HKK 184/1
CONFIDENTIAL 2 JUL 1979
R+R,
291
CRS 330
CONFIDENTIAL
F4 CANBERRA 290215Z JUN 79
TO PRIORITY FCO
TELEGRAM NUMBER 361 OF 29 JUNE
no 1737
འ་་
See
30
INFO PRIORITY BANGKOK, MANILA, KUALA LUMPUR, JAKARTA, SINGAPORE, HONG KONG (GOVERNOR AND BCARFE), WELLINGTON.
YOUR TELEGRAM NUMBER 263
UK/AUSTRALIA AIR SERVICES
1. TUR ARRIVED YESTERDAY. ATTEWELL SPOKE ACCORDINGLY TO ROWLAND.
AUSTRALIANS DO NOT EXPECT ASEANS FORMALLY TO RAISE ICAP WITH MR
PEACOCK AT BALI, MEETING WITH HIM WILL LAST ABOUT 2 HOURS AND THERE
ARE MORE URGENT ITEMS, EG REFUGEES, TO BE DISCUSSED, MR RAJARATNAM
IS THOUGHT LIKELY TO TAKE AN OPPORTUNITY TO RAISE THE ISSUE AND
AUSTRALIANS WILL BE LOOKING FOR ANY SHIFT OF EMPHASIS IN SINGAPORE'S POSITION (PARA 4 OF MY TELEGRAM NUMBER 34′′). ROWLAND SAID FIGURES
INDICATE THAT SIA ARE FLOURISHING BOTH AUST/SING AND SING/UK.
TOURISM IN SINGAPORE HAS SUFFERED RECENTLY BUT MAINLY BECAUSE OF
IMPACT OF INDONESIA'S DRASTIC DEVALUATION.
2. THERE IS STILL NO DATE FOR ASEAN ECONOMIC OR COMMUNICATIONS MINISTERS TO REVIEW OUTCOME OF KUALA LUMPUR MEETING. PHILIPPINES HAVE PROPOSED MANILA EARLY IN JULY. AUSTRALIANS WILL BE TAKING STOCK POST-BALI BUT AT THE MOMENT ARE WAITING FOR THE ASEANS.
3. ROWLAND TOOK NOTE OF SUB PARAS/(A) AND (B) AND COMMENTED THAT AUSTRALIANS ARE ALWAYS WILLING TO MEET US(AS IN RECENT WEEKS) AND THEY PARTICULARLY LOOK FORWARD TO MEETING ROBERTS. HE ADDED THAT AUSTRALIA HAS NO INTENTION OF MAKING FURTHER CONCESSIONS TO ASEANS.
4. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORT HAVE STILL NOT RECEIVED WRITTEN REPORT FROM QANTAS ON KUALA LUMPUR MEETING. WE ASSUME CPA WILL BE GIVING YOU AN ACCOUNT. ROWLAND SAID FARE CONDITIONS AND LEVELS AND ABANDON- MENT OF 6TH FREEDOMS WERE AGREED ON. CUTTING OUT 5TH FREEDOMS WAS NOT RESOLVED AND THE ISSUE WAS BEING PUT BACK TO GOVERNMENTS.
/ 5. ROWLAND
CONFIDENTIAL