A—ll

The administrative expenses of the Committee have been shared by all the members, New Zealand's contribution in 1946 being £440. The operational expenses of the Committee were met by the United Kingdom and United States of America, but in 1946 the United Kingdom indicated that they could no longer continue to •carry this expenditure and requested that all members should undertake payment of ■a proportional share of the operational expenses. New Zealand authorized its representative at the sixth plenary session of the Committee, Mr. C. B. Burdekin, in December, 1946, to agree to the payment of a share of the operational expenses. The sum of £15,300 has been contributed as New Zealand's share of the operational •expenditure for the first six months of 1947. It has been anticipated that, at the end of this period, the International Refugee Organization will take over the functions of IGC. 10. International Refugee Organization In February, 1946, the Economic and Social Council, acting on a recommendation of the General Assembly, established a sub-committee to make a thorough examination of the whole question of refugees and displaced persons. New Zealand was represented at the meetings of this Committee during April and May, 1946. The Committee recommended the establishment of a specialized agency of a non-permanent character, and drafted a constitution. This was considered at length by the Economic and Social Council and referred to the General Assembly, which, in December, 1946, adopted a constitution for the International Refugee Organization and an agreement for a Preparatory Commission to make the necessary arrangements for the commencement of operations by the Organization. The functions of IRO include the repatriation, identification, care, protection, transport, resettlement, and re-establishment of the refugees and displaced persons covered by the constitution. The Organization will come into existence when its constitution has been accepted, without reservation, by fifteen States whose contributions total 75 per cent, of the operational budget. With the impending termination of the activities of UNRRA and IGC on 30th June, 1947, whose activities it is intended that IRO should assume, the need for the Organization to commence operations is urgent if the plight of hundreds of thousands of refugees and displaced persons is not to become even more desperate. Accordingly, the Government decided that New Zealand should sign the constitution of the Organization without reservation, and this was done by the Right Hon. W. Nash in New York on 17th March, 1947. The administrative and operational budgets of the Organization for the first financial year, with the percentage of the total contribution in each cas'e allocated to New Zealand in parentheses, were fixed at $4,800,000 (0-50 per cent.) and $151,060,000 (0-44 per cent.). Contributions to the large-scale resettlement expenses, fixed at $5,000,000 for the first year, are to be made on a voluntary basis. THE BRITISH COMMONWEALTH 1. Information and Consultation The New Zealand Government and its representatives participate fully in the system of intra-Commonwealth consultation upon a wide range of topics, of which the most important are foreign policy, economic policy, and defence policy. Most sections of this report provide examples of the system in action —the daily activities of the High Commissioner's offices, the direct dealings of British Commonwealth Government Departments one with another, the direct liaison between Service Departments, the regular meetings in London of Commonwealth" High Commissioners with the Dominions Secretary and the Foreign Secretary, in foreign countries the meetings of British Commonwealth representatives (all of whom are appointed in the name of the King), and, at the highest level of policy, the consultations among Prime Ministers. The basis of this system is the very great flow of information continually passing between the separate Dominions and the United Kingdom and, ever increasing, among the Dominions themselves.

19