UN General Assembly
1958

24. Australia supports this wise recommendation. At Geneva the Australian delegation, together with other members of the Commonwealth, urged that there should be a "standstill agreement" until the further conference took place. We think it was unfortunate that this suggestion was not accepted. Anarchy in coastal waters is against the interests of international law and order. We urge, therefore, that the second conference should be held at an early date, as soon as sufficient preparatory work has been done to disclose the possibility of a convention along fair and acceptable lines. 25. Agreement to abandon the use of force in territorial disputes and to settle outstanding differences on the law of the sea by multilateral negotiations rather than by unilateral action backed by force, will also contribute to the solution of the disarmament problem.