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1553396
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March 16, 1976 - Ford, Australian Ambassador Nicholas F. Parkinson
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1553396
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document
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March 16, 1976 - Ford, Australian Ambassador Nicholas F. Parkinson
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Memoranda of Conversations (Nixon and Ford Administrations)
Ford Administration Memoranda of Conversations
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Australia
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Military bases
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1976-03-16
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1976
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16
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1976-03-16
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1976
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File scanned from the National Security Adviser's Memoranda of Conversation Collection at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
la
NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS ADMINISTRATION
Presidential Libraries Withdrawal Sheet
WITHDRAWAL ID 018391
REASON FOR WITHDRAWAL
National security restriction
TYPE OF MATERIAL
Memorandum of Conversation
TITLE
Ford, Australian Ambassador Nicholas F.
Parkinson
CREATION DATE
03/16/1976
VOLUME
2 pages
COLLECTION/SERIES/FOLDER ID
031400831
COLLECTION TITLE
National Security Adviser. Memoranda of
Conversations
BOX NUMBER
18
FOLDER TITLE
March 16, 1976 - Ford, Australian
Ambassador Nicholas F. Parkinson
DATE WITHDRAWN
07/23/2004
WITHDRAWING ARCHIVIST
GG
open with portions reducted
MR 07-15 ₫5
HR 1/23/08
a
MEMORANDUM
THE WHITE HOUSE
SECREF/NODIS/XGDS
WASHINGTON
ECLASSIFIED E.O. 12958 SEC. 3.6
WITH PORTIONS THEMPTED
E.O. 12350 SEC. 1.5
MEMORANDUM OF CONVERSATION
MR 07-15 State Rev 3/12/04
DooLtr 5/3/07
Dept of air force Ltr 5/3/07
BY HR NARA DATE 1/23/08
PARTICIPANTS:
President Ford
Amb. Nicholas F. Parkinson, Australian Ambassador
Brent Scowcroft, Assistant to the President for
National Security Affairs
Philip Habib, Assistant Secretary of State for East
Asian and Pacific Affairs
Stuart W. Rockwell, Deputy Chief of Protocol
DATE & TIME:
Tuesday - March 16, 1976
2:00 - 2:14 p.m.
PLACE:
The Oval Office
SUBJECT:
Presentation of Credentials
[The press enters to take photographs. There is discussion of when
Parkinson got here and the President's experience in the South Pacific
during World War II. The press departs. ]
Parkinson: Thank you very much for receiving me so soon after my arrival.
President: We are delighted to receive you. Please give my regards to the
Prime Minister. We very much appreciate the very positive statements he
has made about the United States and associated matters.
Parkinson: The Prime Minister asked me to give you a personal message.
He says that you are the bulwark of the free world and we look to you to
preserve us all from those who would do us ill. He is sorry that he couldn't
get here last summer. He would like very much to come to visit but he
thinks in light of everything the first half of 1977 would be best.
President: That sounds fine. Meanwhile I hope our two governments can
continue our close cooperation. We intend to maintain a forceful presence
in the area.
CLASSIFIED BY BrenT Scowcroft
EXEMPT FROM GENERAL DECLASSIFICATION
FORD
SCHEDULE OF ENECUTIVE ORDER 11652
di
AUTOMATICALLY DECLASSIFIED 5(B)(3) ON Imp To Det.
EXEMPTION CATEGORY
SECRET/NODIS/XGDS
SECRET/NODIS/XGDS
- 2 -
Parkinson: Thank you. The last part of the Prime Minister's message is
that we consider ourselves a staunch ally and when we disagree at times
we hope to do so quietly and in private.
President: I thank you for that assurance and I am sure our relationship
will thrive.
Parkinson: I visited them only a short time ago. They are doing very well
and our two forces cooperate very closely.
President: Are the bases in the boondocks?
Parkinson: Very much SO. One is at the Woomera missile range and the
other at
Some live in the town there and the single ones live
on the base.
We are well aware of the importance of the bases, and the Prime Minister
spoke of their significance and is pleased to be contributing that way.
President: Please give him my best. I look forward to seeing him in 1977
if I am still around.
Parkinson: I am a novice but it looks good to me.
President: I think things are looking up.
SEGRET/NODIS/XGDS
One P FORD LIBITE
16
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
CONFIDENTIAL
GDS
CREDENTIALS CEREMONY FOR THE
AUSTRALIAN AMBASSADOR
Tuesday, March 16, 1976
2:00 p.m. (10 minutes)
DECLASSIFIED
The Oval Office
E.O. 12656 SEC. 3.6
From: Brent Scowcroft
MR 07-15 #5 state 3/12/04
Dept air Ince Lth 5/3/07
DOD Ltr 5/3/07
BY HR NARA DATE 1/23/08
I.
PURPOSE
To accept the credentials of the appointed Ambassador
from Australia, Nicholas Fancourt Parkinson.
