“MUDDLING DELAYS”

Waikato Times, Volume 126, Issue 21039, 15 February 1940, Page 7

“MUDDLING DELAYS”

SYDNEY PRESS CRITICISM OBJECTION TO CENSORSHIP FARCICAL SITUATION CREATED (United Press Assn.—Elec. Tel. Copyright SYDNEY, Feb. 14 The daily newspapers in Sydney are extremely annoyed at what they describe as the “muddling delays and conflicting censorship regulations’’ V associated with the departure of the Australian troops early in January and also their arrival with the New Zealanders in Egypt. The Sun last evening referred to it as an amazing tale of how the fumbling hand of “Mumbling Minnie” (the British censorship) had reached out to Australia and created a situation that would have been incredibly farcical if it had not been so incredibly tragic. The newspaper’s criticism was directed mainly against the “brass hats” who, it said, “constantly came between the Ministry of Information and the press, preventing the publication of the departure of the troops or pictures of them when literally the whole of Australia was familiar with every detail. Thousands had actually waved to the troops as they put to sea.” The Sun, along with the morning newspapers, adds a bitter protest at the inexplicable delay and the withholding of the news of the troops’ arrival abroad, and emphasises that the news was heard from the British Broadcasting Corporation hours before it was officially released in Australia. The Sun states that Mr R. G. Menzies, Prime Minister, intends making a protest to the British Government over the conflicting announcements, censorships and the unwarranted suppression of pictures.