Note C9/3823 CANBERRA, 31 July 1947

URGENT

The Royal Netherlands Legation presents its compliments and has
the honour to transmit herewith to the Department of External
Affairs the text of a press statement to be released by the
Netherlands Minister in the course of today.

This statement embodies the text of a telegraphic communication
which has been received by the Legation from the Netherlands
Minister for Foreign Affairs regarding the initiative which the
Commonwealth Government was already reported to have taken to
submit the Indonesian question to the Security Council.

In as far as necessary the Legation draws the attention of the
Department to the fact that at the time Baron van Boetzelaer
forwarded this message, the contents of the Note dated 30th July
[1], which was yesterday handed by Dr. Burton to the Netherlands
Minister and of the press statement which was issued later in the
afternoon by the Rt. Hon. The Prime Minister on the Indonesian
situation [2], had not yet come to the knowledge of the Royal
Netherlands Government.

Attachment

Press Statement by His Excellency the Netherlands Minister,
Monsieur P. E. Teppema According to a cable message from the
Netherlands Minister for Foreign Affairs to the Netherlands
Legation Canberra, the following statement was made to the Press
on the 30th July:

Notice has been received that the Australian Government, basing
itself on Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations, has
brought the Indonesian situation before the Security Council of
the United Nations. Chapter VII deals with

"Action with respect to threats to the Peace, Breaches of the
Peace and Acts of Aggression".

A Netherlands Foreign Office spokesman stated:

"It is very regrettable that a member of the British Commonwealth
should have taken this step, in particular after the statement
made very recently by Mr. Bevin in the House of Commons. [3]

It is clear that this Australian move will not promote the success
of possible further steps which the British Government might
undertake with regard to exercising its good offices.

As long as the text of the Australian proposal is not known
comment on that proposal cannot, of course, be given.

However, surprise can be expressed at this stage, that the
Australian Government has seen fit to bring forward the Indonesian
question under Chapter VII of the Charter.

This Chapter deals with 'Acts of aggression, breaches of the Peace
and threats to the Peace' and, therefore, only has in view
unlawful action of one State against another State. This is not
the case in Indonesia.

Apparently the Australian Government shares the erroneous opinion
of the Republic, that the Republic should already be considered a
Sovereign State.

It may be recalled that according to the Linggadjati Agreement the
Republic will not obtain that status, not even after the interim
period as the Republic would only become a component-state of the
United States of Indonesia.

After the formation of the Netherlands-Indonesian Union, the
United States of Indonesia would become a Sovereign State, in the
same sense as the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

Therefore it would have been more understandable, if the
Indonesian case had been brought before the Security Council on
the basis of Chapter VI of the Charter. dealing with 'situations
which might endanger the maintenance of international peace and
security'."