747.47H/12: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Minister in Australia (Johnson)
12. Reference your No. 25, February 3. Prime Minister Fraser has replied that he is in entire accord with my message of February 1. We infer from Fraser’s reply, however, that he may believe we are agreeable to the calling of a conference after discussions in Washington and that it is still the plan of Curtin and Fraser to call the conference after their return from London and Washington. This leads us to believe that our message was not as explicit as we had thought. We are, therefore, instructing Wellington to inform Fraser that in our opinion no attempt should be made during the present year to call a conference of the type contemplated. Please inform Curtin of our view to this effect. We shall of course hope to discuss all aspects of the matter with Prime Ministers Curtin and Fraser when they are in Washington.