PACIFIC DEFENCE

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 145, 21 June 1941, Page 5

PACIFIC DEFENCE

AUSTRALIA AND N.Z. MIDDLE EAST POSITION "In case mv words <»vor rearh the Prime Minister of Great Britain."i said the Leader of the Opposition.! Mr. Curtin. when speaking in the! House of Representatives in Canberra on Wednesday. "I say that' should the battle in the Middle East go against us. the movement of the' Mediterranean Fleet is of vital eon-' ,cern to Australia. If Alexandria is jdestroved and the fleet in the Mediterranean put out of action. .Singapore would become useless as ja bastion of Australia. It would become merely a service station for someone else. j "It is all very well to sav that the 1 Middle East is one of Australia's outer bastions. Singapore is a very; close one. ; "Our obligation is principally to remember that Australia and New Zealand have a very great responsibility in the Pacific, corresponding to 1 that of Britain and the United Slates in the Atlantic. Something must be i done to establish a balance between iwhat can be done in other theatres ' of war, and what we must do in • Australia." Australia, he continued, must become an arsenal producing equipment, not only for her own defence but also for the Middle East. India.■< .Malaya and New Zealand. ! Drain on Manpower "It has always been the policy of ; my party that Australia must" be- ' come increasingly self-reliant." he said. "That is no longer a matter of policy, it is a matter of fact. Australia must assess her requirements in manpower for production and .defence, and then say how manv men she can spare for use in distant theatres of war. ' We are committed to the voluntary system for expeditionary forces, and at presert the Air Force and Army are vying with each other tor ,the enlistment of li ia now,

time to consider both appeals in the] light of the stupendous economic and: Iproduction programme which was implicit in the Prime Minister's [broadcast last night. Such a pro-1 gramme must involve a tremendous! amount of manpower which cannotj be sufficiently supplied by transfers! from civil production, or the dis-l placement of men by women in non-| essential industries." j He emphasised that Australians' fighting in Libya and Syria should] .not so without equipment and air 1 support. The only limit to equip-! ■ ment for these men should be that; 'imposed by the impossibility of get-' ting it there. There would be risks, jbut ali risks should be commonly 'shared. ; j "1 know that that involves risks."' Mr. Curtain said. "It may involve taking many planes from the defence of Britain, but it involves risk for j Australia, too, because we are; engaged in a very large production of munitions and the like. A great part of that equipment Is being sent away from Australia, and all the risks of this war should be con:;monlv shared." i I Strength of Overseas Force j Australians had to ask themselves; i what was the extent of the force ;that Australia could use outside Aus-i tralia. Australia had as close a. relationship with the safety of New Zealand as Britain had to countries close to it. Just as the danger to' Britain became overwhelmingly greater when France and Belgium fell, so. in the event of there being doubt about the capacity of New Zealand to hold out. the dangers to' Australia must increase. i Cur tin urged the Government to ascertain the strength of the air power that could be made available overseas to the fighting forces, and the maximum, or. at anv rate the (approximate strength of "the forcethe Government believed it was canable of maintaining. Mr. Menzies: As to the first point, you know that I have been in consultation with the British Government for some time. ' Mr. Curtin: I am making this -peeeh in this way not because I have any doubt about what th* l .Prime Minister has done, bur beicause I want to make it terribly plain that whoever has any responsibility m this matter shall be in nr doubt about the strength of the '•pinion huld in Australia rerardiing iu i