REPAIR OF THE AURORA

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2776, 20 May 1916, Page 13

REPAIR OF THE AURORA

NAVY BOAKD'S i'AII/L'BE. In 1914, Professor David, of the Sydney ! -UnivM-sity,wrote to. Mr. i'isher. (tiien Coinmonwtaltli -Prime Minister); .asking that. the "Antarctic ship Aurora! might bo docked at the Commonwealth. naval dockyard', Cockatoo Island, and [overhauled free of charge, or at the lowest possible cost. Lieutenant Macintosh;';; the officer-commanding. tho fhip, estimated;that the cost of this work would not exceed .£SOO. Mr. Fisher promised assistance' and [facilities for docking, and the manager, at' Cockatoo Island - was • ad. vised;.,by the-Naval'Department to-pro. oeed .with the . work.;- NoLpdy, howevcri; took the trouble to inform the manager tha'fc ;tho .work ,wa9'to cost only £500, and lie proceeded: without limit to put the condition.".; . the hands 'of the dockyard!'staff, ;.tlib''ship's officers' re. guested .thay.sea'stares, sails, and certain httinga sliould be supplied. The mana-. ger, however,, declined to grant-this request. without further: authority, and he communicated with, the Naval Depai'tment oil -the':matter:"':",-'J'he Naval Department in turn communicated with, the Treasury, and ;someho\v; ,tho facts, became .'muddled in the course, of 'their wanderings. Tho' manager.eventually., received a*. telegram' from the Naval' Department as follows:—

"Approval is given for tho supply of tho a\ynlng, sails, and other stores mentioned l>y you, up to the apnroximats cost of .£'500."

Oh this authority, ho went ahead. "When the cost came to be reckoned up, 'however, it wasi. found that the docking and hauling had cost .£3281 4s. Id., and thu stores, and equipment <£'657 more. The Treasurer declined to pay this amount, tho Naval Department considered that it should jip'fc be debiissl : with it,- and the Aurora w-as in the neighbourhood of/the' Antarctic Continent. The problem, there-fore,-was, who should pay for the work? The;. Federal Parliamentary Publio Works Committee.was asked to decide this matter, andion May 10 the chairmdn (Mr. Charlton) tabled its report in the House of Representatives. The committee c'isagiees with tho contention of tho Treasury, that only 4303 was authorised to bo spent-for ovfii'hauling. It ronsiders that tho Treasurer's minute regarding the request for a further.,£soo fov sails and' equipment wa» tso indefinite that the Naval-Department was justified in assuming - that an additional £500 ■ was being authorised: Tho liability of tho Treasury is. therefore fixed at ,£IOOO. With regard to tlie, difference of .-E27SI 4s. Id; betiveen the actual cost; ef docking and overhauling -the -vessel,'and the original' estimate of .£SOO, however, tlie committee' attributes the balance entirely to tho Naval Board for its'failure to adviso the manager. of the Cockatoo Island dockyard- of the maximum stipulated, and it therefore . finds that , the .Naval Board should accept -responsibility for the difference.To decide whether the. Treasury or tho Naval Department should show this ex. penditure on its books, the time of nine legislators was taken up for eight-meet-ings held in Melbourne and Rydnfy. Tho travelling expenses of these legislators had to be paid, aiul there was a good'deal of clerical work attached to tho inquiry. Seven witnesses, including the Eear-Ad-miral Sir William Creswell, and some of tho leading; pubiio officers of the Commonwealth, wore. examined.—"Argus."