MUST DESTROY JAP NAVY AND ARMY

Camp News, Volume 3, Issue 123, 22 May 1942, Page 5

MUST DESTROY JAP NAVY AND ARMY

Mr. Coates’ Declaration COMMON AIM OF N.Z. AND AUSTRALIA “To the last man and to our last ounce of energy we must destroy the Japanese navy and the Japanese army, or we will never know the meaning of peace. We have got to kill them. It is of no use looking at it in any other way.” This declaration was made by Mr. Coates, a member of the War Cabinet, when speaking at a luncheon held recently by the Wellington branch of the A.I.F. Association of Ex-Servicemen. “All Australians realize that it is a common cause,” said Mr. Coates. “We cannot .draw the line between Australia and New Zealand, and so far as warmth of feeling is concerned —I might almost say affectionthere is nothing anybody can do which will separate Australia and New Zealand. That is settled and final. There is no difference of opinion as to the course we must take, the course we intend to take, and the objective we are after. We see it that way, and by ‘we’ I mean Australia and New Zealand. “I don’t suppose anybody but Australians or New Zealanders, born of the soil of these. two countries, can really know the deep feeling which exists between our peoples. This country is predominantly Britishthe basis of our stockand it is the same in Australia. It is difficult to place in words exactly what that sentiment means. ' “We have tremendous confidence in the foresight, energy and long-sighted calculations of Australia. Perhaps the word ‘Anzac’ is nearest to the expression in language of the spirit born of common privations, but it is even deeper than that. It is the New Zealander’s wish and desire to l)e alongside Australia if trouble comes her way, and we have the feeling that if trouble comes our way then the first we would look to would be Australia, and we know the' call would be answered. “One reason, but not the only one, for our depth of feeling is that we are isolated from the rest of the world. At heart Australia and New Zealand think together, and, despite what authorities who do not understand our two countries say, they cannot lock us into watertight compartments. There must be a close alliance between Australia and New Zealand—nothing else. / Has Not Changed. “Gallipoli was the beginning of that expression of feeling. 'Some say that the Australian Army of today has changed.’ No, it has not changed. . . . The determination, desire and resolution of the army has not changed. The young men of today are as good and better than the soldiers of the old campaign®, and they are better equipped.”

The president, Mr. H. Richards, said it should be a matter of satisfaction and distinct assurance to the people of New Zealand that a man of the experience and capability of Mr. Coates should be playing such a big part in the war effort. “We Australians,” he added, “fully appreciate the

sentiments which prompted the Prime Minister to make his statement in the House on Saturday. I know it is the sincere wish of every Australian that the ties which bind the two countries together should grow stronger, and that nothing ever will be done to create a serious breach. Ido not think that ever will be. Our bonds are cemented in blood. Sometimes a discordant note is sounded ,by some uninformed or foolish person, but these remarks can be taken at their true value, and do not influence those who know the true position.”