Tony Blair’s government was privately lobbied by Australia not to meet a delegation of Indigenous community representatives, described as “troublemakers”, according to newly released files from Britain’s National Archives.
The delegation, led by Yawuru elder Patrick Dodson – later a Labor senator and known as the “father of reconciliation” – visited the UK in late 1999 and met Queen Elizabeth II. However, a memo from Blair’s foreign affairs adviser, John Sawers, disclosed the Australian high commissioner, Philip Flood, had intervened to discourage a meeting with the prime minister.
Sawers wrote: “The Australians are pretty wound up about the idea of you seeing the Aborigines at all. Their high commissioner rang me to press you not to see them: they were troublemakers – it would be like John Howard seeing people from Northern Ireland who were trying to stir up problems for the UK.” The memo suggested pleading “diary problems”, with a handwritten “yes” in response that appears to be from Blair. Sawers also noted Blair would face pressure to meet Chinese activist Wei Jingsheng a week later, adding that refusing would be harder if he met “Australian dissidents”.
Another government memo recorded Australian concerns that the delegation would seek an apology from the Queen and raise the “historical failure of the British government to consult Australia’s Indigenous population during colonisation”. It recommended against a meeting, warning the UK risked being drawn into “domestic Australian debate on indigenous issues”.
Other files from the period reveal anxiety in Blair’s government about Australian relations, including a possible vote for a republic in the 1999 referendum, and a proposed cricket match between teams selected by Blair and then Australian prime minister John Howard. A private secretary advised Blair that declining to attend might seem “unsporting”, suggesting a charity match as an alternative.
