[Australia]: Message to the United Kingdom

[Owen]

​

PRIME MINISTER​

SECURITY CLASSIFICATION: TOP SECRET (Encrypted)​

15 November 1996 Sir Roger Carrick High Commissioner of the United Kingdom to Australia 130 Commonwealth Avenue Yarralumla, Australian Capital Territory AUSTRALIA 2600​

Dear Sir Carrick, I am formally summoning you to my office in Parliament House to discuss matters relating to Antarctica. Yours sincerely, Paul Keating, MP.

Parliament House, Canberra, ACT 2600 Telephone: (02) 6277 7700​

Protective Marking:	Business Impact Level:	Compromise of Information Confidentiality:	Required to be Encrypted:
UNOFFICIAL	No Business Impact	No damage. This information does not form part of official duty.
OFFICIAL	Low Business Impact	No or insignificant damage. This is the majority of routine information.
OFFICIAL: Sensitive	Low to Medium Business Impact	Limited damage to an individual, organisation or government generally if compromised.
PROTECTED	High Business Impact	Damage to the national interest, organisations or individuals.
SECRET	Extreme Business Impact	Serious damage to the national interest, organisations or individuals.
TOP SECRET	Catastrophic Business Impact	Exceptionally grave damage to the national interest, organisations or individuals.

Jamie

 

[Jamie]

Confined to his private quarters, it wasn't long until he got that message that he was been summoned to Parliament House, releasing a loud sigh in the privacy of his office, he couldn't help but murmur to himself. "Those fuckin' Australian cunts thinking they can just summon me. If only the Queen hadn't lost her backbone, we'd have these pesky colonies back in their place". Of course, no one was around to see or hear his obscure verbal response but he stood up from his desk and.. despite objecting, he allowed himself to be summoned. Ensuring his private vehicle was ready, he begun his journey to meet with Paul Keating. A while later, he arrived and informed the receptionist he had a meeting with Paul Keating and that he would be expecting him.

Owen

 

[Owen]

"Right this way sir."

He would be led through the metal detectors and a Parliamentary security guard would lead him up through the halls all the way to the Prime Minister's office. He would be let into the office. The guard would stand out front of the door, closing it. The room was secure from the press or any unauthorised personnel. Paul would put down the phone.

"I gotta go, talk to you later..."

He would walk up to the High Commissioner for a handshake.

"Sir Roger, it's a pleasure for us to finally meet. Please.. take a seat." They would sit around the small coffee table with sofa chairs around it.

"Please help yourself..." He would gesture to the biscuits on the table.

"Now to be frank, you've probably guessed why I've called you here today. To discuss Antarctica. May I just start by saying Australia and the United Kingdom have a formidable relationship, solidifed by our shared culture and ancestry and of course... Her Majesty. 1.3 million Brits now call Australia home, the largest of any British diaspora group in the world. We've always had a strong relationship with Antarctica, indeed back in the early days it was the United Kingdom leading expeditions to Antarctica with Australians and New Zealanders. We're a bit saddened to hear that the United Kingdom has somewhat lost interest in Antarctica, given its historical relationship with the continent. Whats your governments current position on a British Antarctic claim?"

Jamie

 

[Jamie]

Roger Carrick followed the receptionist, having nothing that could cause an issue for the metal detectors. It wasn't long until he set his eyes on Paul, extending his own hand and shaking his. "Pleasure is all mine." he replied, "Oh, no, thank you" smiling. "Just ate before you had requested the meet. Stuffed!". Roger fell silent, allowing Paul to continue speaking before it became clear of the subject, the highlight of the worlds events. Antarctica. A quiet sigh followed as he begun to speak. "The United Kingdoms position on Antarctica remains unchanged, it hasn't lost interest, and it seeks to maintain its claim. However, the situation is fast developing into something we do not seek to be part of. Despite claims, we recognize that Sweden had made their choice to move military forces to the region and, in no better term, annex them. As opposed to fighting over it, we'd prefer to see no violence at all and cooperate to ensure the region is unsoiled. Our key stance isn't to pick a side, nor to challenge who wants to 'own' it. As long as we are in the capacity to negotiate and research. After all, that, and the environment, is key.

The last thing we would seek to be apart of is a confrontation over ownership. I mean realistically, what benefit is there? If a country refuses to let others do research there, then it'd impact them too in some capacity. Aside from research and an ego boost, I don't understand what benefits there are from 'owning', and I say that word loosely, land in Antarctica. We have already seen more lives lost than should have been, a major risk to the environment, and tension between countries who are active on the international level. Their objectives? To gain support. We equally have Argentina and Sweden giving contradicting evidence which just supports foul play.

To summarize, we still recognize our claim, we still intend to work in Antarctica, but we are not willing to go to war, or send warships to spoil the most beautiful and almost entirely untouched continent in the world. Unless there are any ulterior motives then we all want the same thing and our government is willing to work with anyone to ensure our scientific needs are met without the risk of harming our ethics or the environment."

Owen

 

[Jamie]

Owen

 

[Owen]

"More or less the same position we hold. We do hope that we can come to some sort of International legal framework in the Global Assembly and we hope to have Britain's support the whole way through. To say we're kind of the "third way", between Argentina and Sweden. Argentina and Sweden want to use military force, Argentina wants Antarctica evenly divided whereas Sweden wants to land grab but both are in the wrong for their use of military force. We do sway towards Argentina, but Sweden has shown signs of budging from their very... very... stubborn position.

Trying to find a diplomatic solution to those scientists was... well to be frank, almost gave me an aneurysm."

Jamie

 

[Jamie]

"At the moment the UK is neither in support of Argentina or Sweden, but of course, we will do what we can to support what is best from a humanitarian point of view.
I suppose only time will tell in relation to the Antarctica Summit.
Unless you have any further points to make regarding that.. there is one subject I would like to raise, and that is actually trade in relation to opening some formal routes between Australia and the UK, if this kind of discussion is something you would be interested in?"

Owen

 

[Owen]

"We're ready to start trading, but at the moment we have no merchant navy ships. It's not that we don't want to get them but that there doesn't seem to be much choice in the commercial shipbuilding market. Everyone is so focused on Defence and we're yet to have any interest in our tender or find suitable commercial vessels to create a merchant navy with."

Jamie

 

[Jamie]

"That is understandable, however, we are too in the same situation. We have found issues procuring commercial vessels as it seems to be a gap in the current market.

However.. I would recommend looking at the Portuguese Maritime Transport Company. We are currently trialing it ourselves and have raised the interest of hiring three of their container ships to see how it goes. If it proves to be sustainable and they are reliable, the UK government will be seeking further investment to that area. At the moment we have a number of fully procured vessels which the cost of the vessel initially then upkeep seems to be less viable then just renting via the Maritime Transport Company. It takes a lot of the overhead away, and still fulfills requirements for the merchant navy.

Our previous supplier in Japan seems to have somewhat diminished which had led us to looking for other sources, as it's not something the United Kingdom has the facility to supply its own vessels but yes, certainly one to watch over."

Owen

 

[Jamie]

Owen