AIR MISSION TO AUSTRALIA

Press, Issue 22599, 3 January 1939, Page 9

AIR MISSION TO AUSTRALIA

" BUILDING MILITARY

MACHINES

ESTABLISHMENT OF FACTORIES EXPECTED

(Received December 31, 9.10 a.m.)

LONDON, December 30,

A large British Government mission will leave for Australia almost immediately to investigate the possibility of manufacturing military aircraft there. It is expected that the establishment of factories in Australia will almost certainly follow. It is expected in Sydney that the British mission’s chief purpose will be to encourage the idea behind the establishment of a Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation in Melbourne. It is expected that Australia will ultimately supply the needs of New Zealand, Malaya, and India. It is stated that when the Melbourne factory was established there was strong opposition to the decision to build American instead of British types, chiefly on the ground of the value of interchangeability of machines and parts within the Empire. Nevertheless, although the idea of strengthening the local industry is welcomed, experts express the opinion that construction should not be limited to types suitable for the British Air Force, but should include 1 more powerful long-range, types necessary to cope with the distance from Australia to India. .