§ Q5. Mr. Dalyellasked the Prime Minister if he will create a Department of the Prime Minister.
§ The Prime MinisterI have at present no plans to change the existing arrangements, Sir.
§ Mr. Biggs-DavisonIs not it the case that there is a Department of the Prime Minister in the Commonwealth of Australia, that that department has been conducting relations with this country, but that a change is threatened in that arrangement? Will my right hon. Friend get in touch with the Prime Minister of Australia to see that relations with him are conducted in the old spirit between our two countries, notwithstanding anything that may have happened yesterday?
§ The Prime MinisterThis matter is internal to the affairs of Australia. When the Australian Prime Minister visited this country and we had discussions together, he told me his policy, and said that he intended to change from the policy of his predecessors. The change is that the High Commissioner in London will be responsible to the Minister for Foreign Affairs in Canberra, instead of being directly responsible to the Prime Minister. We both agreed that this would in no way alter the long-standing arrangement within the Commonwealth that a High Commissioner always has right of access to the Prime Minister in the member country of the Commonwealth to which he is accredited. That is the basis on which we are carrying on our arrangements with Australia. But it was a decision entirely of the Australian Prime Minister when he came to office.