AUSTRALIAN BELIEF

Evening Post, Volume CXXVIII, Issue 48, 26 February 1942, Page 7

AUSTRALIAN BELIEF

IMPORTANT ROLE IN CAMPAIGN

CANBERRA, February 25

Direct thrusts against Australia seem certain, the Minister of External Affairs, Dr. H. V. Evatt, declared in the House of Representatives today in a review of the situation in the Pacific.

"We are now faced with the necessity of defending Australia's own shores," he said, "but in defending Australia our people arc fighting as much for our allies as when fighting abroad, for the holding of this country is essential to the final offensive and victory.

"In holding Australia we shall be fighting not only for New Zealand and every Pacific island, but also for Canada and the United States.

"While we appreciate the immense strength of the United States, it is not intended to creep into safety 'behind her. The Australian Government will maintain the front line in spirit, and will continue to do everything possible to facilitate the American plans.: "We can now win this war only by taking offensive action. The Allies, cannot be assured of final victory tillthey perfect a system of co-operaton."; FLUID POSITION NEEDED. Dr. Evatt emphasised that, in dealing with an enemy whose movements were not dictated by degree^ of latitude and longitude, a too strict delimitation of either strategical areas or of commanders might be dangerous.

He suggested that the outstanding lesson of the Malayan campaign was the fundamental need for effective machinery to ensure that there should be not only Allied unity of command but also a guarantee of J a common Allied, strategic plan backed by a pooling of resources and a sound allocation of those resources.

The Commonwealth Government, Dr. Evatt said, would have preferred Washington as the venue for the Pacific Council, and believed it should have had an opportunity of conferring with the United States and China at the same council table, but on neither point was Australia's proposal acceptable.

[Mr. Churchill has now announced that China will join the Council.]

Dr. Evatt concluded: "Australia's actions as a nation must be governed by two broad principles: first, absolute solidarity with all the enemies of the Axis; and, secondly, defence of Australia not only as our homeland, but also as a key area in the plan of the Allied and Empire strategy."