II.
BACKGROUND, PARTICIPANTS & PRESS ARRANGEMENTS
A. Background: Ambassador Parkinson succeeds Sir Patrick
Shaw who died in office last December. We have arranged
an early appointment for him to present his credentials so
that he may call on the Vice President prior to the latter's
departure on his trip abroad, which includes an official
visit to Australia.
Ambassador Parkinson, 50, was born in England and was
educated in Australia receiving a B. A. degree from the
University of Sydney. After service in the Royal Australian
Air Force in World War II, Parkinson joined the Australian
Department of External Affairs in 1951. He has served in
Lebanon, Egypt, Hong Kong, the USSR, New Zealand,
Malaysia, and in the Department of Foreign Affairs and the
Joint Intelligence Organization in Canberra. From 1970 to
1974 he was Australia's High Commissioner to Singapore.
Before coming to Washington as Ambassador, he was Deputy
Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs.
Bilateral Relations
Our bilateral relations with Australia are excellent. In
the early 1970s, some divergencies in policy began to
R
FORD
appear, particularly over Indochina; given the changes in
CONFIDENTIAL
GDS
CONFIDENTIAL
2
U.S. policy toward the Soviet Union and the People's
Republic of China, Australia believed it had more room
for maneuver and independent initiatives. Differences
reached their high point between December 1972 and mid-
1974 under the Labor Party Government that E. Gough
Whitlam headed. Whitlani publicly criticized some U.S.
policies, and created some uncertainty concerning the
tenure of our major defense-related installations in
Australia. Relations improved during the last year of the
Whitlam Government. The Fraser Government, which
took office in December 1975 after a landslide election
victory, has publicly supported U.S. foreign policy and
defense interests. Most of the remaining bilateral problems
seem on their way toward resolution.
Significant Programs and Issues
ANZUS, our defense pact with Australia, which dates from
1951, plays a fundamental role in our security posture in
the Pacific. We recently conducted a naval exercise with
our ANZUS partners. We have three major defense-related
installations in Australia, and several important NASA
installations. These are not an issue in our relations at
this time. We would like to resume visits (suspended since
1971) to Australian ports by our nuclear powered warships,
and would like to locate an OMEGA Navigation Station in
Australia; the Fraser Government has indicated that it will
approve these projects. We are basically satisfied with
Australia's defense cooperation in other areas and with
Australia's present policies in Asia.
We expect to get Australia's support on most multilateral
political and economic issues. Australia is also the site
of an estimated $6 billion in U.S. investment. We export
about $2 billion a year to Australia, and import about
$1 billion. There is a possibility of some friction on trade
if Australia continues to impose restrictions on imports.
Australia would like to export more meat to the U.S., but
recognizes that the U.S. is the only major export market
now open to Australian meat, and that our voluntary restraint
system preserves Australia's share of the market.
FORD
CONFIDENTIAL
CONFIDENTIAL
3
B. Participants: Deputy Chief of Protocol, Stuart W. Rockwell,
will present the Ambassador to you. Assistant Secretary of
State for East Asian Affairs Philip Habib and I will also be
present.
C. Press Arrangements: A routine press announcement will
be made. There will be a photo opportunity.
III.
TALKING POINTS
1. We continue to attach great importance to our close
relations with Australia, and to the broad strategic
relationship that the ANZUS alliance symbolizes.
2. We have noted with appreciation the statements of Prime
Minister Fraser, Foreign Minister Peacock, and Defense
Minister Killen regarding the global role of the United
States, air activities in the Indian Ocean, and visits by
nuclear-powered warships.
3. We can assure Australia of our determination to continue
the principal directions of U.S. foreign policy, and to
support our friends and allies.
4. We believe that Australia has an important role to play
in regional security and in assisting us in maintaining the
global balance.
5. Australian political and economic support for the non-
communist states of Southeast Asia, as well as military
cooperation with them, contributes to their self-confidence
and improves the prospects for development and security
in that area.
6. We appreciate the extensive celebrations of the U.S.
Bicentennial being planned in Australia.
7. The Vice President is looking forward to his visit to
Australia later this month.
CONFIDENTIAL
2
NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS ADMINISTRATION
Presidential Libraries Withdrawal Sheet
WITHDRAWAL ID 018393
REASON FOR WITHDRAWAL
National security restriction
TYPE OF MATERIAL
Note
DESCRIPTION
Brent Scowcroft's handwritten notes
from Ford, Parkinson meeting
CREATION DATE
03/16/1976
VOLUME
2 pages
COLLECTION/SERIES/FOLDER ID
031400831
COLLECTION TITLE
National Security Adviser. Memoranda of
Conversations
BOX NUMBER
18
FOLDER TITLE
March 16, 1976 - Ford, Australian
Ambassador Nicholas F. Parkinson
DATE WITHDRAWN
07/23/2004
WITHDRAWING ARCHIVIST
GG