EASTERN SUPPLY

Evening Post, Volume CXXXI, Issue 27, 1 February 1941, Page 13

EASTERN SUPPLY

AUSTRALIAN MEMBER

SIR BERTRAM STEVENS

By Trans-Tasman Air Mail—From "The! Post's" Representative.) \ SYDNEY, January 25.

Sir Bertram Stevens, ex-Premier of New South Wales, has been appointed Australian representative on the Eastern Group Supply Council at Delhi for the duration of the war. He will leave for India soon to begin his new duties.

Discussing the appointment the Prime Minister (Mr. Menzies) said the Supply Council had been set up on the recommendation of the Eastern Group Conference which met at New Delhi last October. In appointing Sir Bertram Stevens, the Government had kept in mind the recommendation of the Eastern Group Conference that representatives chosen should be men of the highest standing and ability.

Mr. Menzies said that the new council's principal duty would be to consider demands for munitions and other war supplies. It is proposed that the council should have power to purchase, hold stocks, and call for information on the supply positions in eastern group countries. It will be authorised to incur financial commitments within the limits of such powers as may be delegated, and will be empowered to arrange for new production. Sir Bertram will have a staff of technical experts for consultation and advice on the various aspects of his work.

The appointment was praised by the New South Wales Premier, Mr. Mair, who said Sir Bertram was particularly well qualified for the position. It was not so popular with the deputy-leader of the Federal Parliamentary Labour Party (Mr. Forde), who said: "The appointment of Sir Bertram Stevens was no doubt a purely party political appointment to placate a disappointed aspirant for a Federal Ministerial position. The best qualification for a high appointment by the Menzies Government is to be a defeated U.A.P. leader. Sir Bertram's party rejected his leadership in Parliament. Subsequently he was defeated overwhelmingly in a Federal seat of his own choosing. Contrast the favouritism for Sir Bertram with the treatment of Mr. E. G. Theodore, whose name was suggested for Federal works co-ordinator, and whose services would have been of outstanding value to Australia. Mr. Theodore, a former Minister- in a Labour Government, was not appointed because of party hostility from a section of the Cabinet."