ARMY PLANS IN AUSTRALIA

Southland Times, Issue 24367, 22 February 1941, Page 7

ARMY PLANS IN AUSTRALIA

PERIOD OF TRAINING TO BE EXTENDED 125,000 MEN TO BE UNDER ARMS (United Press Assn.—Telegraph Copyright) MELBOURNE, February 20. The Australian Minister of the Army (Mr P. C. Spender) announced that the period of training at militia camps was henceforward being extended from 70 to 90 days, and also that half or more of the total strength of the Australian military forces would be in camp until further notice. A new series of camps was being established for units not now undergoing continuous training. The extensions of the army training mean, in effect, that all universal trainees will spend every .alternative 90 days, or a total of six months a year in camp, until further notice. The Government’s aim is to have 125,000 men, half of Australia’s military forces, continuously under arms for any emergency that might develop. SHIP-BUILDING PROGRAMME The provision of £6,000,000 by the Commonwealth Government for a substantial programme of merchant shipbuilding has been announced by the Minister of Munitions (Senator P. A. M. Mcßride). The programme will be under the control of the Shipbuilding Commission within the Department of Munitions. The chief problem before the commission, said Senator Mcßride, would not be the construction of hulls, but of engines and other equipment. Productive capacity, not finance, would be the dominating consideration. The commission would complete its investigations, already well advanced, into types of vessels, and appropriate places for their construction.