or they could seek an agreement for an arrangement similar to the
current proposal with another European country, eg the Netherlands,
through which they would hope to channel traffic to and from the
UK.
CONCLUSION
19
We would like to give a definite response to the Australian
delegation before they return home at the end of this week. They
can feel entitled to an indicative reaction from us. They have.
taken us into their confidence not only now, by approaching us
first, but also in March when UK officials were invited to
discussions in Canberra.
20 On the pro side, UK consumers will benefit from lower fares;
the UK-Australia through route should be a growth service and
2-