1 H. Fitzmaurice.

2 At the request of the Minister for Defence, Sir Archdale
Parkhill, this memorandum and its attachment were referred to the
Defence Committee, whose views were subsequently reported in
Document 172.

Attachment

Mr H. Fitzmaurice, U.K. Consul-General in Batavia, to Mr A. Eden,
U.K. Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs

Dispatch 130 (copy) BATAVIA, 2 September 1937
Received n.d. [on or before 29 September 1937]

CONFIDENTIAL

I have the honour to report that the Governor of Portuguese Timor
(Major Neves da Fontoura), who passed through Java on his way to
Dilli last week, had expressed to me his desire that air
communication with Portuguese Timor might be established,
preferably by a British line.

2. I received a visit yesterday from Mr W. Hudson Fysh, Managing
Director of the Queensland and Northern Territories Air Services
('Qantas'), who is on his way to London to confer with Imperial
Airways on matters of common interest. I accordingly told Mr Fysh
of the desire expressed by Major da Fontoura, suggesting at the
same time that recent developments in Timor might make the
establishment of an air connection with Dilli of greater interest
both to the Australian Government and to Imperial Airways than it
had hitherto been.

3. Mr Fysh showed much interest and said he would mention the
matter to Imperial Airways Limited in London. At his request, I
have consequently furnished him with a short memorandum (copy
enclosed) [1] on recent developments in Timor.

4. I have, as you are aware, lately advocated that the Government
of Australia should, largely for strategic reasons, develop a
closer contact with Portuguese Timor. An air connection such as
Major da Fontoura desires would certainly serve to strengthen such
a contact, and consequently appears prima facie likely to be in
the interests of the Commonwealth Government, even if it may not
offer any great prospect of immediate profits to Qantas.

H. FITZMAURICE

[AA : A816, 19/301/587]

1 Not printed.