THE CASE FOR AUSTRALIA

Otago Daily Times, Volume 25205, Issue 25205, 20 April 1943, Page 3

THE CASE FOR AUSTRALIA

RESOURCES STRAINED (Rec. 7 p.m.) MELBOURNE, Apl. 19. Australia will insist on an adequate flow of war materials to hold the Japanese in check until Germany is defeated. This was made clear by the Prime Minister, Mr J. Curtin. The recent smashing blows against Japanese convoys and aircraft, he said, had strained Australia’s resources, at times “ perilously close to exhaustion point.” “To our Allies, I say that the Australian Government accepts the global strategy in so far as it conditions Australia's employment as an offensive base until Hitler is beaten,” declared Mr Curtin, “ but it does not accept a flow of war material, particularly aircraft, which does not measure up to the requirements of a holding war. Some critics says that Australia’s case contradicts itself, They say that every time danger looms the sequel is a smashing blow against the Japanese. That is true, but it is also true that these blows impose a strain on our resources which has at times come perilously close to exhaustion point.”