CURTIN COMPLAINS

Dominion, Volume 36, Issue 16, 14 October 1942, Page 6

CURTIN COMPLAINS

Some Not Co-operating In Austerity Campaign

SYDNEY, October 13.

Australia’s Prime Minister, Mr. Curtin, has strongly criticized those who are not co-operating in the Federal Government’s austerity, campaign. He said that there were some people who seemed unable to find recreation except in "fooling about punting and getting drunk, and trying to make a Roman circus out of a national tragedy ”

“How ironical it is,” be said, "that in a country where every ounce of coal is needed for the war effort we must provide extra transport for race meetings. How ironical it is that we must provide refreshment rooms at meetings so that a man can ‘have a S|>ot’ as well as pick the winner. That is not total war. That is not organizing the country to fight.” Referring to food shortage, the Prime Minister said: "We are going to send meat to the United Kingdom, so Australia will have meatless days soon. We will send more dairy produce to the United Kingdom, so we must produce more. Our dehydration plants are already at work preparing dried vegetables for shipment.” Mr. Curtin said that as leader of the Labour Party in Australia, and in common with Labour men throughout the world, he had to share the responsibility for not having prepared for the war.' “We believed that the days of settling international arguments by force were gone,” he said. "We believed in butter before guns. But all this will be vanity if we do not win the war.”