Lt.-Cmdr- R. T. H. Fletcher, Labour member for the Nuneaton Division of Warwickshire, asked: "By what date is it intended to station at Singapore a fleet adequate to obviate the necessity of Australia acquiring capital ships?"
Mr. Geoffrey Shakespeare, Parliamentary and Financial Secretary i the Admiralty, replied that it would be appreciated that it was "not in the public interest to disclose possible future dispositions of His Majesty's ships."
The strength and composition of the Royal Australian Navy, he went On to say, was a matter for decision by the Commonwealth. Government, and their present intentions in the matter were announced by the Minister of Defence in the House of Representatives at Canberra on December 6,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.