NOT ADEQUATE

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXXIII, Issue 4808, 10 July 1939, Page 5

NOT ADEQUATE

DOMINION DEFENCE. OPPOSITION CLAIM. NAVAL PROVISION. Great Britain was spending £l3 a head on defence, while the Government of New Zealand was spending spent only £3 a head, said Mr. W. P. Endean (National, Parnell) during his speech in the Address-in-Reply debate in the House of Representatives on Friday. He contended that the Government of New Zealand had only been toying with the question of defence and that the measures it was taking were entirely inadequate and were not a fair contribution to the defence of the Empire.

Mr. Endean contended that the existing naval defence of New Zealand was quite inadequate. They all knew, he said, that if war broke out the British Fleet would be very much engaged in the Mediterranean and also in the North Sea. If the naval forces at Singapore could not cope with the enemy, what was going to happen to" New Zealand? If America did not come into the war and Japan had command of the Pacific, there might be an expeditionary force invading New Zealand. Mr. C. M. Williams (Government, Kaiapoi) : Would your battleship stop them?

On Equal Footing

A land force of 16,000 was entirely inadequate to repel an enemy invasion, said Mr. Endean. The whole system of military service in New Zealand should be put on a proper footing. What was wanted was a force with at least three months' training able to meet trained troops on an equal footing. The present Government had had three and a half years to provide adequate naval defence, but it had practically ignored the late Earl Jellicoe's recommendations. It was only lately that it had awakened to the fact that mine-sweepers were needed, and three had been ordered.

A Government member: Why did not the previous Government do that?

Mr. Endean referred to Mr. Semple's statement that he would be willing to lead a battalion if war broke out.

Mr. Semple: I will do more fighting than you will.

Mr. Endean: The hon. gentleman would fight more with his tongue than with a sword or a bayonet. - Mr. Semple: I will take you on. Mr. Speaker: Order! Order!

Mr. Endean said that he would remind Mr. Semple that it took 15 years of hard training before a man could lead a battalion with any hope of success. There was only one thing left for the Government to do. The Act providing for compulsory military service was still on the Statute Book. It had been suspended in 1930.

Mr. Semple: Who suspended it?

Mr. Endean said that it had been suspended by the previous Government, but the Labour Party, as the third party in the House, had connived at the suspension and gloated over it.