SECRET ACTIVITY

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19098, 20 August 1936, Page 5

SECRET ACTIVITY

COMMITTEES OF DEFENCE PLANS FOR CO-ORDINATION VALUE OF AVIATION MAINTAINING SERVICES" (Parliamentary Reporter.) WELLINGTON, this day. “I believe that aviation is going to play a big part in the event of future hostilities,” said the Minister of Defence, the Hon. F. Jones, when speaking on the defence debate in the House of Representatives yesterday, “both for transport and .defence. This year we iut.end to spend £300,000 in improving aerodromes, most of which have a defence value.” *Ho described the improvements made at Hobsonville.. the estimated cost of the programme being £128,239. At Wigiram, £124,735 was to be spent; the amount already spent was £78,886, and it was intended to spend £62,000 this year. The previous Government had adopted a planned programme for six years, but it was realised that changing conditions ivuide & revision necessiii^.

- Owing •to • the lack of training facilities it had been impossible to accept the very generous offer of' the Imperial Government to train New Zealand pilots, who must undergo a preliminary course of one year in the Dominion. They were prepared to pay £ISOO for each trainee who fc-ould be sent home for four years and given £3OO when he returned to New Zealand. He was anxious to adopt this or a similar offer for training our men for defence and civil aviation. TRAINING OF PILOTS

Some cleaver idea of the best class of machine would be obtained when a representative of the Air Ministry visited New Zealand. The South African Minister of Defence had recently bought a number of commercial planes which also would serve the purpose of defence. New Zealand was ordering two planes for reconnaissance and survey work, capable of carrying six passengers. They would be available for departmental work. “I am anxious,” Continued Mr. Jones, “that we. should take over civil air services, and I don’t believe that any more private air services should be established. It is the duty of the Government to control that transport,, far better than stabilising these conditions and later on buying these companies out. If wc trained, pilots and used them for civil purposes and for defence, and co-operated with Britain in the exchange of pilots, we would be established on right lines.

The Minister mentioned that although Union Airways proposed to use its own equipment for radio- communication, the Government felt that this service should be provided by the State at P- slight charge.

The Minister made the important disclosure that two years ago, on the representations of the Imperial Government, an organisation, first called the Committee of Imperial Defence, was established, but the name had since been changed to avoid confusion with the English committee which had the same functions, that of investigating in peace all matters affecting national security, not merely those affecting the armed forces. There were 12 special committees, many having already rendered reports which had been considered by the Cabinet. 1.. ' NQ POSITIVE DANGER

The greater part of their work was secret. Questions considered included a scheme of co-ordinating and facilitating map production, 1 thfe Hawke’s Bay and Hutt Valley portion of the west coast having already been photographed. A draff Circular had been prepared for local bodies to co-ordinate activities in connection with national emergencies such as severe earthquake, the same arrangements being applicable to disorganisation through an- raids.

A committee on which 20 Government departments were represented,, was investigating the problem of supplies during wat for the community at large. It could be realised that while killing could stop at freezing works if communications were disorganised, dairy production must go on. Therefore, they wished to prepare a scheme for the provision of refrigerated space in the event of the export, trade stopping. There was also the question of the oil "and lubricant supply and rationing. . ... ■ t Other committees dealt with cables and wireless, mair power, shipping, and njeterological. services, and in connection with the latter they realised the importance of co-operation wRh Australia in weather • reporting if a trans-Tasman air service was to bo established next year: ‘This was being done.

While there were scaremongers, possibly actuated by the best of motives, who believed that New Zealand could be overirun by an enemy' in wartime, concluded the Minister, he did -not believe that we were in any positive danger so long as Britain was able to hold her own in connection with European countries.