Canberra, 26 January 1965

Top Secret

Possible Use of Australian Forces in the Defence of Malaysia

At its meeting on 18th January, the Cabinet Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee considered Submission No. 588 by the Minister for Defence relating to a message from the United Kingdom Prime Minister dated 15th January on the situation in the Malaysian area arising from the recent build-up of Indonesian forces.¹ Paragraphs 9–17 of the submission considered the availability of additional Australian forces for Malaysia in the light of the statement in Mr. Wilson's letter that 'there still remains a need for additional helicopters, SAS troops and a further infantry battalion.' In reply, copy of which is attached hereto, (Annex A), no specific offer of additional forces was made.²

2.

The Minister for Defence has forwarded to me two messages arising from his discussions with the Malaysian authorities in Kuala Lumpur. Attached at Annex B is a copy of Kuala Lumpur cablegram No. 184 which records the results of Senator Paltridge's discussion with Malaysian Ministers.³ In a subsequent message (cablegram No. 188 from Kuala Lumpur),⁴ Senator Paltridge advised:–

'If, in view of present circumstances, Cabinet considers that an answer should be given quickly, I would be agreeable to advising the availability of 1 squadron of SAS and granting approval for the use of 3 RAR in Borneo.

2. A quick decision on the number of .303 rifles that can be made available should be possible and would be very much welcomed here.

3. Decisions on the other requests which have rather sharper problems could be deferred until after my return.'

3. In the light of our discussions in the Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee of Cabinet, I requested the Chiefs of Staff Committee to examine further the requests communicated by the Malaysian Government through Senator Paltridge and a copy of their report is attached at Annex 'C'.⁵ In summary the Chiefs of Staff have recommended that:–

(a) our Strategic Reserve battalion 3 RAR (with supporting elements if required) and 1 SAS squadron of about 100 all ranks from Australia be made available for deployment to the Borneo territories on rotation;

(b) a further battalion from Australia should not be offered for service in Malaysia in addition to 3 RAR;

(c) no additional helicopters should be made available for deployment to Malaysia at present;

(d) Australia should not offer to assist in commando training, although some assistance by way of specialised equipment could be offered if required.

4. I submit the report of the Chiefs of Staff Committee for consideration by the Committee.

[matter omitted]

[NAA: A4940, C1473]

1 See footnote 3, Document 237.

2 Document 237.

3 Document 238.

4 22 January.

5 Not published.