NO STATEMENT

Wairarapa Times-Age, 11 June 1943, Page 4

NO STATEMENT

ISSUED BY GENERAL MACARTHUR FOLLOWING ON CONFERENCES WITH MR CURTIN. VIEWS OF CORRESPONDENTS. (Special Australian Correspondent.) (Received This Day, 1.15 p.m.) SYDNEY, This Day. General MacArthur has not issued any statement about his Sydney meeting with Mr Curtin, and the official spokesman at SouthWest Pacific Headquarters declined to interpret the statement issued by Mr Curtin. This is the most optimistic the Federal Prime Minister has yet made and establishes the official Government belief that the intensified Japanese preparations north of Australia are primarily

for the purpose of defence. Such an opinion has long been held by many overseas war correspondents in this theatre. Three vitally significant points are made in Mr Curtins statement,, which is front page news in the British and American Press. They are: —

(1) I feel that the pressure on Australia is about to be thrown back on the enemy. (2) I do not think the enemy can now invade Australia, though Australia is not yet immune from marauding raids.

(3) I believe we can hold Australia as a base from which to launch both limited and major offensives.

The “Sydney Morning Herald” war correspondent says some military observers may disagree with the opinion that the Japanese cannot now invade Australia, although all must concede that such a large-scale aggressive move would hold serious risks for Japan. “The decision rests with the enemy, who holds a strong line of_ garrisons and airfields above Australia,” writes the correspondent. “This line might easily be switched from a defensive to an offensive purpose if Tokio chose to make a gamble.”