Melbourne, Feb. 20.
The Government has taken added precautions against a sudden emergency after reviewing the country's defence system, said the Acting Prime Minister, Mr. Fadden, in a speech yesterday.
No action would be taken and no word spoken, he said, which would shatter peace in the Peeific. "If war comes to our front door it will not be of our choosing. Let nobody think we are helpless and unfitted for such a supreme test.
"The troops landed in Malaya are of the same quality as those who stopped the Italians in Libya and won fame at Gallipoli." Mr. Fadden added. "Australia is prepared for whatever comes and confident that Britain will through.—
Peuter.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.