Colonel Sandeman Allenasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether, as a result of the Imperial Conference of 1937, a British-born woman, who has received the nationality of an alien husband and has nevertheless retained her Australian, Canadian or New Zealand citizenship, may claim protection and assistance from representatives of His Majesty abroad when there is no separate diplomatic representation of the particular community to which she belongs?
§ Mr. EdenUnder the British Nationality and Status of Aliens (in New Zealand) Amendment Act, 1934–35, and similar legislation passed in the Commonwealth of Australia in 1936, a British woman who has acquired foreign nationality by reason of her marriage with a foreigner and has thereby lost her British nationality may elect to retain while in New Zealand or Australia, respectively, the rights and obligations of a British subject. These rights are purely local and any assistance which such women might receive from British consular officers could be given only as a matter of courtesy. They would not be entitled as of right to British protection in foreign countries and if they desired intervention on their behalf with foreign authorities their appropriate course would be to apply for assistance to the diplomatic or consular authority of their husband's country. So far as I am aware, no similar legislation has been enacted in Canada.