Interdependent or independent?' : Australian-British relations at the Melbourne Imperial Press Conference (1925)

Speaking in Melbourne at the opening of the 1925 Imperial Press Conference, the second Lord Burnham who led the British press delegation, referred to the trilogy of conferences convened by the Empire Press Union to that point in time: the prestigious London debut of 1909, the post-war conference at Ottawa in 1920 and the 1925 event which occurred in Melbourne during September-October.2 Geographically and culturally, successive conferences had taken the various British and Dominion delegations further from London, necessitating in the case of the former, a protracted overseas travel schedule which did not cease with their arrival. In conjunction with the Melbourne conference, for example, British delegates crossed the Atlantic to join with their Canadian counterparts before travelling by ship to New Zealand across the Pacific. Upon their arrival in Sydney, they visited the eastern states before descending to Victoria and Melbourne, which became the base for subsequent excursions to Tasmania, South Australia and Western Australia. Such strenuous travel schedules, by steamer, train and car, were applauded for their educational value to visiting journalists and overseas delegates, many of whom were accompanied by their partners.3