AUSTRALIAN WAR PLANS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 2 November 1939, Page 5

AUSTRALIAN WAR PLANS

SPEEDING-UP ANNOUNCED BY PREMIER

Expeditionary Force Definitely Going Abroad

UNLESS THAT COURSE IS RENDERED IMPRACTICABLE

AIR FORCE EXPANSION AND MECHANISED VEHICLES

(By Telegraph.—Press Association. —Copyright.) (Received This Day, 9.15 a.in.) SYDNEY, This Day. The Federal Prime Minister (Mr R. G. Menzies), in the course of a statement on Australian defence matters, announced last night that the Second Australian Expeditionary Force would definitely be sent overseas, unless circumstances rendered that course impracticable, and would become the spearhead of the Australian defence organisation. The Government, Mr Menzies also stated, intended 1o build three Tribal class destroyers instead of two as hitherto announced, and four local defence vessels, lor anti-submarine or mine-sweeping work. Defensive gnus had been .mounted on more than sixty oversea merchant ships. These would be competent to deal with enemy raiders likely to menace seaborne commerce. The War Cabinet had approved the purchase of lour thousand mechanised vehicles, including armoured cars, at a cost of £1,500.000. ‘ Four additional munition and armament factories were to be erected. Nineteen air squadrons would be trained by 1940. There would be a .great acceleration of aircraft, construction and, subject, to the lifting of the neutrality embargo, a hundred Lockheed Hudson planes would be purchased from the United States. The estimated expenditure on defence this year, he said, would reach the staggering total of 593 million pounds. Mr Menzies said that only £7,700,000 or 13 per cent of the total amount would be spent abroad. Tie directed attention to the fact that Australia’s expenditure on defence in the first year of the last war was only £19,600,000. lie emphasised that the estimated expenditure for this year was not final, as it was not ■yet possible to forecast the cost of Australia’s participation in the Empire air training scheme.