HC Deb 10 May 1973 vol 856 cc745-6
Q7. Miss Joan Hall

asked the Prime Minister if he will make a statement concerning his recent official talks with the Prime Minister of Australia.

The Prime Minister

I refer my hon. Friend to the reply which I gave to the right hon. Member for Workington (Mr. Peart) on 1st May.

Miss Hall

Has my right hon. Friend discussed with Mr. Whitlam the five-Power defence agreement on the Far East, particularly with regard to Singapore and Malaysia? Do the Australians intend to stay there or pull out?

The Prime Minister

I understand that the Australian Minister of Defence will be visiting the countries concerned with the five-Power defence agreement in the comparatively near future and that he will have discussions with his opposite numbers on this matter.

Mr. Harold Wilson

We know that the right hon. Gentleman usually fends off questions with reference to the test ban agreement, but will he tell us whether, following discussions with the Australian Prime Minister, he approves of or deplores the French test?

The Prime Minister

I take exactly the same view as the right hon. Gentleman did when he was Prime Minister.

Mr. Wilson

Does the right hon. Gentleman reject or support the test?

The Prime Minister

I repeat my reply.

Mr. Kilfedder

Does my right hon. Friend agree that Australia and New Zealand having come to our aid—and to the aid of other countries which are now in the Common Market—during our time of trouble a decade ago, we ought to put the greatest possible pressure on the French Government to stop them holding further nuclear tests in the Pacific?

The Prime Minister

The French Government are and have long been well aware of our views. We told the Australian Prime Minister that we would convey to the French Government the resolution passed by the South Pacific Forum at which he had been present and at which the British dependencies were represented, which he specifically asked us to do.

Mr. Driberg

In addition to conveying that resolution, will the right hon. Gentleman give his positive support to it not only in view of Australian and New Zealand views, but in view of the number of British subjects in that area who may be affected harmfully?

The Prime Minister

We have always monitored these tests, and we have not found that British subjects have suffered.