IMMEDIATE URGENT

Your office telegram 8th April. [1]

Australian Censorship has been further embarrassed with respect to
movements of Mauretania. Report of departure from Honolulu clearly
indicated Australia as destination. Censorship here therefore
considered it necessary at that stage to apply regulation which
prohibits the course [sic] of shipping movements.

Simultaneously with application of ban in Australia British
Broadcasting Corporation broadcast Mauretania's departure
presumably with consent of London Censorship authorities, and as
prohibition operated locally, Censorship is being attacked for
alleged bungling. I urge that any variation of regulations
concerning shipping movements, particularly when ships are en
route to Australia, should be communicated to the Commonwealth
Government before being released by the British Broadcasting
Corporation or any other agency, otherwise both United Kingdom and
Commonwealth Censorship must be brought into contempt.

Application now being received from all parts of Australia to
announce arrival of Mauretania and other Atlantic liners and take
photographs for publication. Because of previous publicity from
overseas, movements of these ships are now generally known and
Censorship feels it will be quite impossible to prevent news
escaping. If prohibition is enforced here, it is feared Australian
public will be informed by enemy or neutral broadcasts and that
Censorship consequently will be gravely embarrassed.

I should be obliged if you would have immediate consideration
given to the question of permitting newspapers to announce and to
publish photographs of ships in Australian waters.