MUTUAL AID

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23320, 13 April 1939, Page 10

MUTUAL AID

PACIFIC DEFENCE WELLINGTON TALKS , ® OPENING TO-MORROW DELEGATES ASSEMBLE [BY TELEGRAPH —OWN CORRESPONDENT] WELLINGTON, Wednesday The conference between New Zealand, Australian and British representatives to discuss defence in the Pacific will be opened by the GovernorGeneral, Viscount Galway, on Friday. The majority of the overseas delegates are now in Wellington, members of the Australian and British delegation having arrived to-day. The proceedings will take place in Parliament Buildings. . . The need for ft more compact British defence policy in the Pacific has been admitted for a considerable time and this conference is regarded by competent observers as a positive step in this direction, as well as an indication of the tightening up of Imperial defence strategy in this part of the world.

Overseas Representatives The delegates attending the conference will be:— Britain. —Sir Harry Batterbee, United Kingdom High Commissioner in New Zealand, leader; Sir Harry Luke, Governor of Fiji and High Commissioner for the Western Pacific; ViceAdmiral Sir Ragnar Colvin, representing the Admiralty and also acting as head of the Australian delegation; Major-General P. J. Mackesy, representing the War Office; and Air Marshal Sir Arthur Longmore, representing the Air Ministry. Australia. —Vice-Admiral Sir Ragnar Colvin, first naval member of the Australian Naval Board; Colonel V. A. H. Sturdee, of the Military Board; WingCommander G. Jones, of the Air Board; and Captain E. C. Johnston, representing the Civil Aviation Department. New Zealand.—'The Rt. Hon. M. J. Savage, Prime Minister; Hon. P. Fraser, Minister of Education; Hon. W. Nash, Minister of Finance; Hon. F. Jones, Minister of Defence; Hon. D. G. Sullivan, Minister of Industries and Commerce; Major-General J. E. Duigan, Chief of General Staff; Commodore 11. E. Horan, Chief of Naval Staff; Group-Captain H. W. L. Saunders, Chief of Air Staff; and Group-Captain T. M. Wilkes, Controller of Civil Aviation. Stalls of Experts

The staffs associated with the delegations will be: — Britain. Captain W. D. McN. Graham, of the General Staff, War Office; Major A. H. Stafford, of the Fiji Defence Force; Mr. H. H. Vaskess, of the Western Pacific High Commission; Lieutenant F. R. J. Nicholls, A.D.C. to Sir Harry Luke; Mr. G. E. Boyd-Shannon, official secretary to Sir Harry Batterbee; and Mr. N. E. Costar, assistant-official secretary to the High Commissioner for the United Kingdom in Australia. Australia. —Paymaster-Captain J. B. Foley, R.A.N., and Commander J. C. D. Esdaile, R.A.N. New Zealand. —Mr. C. A. Berondsen, permanent head of the Prime Minister's Department; Mr. B. C. Ashwin, secretary of the Treasury; Mr. L. J. Schmitt, secretary of the Department of Industries and Commerce; and Lieutenant-Colonel W. G. Stevens, secretary to the Defence Council, conference secretary.

Captain Johnston, of the Australian delegation, will arrive on Monday, and Major Stafford, of the British party, on Friday. Delegates Welcomed Delegates who arrived to-day were mot by Major-General Duigan, Commodore Horan, Group-Captain _ Saunders, Colonel Stevens, Mr. Boyd-Shannon, Mr. Berendsen, Commander A. B. Fanshawe, second naval member of the New Zealand Naval Board, and Colonel 0. H. Mead, Adjutant and Quartermaster-General. One of the questions that will be discussed will be the manufacture of aircraft in New Zealand and Australia. It is understood also that plans will be considered for closer co-operation between Now Zealand warships and the Australian Navy. Arising out of the last issue has been a suggestion that Australia should be equipped with a dock capable of accommodating capital ships. The Singapore Base As is pointed out by experts, the development of naval plans since the completion of the Singapore Base, which will still constitute the first line of defence for New Zealand and Australia, and the increase in longdistance flying, are factors that have emphasised" the need for a properly coordinated policy of defence in the Pacific. It is generally conceded that neither country need have any immediate fear of a properly planned invasion by enemy forces. Tho main danger is said to lie in sudden coastal raids on the main centres, and this calls for proper local fortifications, a trained land force and properly equipped naval and air arms, to which end the Dominions are working.