154. Editorial Note
The ANZUS Council met in Wellington, New Zealand, on June 5 and 6, 1963. Australia was represented by Sir Garfield Barwick, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Attorney General, New Zealand by Prime Minister Keith Holyoake, who was also Minister of External Affairs, and the United States by Under Secretary of State W. Averell Harriman.
During the opening session of the Council meeting on June 5, Harriman stated that any additional assistance which Australia and New Zealand could provide in Vietnam would be of great political value as demonstrating multilateral support for the Republic of Vietnam. He noted that Diem had requested liaison pilots. Prime Minister Holyoake offered to provide such assistance, with the understanding that the New Zealand pilots would have a liaison but not a combat role in Vietnam. (Telegram 470 from Wellington, June 6; Department of State, Central Files, DEF 4 ANZUS)
The ANZUS Ministers devoted two paragraphs of the final communique issued on June 6 to the problems posed by the conflict in Vietnam.
[Page 359]For text of the final communique, see American Foreign Policy: Current Documents, 1963, pages 734-736.