AUSTRALIA

Greymouth Evening Star, 15 June 1944, Page 7

AUSTRALIA

DEMOBILISATION

CANBERRA, June 13

The order and rate of discharge of the Australian forces after the war was decided to-day by the War Cabinet. The Acting-Prime Minister (Mr. Forde) said that the main factor determining discharge would be length of service, but age and marriage would also be taken into account. Points would be allotted to men for length of service, age, and marriage, and discharge would proceed according to the allotted points. Women members of the Services would also be discharged according to a priority system, but here the main consideration would be marriage and dependent children. Members who elected to remain in the Services would have their discharges deferred. It might be necessary to retain some with special training.

MINISTERS AND PRESS. CANBERRA, June 14. Unsuccessful attempts to persuade the full Federal Cabinet to enter a “grudge war” against Australian newspapers are believed to have been made by the Minister of Information (Mr. Calwell) and the Minister of Transport (Mr. Ward). Political correspondents say the Minister submitted three main proposals. First, that the supply of newsprint should be restricted; second, that an intensive comb-out of newspaper- staffs be made; and three, that a tax be placed on advertisements. The proposals are reported to have been rejected by the Full Cabinet.

A correspondent of the “Sydney Morning Herald” says: “The plan may be considered as being on the shelf —it is recognised by an overwhelming majority of Ministers as an expression of the type of personal spleen which cannot be permitted to enter the business of administration.”

MAILS CENSORSHIP. CANBERRA, June 14.. Formulas obtained through censorship of the mails had never been released to private manufacturers, said a witness at the Commonwealth Communications Censorship Enquiry. He was Dr. J. S. Hosking, liaison officer between the Post and Telegraph Censorship and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research. Dr. Hosking said that his duty was to pass on to the censor extracts from letters supplied by the communications censorship authorities!. He passed on only extracts he considered might be of value to the censor in his activities on behalf of the war effort. ' The Preliminary Censorship Committee’s report is expected to be submitted to the next meeting of the Federal Cabinet. JERSEY CATTLE. MELBOURNE, June 14. After a six weeks’ visit to NewZealand, Mr. P. J. Maloney, vicepresident of the Victoria Jersey Herd Society, said that the best New Zealand Jersey cattle were not quite up to the standard of the best Australian Jerseys. He was disappointed with the bulls imported into the Dominion. He found the New Zealand butterfat test records not up to Australian records. In New Zealand the test covered 365 days, compared with 273 days in Australia. In New Zealand the best cows in the herd were selected for testing every 12 months!, whereas in Victoria every cow in the standard herd test was tested in 273 days. New Zealand dairy farmers were not greatly concerned about T.B. testing, which was being greatly speeded up in Victoria. Mr. Maloney did not think Victorian dairy farmers had much to learn from New Zealand.