32 Officer to Department of External Affairs

Reference your telegram 38. [1]

1. I called on Van Vredenburch today and again strongly urged along the lines contained in your telegram 38 that the decision concerning the visas should be reconsidered.

2. I was advised that the situation remained as reported in my Hague 51 [2] and that the Netherlands Charge d'Affaires at Canberra would not be authorised to issue the visas for the reasons already stated.

3. I was told informally- (A) That reports published concerning Dutch-Indonesian negotiations on economic matters were misleading and in fact these are still at a delicate stage;

(B) That the Netherlands Cabinet (vide my telegram 51 paragraph 5) was in session and would remain in session until late this evening;

(C) That if Cabinet did review its decision I would be informed immediately.

4. I am of the opinion that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs does not expect Cabinet at this juncture to reverse its decision.