DOMINIONS. (Hansard, 28 March 1939)

HC Deb 28 March 1939 vol 345 cc1891-2 1891

§ 58. Mr. Day
asked the Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs whether he will give the House any information in his possession as to the manner in which His Majesty's Government in any of the Dominions propose to expand then-Defence Forces or increase expenditure thereon during the coming year?

§ Sir T. Inskip
With the hon. Member's permission, I will circulate the answer, which contains a number of figures, in the OFFICIAL REPORT.

§ Mr. Day
Will the figures show the additional expenditure on naval and Air Force expansion?

1892

§ Sir T. Inskip
No, Sir.

§ Mr. Day
May we have those figures separately?

§ Sir T. Inskip
If the hon. Member asks for them I will try to obtain them, but I am not sure that it is possible.

§ Following is the answer:

§ His Majesty's Government in Canada have provided in their Estimates for 1939–40 for an expenditure on national defence of $63,447,000, an increase of $27,480,000 on the estimated expenditure for 1938–39. His Majesty's Government in the Commonwealth of Australia in April, 1938, decided upon a defence programme involving a total expenditure on defence of £44,000,000 in the three financial years 1938–39 to 1940–41, and in December last decided further to expand the programme to a total expenditure for the three years of £63,000,000. The present provision for the financial year 1938–39 is £18,100,000 as compared with £11,500,000 in 1937–38. The Prime Minister of the Commonwealth is reported recently to have announced that the three years' programme will be further expanded, and that Australia is now engaged on a defence programme costing £26,000,000 per annum. Details of the estimated expenditure on defence by His Majesty's Government in the Union of South Africa for the forthcoming year are not yet available, but considerable expenditure for the purpose of armaments was foreshadowed by the Union Minister of Finance in his Budget statement on 15th March, while the Union Minister of Defence is reported to have made a public statement on the expansion of the Union Defence Forces in the Union House of Assembly on 23rd March. I understand that the New Zealand Budget for 1939–40 will not be introduced for some months, but recent statements by New Zealand Ministers have foreshadowed increases in defence expenditure. The total estimated expenditure of His Majesty's Government in New Zealand in connection with defence for 1938–39 is about £2,900,000, as compared with £1,900,000 for 1937–38.