NAVAL DEFENCE

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 41, 16 August 1930, Page 10

NAVAL DEFENCE

NO REDUCTION YET

COMMITMENTS EXPLAINED

The difficulty of effecting any considerable reductions in tho naval expenditure for some years was mentioned by the Minister of Defence (the Hon. J. G. Cobbe) when moving the second reading of the Defence Amendment Bill in the House of Representatives yesterday. The Minister intimated, bowever, that in view of the London Naval Treaty it might not be necessary to enlarge the Calliope Dock at Auckland.

The Minister said that the Naval Estimates for the past year were £505,017. The actual amount expended was £437,573, the. main reason for the difference being that the Diomede was paid off earlier than was expected and her repairs in England being delayed. There was also a fall in the. price of fuel^oil, work on the naval base at Devonport was not commenced, and there was also a big saving in shell. A number of items carried over from that year had to be paid during the current year, .one item alone being £.69,000, representing the balance due for repairs to the Diomede. Thus it had not been found possible to reduce the navy vote by as much as might have been practicable under other circumstances. The amount for the year had been fixed at .€450,000, being £55,000 below'the previous year's Estimates. It would not be possible, Owing .to existing arrangements with the Imperial Government, as well as the necessity for a naval establishment, on account of our situation in the Pacific, to make any considerable reduction in the naval vote for some years!. Owing, however, to the London Naval Treaty, New Zealand's future liabilities in connection with the navy would be much less than they would have been had the nations concerned in the agreement not arranged to limit the size of their ships of war.

"For instance," tho Minister continued, "we may not have to spend some £50,000 in enlarging the Calliope Dock at Auckland, and the expense of maintaining vessels of the size of the Dunedin and Diomede is not nearly as great as would be the maintenance of larger warships." Before leaving the subject of naval defence the Minister paid a tribute to the services in Western Samoa performed by the officers and men of the Dunedin. Their endurance, cheerfulness, and behaviour under the most trying circumstances were admirable; throughout their stay in the territory they maintained the best traditions of the British 'Navy.