Foreign and Commonwealth Office
London SW1A 2AH
Mrs E J Grimsey Home Office
Lunar House
40 Wellesley Road Croydon
Dear Liz,
CR9 2BY
PICD жо
34014
RECEIVED IN REGISTRY
1 1 MAY 1990
DESK OFFICER
INDEX
PA
7 March 1990
REGISTRY
Action Taken
VISIT OF THE HOME SECRETARY TO AUSTRALIA
ALTAL
HONG KONG
1. Thank you for your letter of 22 February about the Home Secretary's planned visit to Australia this September. You ask for an assessment of the likelihood of our being able to reach an agreement with the Australian Government on emigration from Hong Kong.
2.
As you know, we have been pursuing the question of international support with friendly Governments, including Australia, for some months now. Our basic request was that they find some way to follow our lead by giving assurances to Hong Kong people that did not require them to leave the territory (rather than concentrate on their traditional policy of encouraging immigration from Hong Kong).
3.
The Australians have been considering their response in the context of a broader review of Australian policy towards Hong Kong. The Australian Foreign Minister is personally sympathetic but the Department of Immigration dislike the idea of any exceptions being made to Australia's global non-discriminatory immigration policy. Under existing arrangements investors can obtain Australian residence visas but defer emigration for 3 years. The Australians plan to continue to extend this scheme to Hong Kong until 1997. At the UK/Australia Political talks on 21 February, Robin McLaren impressed on senior Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) officials that the circumstances of Hong Kong were unique and required a unique solution.
4. We have just learned that the policy review is still in preparation for Cabinet and that we should not expect an early response. In any case, Australian Ministers are now preoccupied with the election campaign (polling is on 24 March). Our DFAT contacts have said they cannot now predict when the policy review will be complete, let alone when or how Ministers will react to it. Even if something helpful to Hong Kong does emerge from this review, it is far from clear whether the Australians
KIPAQR
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