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The Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs to the Governor-General of New Zealand

Your telegram of 27 June (No. 213). The suggestion that a brigade group should be sent from New Zealand to Fiji is greatly appreciated, and our provisional view is that this would be a very valuable role for New Zealand forces. The position is that at the moment we are giving active consideration to the situation in the Far East generally, and in the near future we hope to be able to communicate a full appreciation of the position in the Pacific as we see it. Resulting from this examination of the position, it was as a preliminary measure that we thought it desirable to approach the

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Commonwealth Government in my telegram of 28 June (No. 214) about the possibility of sending military and air reinforcements to Singapore.

The considerations advanced in your telegram of 27 June regarding the use of New Zealand forces generally, will of course, be taken into account in our examination of the situation.