AUSTRALIA AS FOOD CENTRE

Press, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 23810, 2 December 1942, Page 3

AUSTRALIA AS FOOD CENTRE

ALLIED REQUIREMENTS IN PACIFIC

(Rec. 11.30 p.m.) CANBERRA. Dec. 1. “Plans are being made to turn Australia into a great Allied victualling centre,” says the political correspondent of the Sydney “Sun.” “The feeding of the vast armies throughout the Pacific zone is visualised, requiring the building up of a gigantic food industry. It is understood that this expansion is linked with the recent declaration by the Minister of Supply (Mr J. A. Beasley) that additional aid is on its way. "This indicates that once the North African position is stabilised and the outline of the European war more clearly defined, the Allies intend to concentrate also upon the problem of driving back the Japanese. "The United States authorities have informed the Commonwealth Gpvernment that because of the shipping position all outward traffic must concentrate upon the delivery of war supplies, and that foodstuffs will not be shipped. Australia must provide the bulk of Allied food requirements m the Pacific. The figures quoted to Australian officials arc staggering compared with what were expected by the Commonwealth only a few months ago. They indicate that the Allies’ global strategy is developing at last upon a grand scale.”