Please see paragraph 4 Information Bulletin cabled yesterday. [1]
The Dutch shipping trouble still continues and now affects Dutch
ships here even though carrying only relief supplies, the view of
Waterside Workers Federation apparently being that food is as much
an item of assistance to 'any army of intervention' as munitions.

The Indonesian crews are being replaced where possible by Lascars
and Dutch ratings. Meanwhile there is a large number of Indonesian
seamen from the ships at Brisbane and others in Sydney and
Melbourne. The Dutch official attitude which is quite
uncompromising is that unless we deport the seamen to the N.E.I.

the Dutch will lose interest in them and they become our
responsibility entirely. The Australian Prime Minister is definite
that they must leave Australia and this course is clearly
essential. We cannot, however, without risking a spreading of the
dispute force the men back to probable punishment in the N.E.I. We
have sounded out the Dutch on their giving us an assurance that
there will be no penalisation but they refuse to give this. The
only course, therefore, appears to be to deport them temporarily
to some Australian territory preferably Nauru where they are
unlikely to cause trouble among the natives and hold them there
until the situation in the N.E.I. clears. The matter is being
handled administratively as an immigration problem.

The above is for information. However doubtful the prospects of
Soekarno's movement, it appears to reflect considerable feeling
among Indonesians and it is becoming increasingly evident that the
Dutch authorities will need soon to become impressed with the
desirability of a broad political amnesty as part of a more
progressive policy for Indonesians.