CHECKING RUMOURS
AUSTRALIAN EFFORT
(Rec. 1 p.m.)
MELBOURNE, Nov. 14. Australia will gazette special national security regulations to enable the prosecution of rumourmongers. The Prime Minister, Mr. J. Curtin, announced this follow-
ing a meeting of the War Cabinet,
Mr. Curtin said the authorities had found difficulty in checking rumours which had been circulated in Australia. Prosecutions could not be launched under the existing regulations. ' '
•Among the examples of rumours, all without foundation, were:—Rumours in March, 1942, that the crew of the Sydney was in Japanese hands; rumours that the Queen Mary had been sunk; rumours of the sinkings of a large number of merchant ships around the Australian coast; reports after the entry of Japanese submarines into Sydney Harbour that the submarines were sending parties ashore and residents in certain areas were frightened to go out at night; stories exaggerating the amount of damage done in air raids; tales of the internment of prominent citizens and of the arrest of Japan ese spies; the imputation of unchastity to the W.A.A.F., causing a serious diminution in recruiting; and exaggerated stories of fights between United States and Australian troops.
Permanent link to this item
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP19421114.2.39
Bibliographic details
Evening Post, Volume CXXXIV, Issue 118, 14 November 1942, Page 7
Word Count
188CHECKING RUMOURS Evening Post, Volume CXXXIV, Issue 118, 14 November 1942, Page 7
Using This Item
Stuff Ltd is the copyright owner for the Evening Post. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 3.0 New Zealand licence. This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of Stuff Ltd. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.
Log in