MEANS OF DEFENCE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 10 January 1939, Page 5

MEANS OF DEFENCE

VIEWS OF AUSTRALIAN VISITOR

NEED FOR STRONG FLEET IN SOUTH PACIFIC.

CO-OPERATION WITH BRITAIN

<By Telegraph—Press Association.)

AUCKLAND, January 9

“Neither New Zealand nor Australia at present could defend itself for 24 hours. Our unpreparedness simply invites attack,” said Sir Walter Carpenter, managing director of the Sydney trading firm of W. R. Carpenter and Company, who passed through Auckland by the Monterey on his way to

Great Britain, where, he said, ho hopes tc do as much public speaking as possible upon the defence needs of New Zealand and Australia. Intense co-operation between the two Dominions and Great Britain was, in his opinion, the only means of providing the two countries with a gaurantee of safety. One, immediate result of this must be the provision of a fleet for the South Pacific of sufficient strength to deter any country from entertaining ideas of conquest.

“At present both our countries are playing with the subject of defence,” he said’. “Australia speaks of a force of 75,000 men, but with our coastline they could not keep an invader from getting a good footing in the country for" 75 minutes. As . for New Zealand, it would be bottled up in a day and. with its export trade gone, it would be strangled, even if it could prevent a direct attack.

“I think I know something of the Japanese,” said Sir Walter. “I have lived with them and worked with them, and the trading activities of my firm among the South Pacific islands has given me no causes for altering my belief that if Britain becomes embroiled with Germany arid Italy, we would have a large Japanese force down here in a very short time, and I know that, though the Japanese are all right as servants, they make bad masters. At present not even Singapore could stop Japan from doing what she liked with us. and the quicker we wake up to that fact the better, especially since the position in Europe is no better than it was.”

It was obvious, he said, that New Zealand had little money with which Jto defend itself . However, even if it meant raising a loan in London, he thought it was essential for the Dominion to find at least £50,000,000 toward the establishment of an adequate fleet and air force for the South Pacific. This would mean saddling the country with annual payments of about £3,500,000, but, in his opinion, it should be realised that the time was long since past when the two Dominions could afford to count the financial cost. Unless the people of both countries realised the urgent need for helping their Governments, and even for providing them with impetus, the}' would wake up one day and find any such effort was too late.