“FOOLING ABOUT”

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 20914, 14 October 1942, Page 5

“FOOLING ABOUT”

AUSTRALIANS LASHED BETTING AND pRJNKING MR. CURTIN OUTSPOKEN (By Telegraph—Press Assn.—Copyright.) (2.30 p.m.) / SYDNEY, Oct. 13. Australia’s Prime Minister, Mr. J. Curtin, has strongly criticised those who are not co-operating in the Federal Government’s austerity campaign. He said there were some people who seemed to be 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 that in a country where every ounce of coal is needed for the war effort, we must provide extra transport for race meetings,’ said Mi'.' Curtin.' “HOW ironical it is that we must provide refreshment rooms at race meetings so that a man can have a spot as well as pick a winner. That is not total war. That is not organising the country to light.” Referring to the shortages of food, the - 'Prime Minister said: “We are going ■ to send meat to the United Kingdom so that 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 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 tor 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.”