U.S. War Orders For Australia

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31307, 1 March 1967, Page 17

U.S. War Orders For Australia

(N.Z. Press Assn. —Copyright) CANBERRA, Feb. 28. An American officer has arrived in Australia with an “open cheque” to buy military and non-military goods. He is Lieutenant-Colonel James Smith, who will start a buying agency in the Department of Supply in Melbourne. This follows requests by Australian industries for a share in supply contracts for the Vietnam war. Australian suppliers will be able to compete with those of other countries in a market which is believed to run into several hundred million dollars a year. Colonel Smith said that the that Australian industry would be competing for lucrative contracts with countries such as the Philippines and Formosa. Colonel Smit hsaid that the cost of freight of Australia?! items would be taken into

account when deciding successful tenderers. Contracts would be offered not only for the United States Army in Vietnam and other posts, but the Navy and Air Forces in the Pacific and South-east Asia. Colonel Smith will have talks with the Minister for Supply, Senator Denham Henty, before leaving for Melbourne later this week. He said that one of his first tasks would be to prepare a list of qualified sources of supply. These would be passed on to the central U.S. procurement agency in Japan. Periodically, the Japanese office would forward lists of goods required by the Pacific forces.