AIR DEFENCE FOR NEW ZEALAND
Minister’s Statement
CONSIDERED OPINIONS OF EXPERTS
(Special Reporter.) Nelson, February 7. “The only real line of defence for New Zealand is air defence,” declared the Minister of Public Works and Transport, Hon. R. Semple, in a speech at the ceremony to mark the official beginning of work on the construction of a new aerodrome for Nelson on Saturday. He said no one wanted war, but the world was in such a state that everyone must be prepared for eventualities. New Zealand, it was obvious, could not be defended with pop-guns. The Minister referred to the relationship between civil and military aviation, and said the two were inseparable. Civil air services had a close relation to air defence. Each addition to civil air strength added to air defence. The development of landingfields and ground organisation and the improvement of radio communication and meteorological services strengthened the plan of air defence. The fuller patronage of air services enabled companies to add to their personnel trained men whose services would be invaluable in time of emergency. He was not a military man nor a scare prophet, but the people of to-day lived in a troubled world. Nations were governed by dictators with soaring ambitions. "They dream dreams and scheme schemes; there’s no doubt about that,” said the Minister. “Some of them seem to me to be fit cases for the lunatic asylum. But they are there and we have to face up to it. We do not want to go to war, but war may come to us. Who can say that at any time the world won’t be turned into a human slaughterhouse? “We must be prepared to defend ourselves if that comes about. What is going to happen to this great little country if that happens? Can we defend it with pop-guns? No, certainly not. “The only real line of defence for New Zealand is air defence. That is the considered opinion of tlie experts, and it is the opinion of my colleagues, and we are having reports prepared to that end.”
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Bibliographic details
Dominion, Volume 30, Issue 114, 8 February 1937, Page 8
Word Count
346AIR DEFENCE FOR NEW ZEALAND Dominion, Volume 30, Issue 114, 8 February 1937, Page 8
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