Melbourne, June 2. many years the Navy has received the lion's share of Australian defence expenditure.
That will probably continue to be the case, but recent developments suggest that the Air Force will soon rival and may displace the Senior Service as the nation's first line of defence.
Five years ago the Government embarked on a three-year Opposition to the Supply and Development Bill comes mainly from industrialists, who dislike the idea of disclosing details of costs. There is some reason to suspect that this reluctance may be due to fears that the Government survey would reveal discrepancies in past income tax returns, but uneasy consciences are not likely to prevent the passing of the bill.
'The success of these measures is vital to the Government, The Menzies' Ministry depends for a majority on the grace of the Country Party, whose former collaboration with the Government has given place to a policy of benevolent neutrality- Neither the new Prime Minister, Mr. Menzies, nor his Party appreciates the uncertainty of the present po: tion, but a "patriotic election" seems to afford the only prospect of gaining a majority. To create the right atmosphere for such an election the Government must pass the necessary legislation to continue the defence expansion programme as energetically as possible, and the rejection of the National Register or the Supply and Development Bill would probably be fatal to its cause. programme of Air Force expansion, This was mainly concerned with the development of aerodromes, training of personnel and ground organization generally. There was little visible evidence of what was being done, and there has been frequent criticism that the types of planes in service were almost obsolete.
Now, in the middle of a second three-year programme, the objective of the expansion scheme is becoming clearer, This can best be illustrated by reference to the types of planes now being adopted, many of which will be produced in local factories. Ger: Light planes for training purpose: by factories nea: e Wirrawey, an Austra-an adaptation of an American light bombing and fighter plane, is now in mass production in the ' £1,000,000 factory near Melbourne.
The Beaufort, the most advanced British bombing plane, is to be produced in large numbers by an elaborate system involving central assembly plants supplied with air-frames from railway workshops, and other parts from private factories. Production of this plane will exceed Australian requirements, and will supply Royal Air Force stations in the Far East.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.