Lord Caithness said that while the new constitution was not perfect it was a step in the right direction, and all Fijians should work together under that constitution with the aim of restoring a more representative system later. He added that we would be glad to see Fiji back in the Commonwealth.
2.
Call on Senator Richardson, Minister for Social Security
Richardson was totally relaxed. He briefly touched on the issue of indexation of pensions, but only to the extent of saying that he would be calling on Tony Newton during his visit to London on 22/23 April (he is also visiting Israel, Portugal and Germany on the same trip). He added that while he had inferred from earlier remarks by Mr Newton that Mr Major was a softer touch on the matter than Mrs Thatcher had been, he did not regard that as a commitment.
3.
Call on John Kerin MP, Minister for Primary Industries and Energy
Kerin started the discussions in a direct and forthright manner, saying that although he welcomed the improvement in relations between Australia and Britain and was himself always pleased to go to Britain (he is visiting London in June), there was no doubt that the Common Agricultural Policy and the EC in general had to some extent poisoned the minds of some Australians towards the UK.
CAP/GATT
Kerin said that the Australian Government saw the two issues as closely related. Despite what the man in the street might think, the Government still regarded Britain and Holland as their friends on this and appreciated how helpful Britain had been; France was another matter and a cause of concern.
Lord Caithness agreed there was a need to bring agriculture into the GATT round and that we were in line with the Cairns Group on trying to resolve the problem. We were also trying to stop EC over-spending, particularly on the CAP.
Kerin thought that Australia could hold the Cairns Group together but they would not sign up to new talks until it looked as if there was going to be progress.
In reply to Lord Caithness' question, Kerin said that the Industry Statement to be made the following week was not going to be protectionist: tarrifs would be cut to 5%.
3 -
/Maralinga