PLANS SUSPECTED

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 19758, 12 October 1938, Page 6

PLANS SUSPECTED

DUMMY COMPANY

AGENT OF FOREIGN POWER QUEST IX AUSTRALIA MATERIALS l-'OK WAR fElec. Tel. Copyright—United Press Assn.) (Reed. Oct. 12, 1.15 p.m.) BRISBANE, Oct. 12. An allegation that a "dummy" Australian company had supplied information to foreign interests about Australian mineral resources, depths of water along the north coast and places where seaplanes could land, was made by the Premier of Queensland, Mr. W. Forgan Smith, in Parliament. He said he had statutory letters, photostats and documents in his possession to prove his allegation. He had supplied the details of this information to the Defence Department. Mr. Forgan Smith said that a company purporting to be an Australian concern proposed to engage in mining iron ore, lead, wolfram, _ copper and tin, all metals useful lor armament purposes. The company applied for leases in Queensland and in consideration of these leases being obtained, certain people, as a beginning, were to get £20,000.

The correspondence which he had disclosed that the company was merely a dummy. The real company was in a foreign country. interviewed later, Mr. Forgan Smith declined to say which was the foreign power the agents of which his Government, had discovered. "We have to be so careful these da vs." he said.