Ministerial Dispatch 1/47 SINGAPORE, 14 October 1947

TOP SECRET

Following certain negotiations between yourself and the United
Kingdom authorities concerning Australian interests in this area,
you gave me a direction that, pending establishment of a permanent
organisation for the co-ordination of British Commonwealth
defence, I should act as a channel through which suitable liaison
could be maintained with the British Defence Committee in South
East Asia, and that I should attend its meetings as an observer.

These instructions were conveyed in top secret departmental
memorandum No.29 of 31st January 1947. [1] As you know, an
essential requirement of the efficient discharge of these duties
has been access to information gathered by the various United
Kingdom organizations here, both service and civilian, and
exercise of an adequate voice in decisions reached in committees
other than the Defence Committee, such as the Co-ordination
Committee and the Joint Intelligence Committee.

2. The Joint Intelligence Committee consists of three service
members, a representative of the Governor-General's Office, and of
the various Security bodies here, under the chairmanship of the
Special Commissioner. I have always been represented as an
observer at this committee, either personally or by a member of my
staff. This has been quite invaluable, not only because it has
allowed us to draw upon sources of information which would
otherwise not have been available, but also- because it has given
us the opportunity of remarking trends in U.K. policy in this
region, as revealed in the subjects which the Committee has had
under consideration. Recently, however, there has been a definite
tendency on the part of the service representatives on the
Committee to try and restrict membership purely to service
personnel, with the exception of the Special Commissioner's
representative. The ostensible reason has been to bring the
Committee's organisation into conformity with that sitting in
London, which consists of representatives of the Foreign Office
and three Service Ministries, and the U.K. Security organisations.

In consequence, the Chiefs of Staff Committee here and the Joint
intelligence Committee, London, have both recommended that the
Joint Intelligence Committee (Far East) should
(a) be re-constituted so as to be responsible to the Chiefs of
Staff Committee here instead of as at present to the British
Defence Committee in South East Asia; and
(b) that its membership should be restricted accordingly.

You will remember that a similar development took place recently
in regard to the British Defence Committee, and that it was
necessary to check this forthwith (see my despatch to Dr. Evatt
No.49 of 20th August 1947). [2]

3. Although I feel strongly that, in view of the importance of the
role of Australia in any future defence scheme, the exclusion of
the Australian representative would at this stage be discourteous
as well as unrealistic, I did not on the present occasion make an
issue of this, for I did not wish to take action which might be
regarded as in any sense entering into a commitment. The Special
Commissioner's Office, however, has expressed strong views on the
matter. On its initiative the Joint Intelligence Committee (Far
East) has now recommended that nothing should be done to alter the
present practice whereby an Australian representative attends its
meetings as an observer. The service members of the Committee
concurred in this course, in spite of the contrary opinion
emanating from the Chiefs of Staff.

4. There the matter rests, and I think that our association with
this very useful Committee is assured for the time being. I should
be grateful, however, to have your views on the whole subject, and
any guidance which you may feel it possible to give me. I wish to
emphasise that I have been myself guided by the desire to make as
much use as possible of the sources of information available here,
without at the same time becoming an actual participant in
committee work to an extent which might be regarded, either by the
Australian Government or the United Kingdom authorities, as
accepting a commitment. I very much hope that in this I am
following your wishes. [3]