the more so if they believed that Australia and the UK were
ganging up on them. It is difficult to predict how they
would react in advance of any approach to them and thus
difficult to decide how to respond to the Australians.
It would be premature to give the Australians the commitment
in principle for which they are asking. On the other hand,
to turn down the proposal at this stage would provoke a
sharp reaction from the Australians and would have an
adverse effect on our bilateral air service and perhaps
wider relations with them. It would be best to be reasonably
forthcoming, provided that we preserve the ability to
retreat if the reaction of third countries is tough and in
particular if they gang up to block the scheme.
10 We recommend that the Australians should as soon as
possible be given a written answer on the lines of the
attached draft. The reference to introducing the scheme
"in an orderly and acceptable manner" is deliberately
ambiguous.
11 We also recommend that they be told that we would
have no objection to the Australians showing it to the
which
third countries, they approached, if asked what the UK
reaction had been.
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