§ Mr. Chris Smithasked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will seek to obtain a copy of the transcript of the Australian Royal Commission hearings (a) in London and (b) in Australia, with a view to placing it in the Library.
§ Mr. ButlerI will arrange for a copy of the Royal Commission's report to be placed in the Library when it is published. However, the full transcript of proceedings already runs to over 7,000 pages, and further evidence in Australia has still to be taken; I would not feel justified in placing so large a volume of material in the Library. In the meantime, copies of the very considerable number of United Kingdom documents and records relating to the nuclear trials programme in Australia which were given to the Royal Commission are now available in the Public Record Office.