Empire Lost - Andrew Stewart [90]
Although there had been no British delegate present at the Canberra meetings one of the members of the New Zealand Department of External Affairs gave a fulsome account of what had happened to his friend in the High Commission in Wellington.18 His record noted that
the conditions in which the conference opened were typical of the un-businesslike atmosphere that pervaded the whole proceedings. Mr Curtin, after keeping the representatives waiting for some time in the appointed committee room, thought on his arrival that the room was too small and insisted on the company adjourning to the House of Representatives, where, however, it was found that the lights had been removed for cleaning. The lights could not be restored for some time and the conference began an hour later. From that point onwards the proceedings were extremely rushed, and many of the subjects received practically no consideration. Dr Evatt dominated his colleagues, who took little part, and the agreement may be regarded as his handiwork.
According to this Curtin was apparently not much interested, his mind focused on domestic matters, while Evatt was looking 'to make a splash' that would bring glory both to him and the department he led. The British official, having heard the account, thought Evatt's main idea was 'the putting of Australia on the map as an independent power'. He also thought that relations between these two most senior figures were not good, 'there is a tendency for them to work in watertight compartments', and this, in his view, was an important factor in explaining recent events. This view was apparently shared by other British officials based in the Australian capital. They were reported by another New Zealand observer as affecting to be amused by the agreement: 'two of the children playing amongst themselves' requiring 'adult supervision'.19 As Cross put it, writing to London in January 1944, 'it was Dr Evatt who developed and led the chorus of snarls that emanated daily to the papers from ministers' press conferences, which in time became accompanied by another note, a note of superior wisdom—after the event'.20 Batterbee also had been able to report back to London the results of a 'long and frank talk' with Fraser that had taken place immediately following his return back to Wellington. This confirmed that the New Zealand ministers had been rushed by Evatt and Fraser had been uncomfortable with, and even reluctant to agree to, the language used in the final document. The official secretary in the High Commission had dubbed it 'the Anzaxis' but his boss had concluded that there was in fact no anti-British intention, 'if it was anti-anything, it was anti-American'.21 And while the apparent American determination to retain New Caledonia at the end of the war was the basis for many of the shared concerns that existed within the two Dominions the New Zealand leader was worried in terms of how Washington might react.
Using these accounts, Cranborne was able to produce a detailed summary for his Cabinet colleagues of the background to the agreement and the main terms it entailed. He also outlined his concerns. He reiterated the degree to which there had been little prior knowledge of the conference. Indeed it had been thought that it was the Dominions' intention merely to hold 'mutual consultation' of a preliminary character prior to talking with the British authorities more formally. In fact there had been no references at all to there being future discussions