§ Mr. DAVID THOMAS (Merthyr Tydvil)To ask the First Lord of the Treasury if his attention has been called to the refusal by the Government of the Commonwealth of Australia of permission to six English hat-makers to land at Sydney, on the ground that under the existing law it had no discretion; and whether, seeing that such law appears contrary to the Imperial spirit shown in the resolutions passed at the recent Conference of Colonial Premiers, he will suggest its modification, and also that in all future 1611 legislation directed towards the consolidation of the Empire equal treatment shall be reserved for the Mother Country.
(Answered by Mr. A. J. Balfour.) It will be seen, on reference to the reply made to the honourable Member for Ross and Cromarty yesterday, that the six hatters have been allowed to land. The law makes no discrimination against the Mother Country; and as the policy of excluding contract labour is entirely a matter for the Australian Parliament, His Majesty's Government are not in a position to suggest any modification of it.