AUSTRALIA’S DEFENCE.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXIII, Issue 1872, 29 September 1906, Page 2

AUSTRALIA’S DEFENCE.

PRESS ASSOCIATION —COPYRIGHT Melbourne, Sept 23. The House of Representatives had a continuous sitting of over thirty-five bourn discussing the estimates. Mr Deakin, in explaining the defence polioy, referred to the Imperial Defence Committee’s proposed schema. He said it involved an outlay of £627,000, whioh, added to the £836,000 proposed for military, brought the total to £1,660,000, including the £200,000 of naval subsidy. That was altogether outside the oountry’s means. Mr Deakin, continuing, said the Government were unable to adopt the Committee’s fall scheme, but in the immediate future would roeommend the establishment of harbor and coastal defence, not adopting the programme recommended for five or ten years. They commence with ordering four torpedo boats and next a olass of coastal destroyers, of whioh they propose to order eight in three years, With these they would have gone a long way towards a complete harbor defence. In the next three years they ought to be able to pass from harbor to ooast defence, and in Bix er seven years, the whole scheme being completed, should afford an admirable defenoe. The estimated coat was £545,000 annually,