The Department of Supply and Development was an
Australian government
The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster-style systems of government, the Australian Government i ...
department
Department may refer to:
* Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility
Government and military
*Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...
that existed between April 1939 and October 1942.
Scope
Information about the department's functions and/or government funding allocation could be found in the
Administrative Arrangements Orders, the annual Portfolio Budget Statements and in the department's annual reports.
The functions of the department at first included:
*provision or supply of munitions;
*the manufacture or assembly of aircraft, or parts by the Commonwealth or by authority of the Commonwealth;
*arrangements for the establishment or extension of industries for purposes of defence;
*the acquisition, maintenance and disposal of stocks of goods in connection with defence;
*the arrangement or coordination of surveys of Australian industrial capacity; and
*planning to ensure effective operation in time of war and decentralise secondary industries, particularly those relating to defence investigation and development of Australian sources of supply of goods in time of war, particularly additional
oil
An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...
resources, production of power, alcohol from sugar or other crops and the production of
oil from coal or
shale
Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock formed from mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4) and tiny fragments (silt-sized particles) of other minerals, especial ...
.
Department of Munitions
On 11 June 1940, the
Department of Munitions
The Department of Munitions was an Australian government department that existed between 11 June 1940 and April 1948. Reporting to it was the Factory Board, which was in charge of the six Small Arms Ammunition Factories, along with a n ...
was created in an effort to speed up
munitions
Ammunition (informally ammo) is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. Ammunition is both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines) and the component parts of other weap ...
production during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, after it became apparent that Britain would not be able to supply
Australia's armed forces with
arms
Arms or ARMS may refer to:
*Arm or arms, the upper limbs of the body
Arm, Arms, or ARMS may also refer to:
People
* Ida A. T. Arms (1856–1931), American missionary-educator, temperance leader
Coat of arms or weapons
*Armaments or weapons
**Fi ...
and ammunition throughout what was shaping up to be a long and hard war. The department was created on 11 June 1940, only about a week after the end of the
evacuation of Dunkirk
The Dunkirk evacuation, codenamed Operation Dynamo and also known as the Miracle of Dunkirk, or just Dunkirk, was the evacuation of more than 338,000 Allied soldiers during the Second World War from the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk, in the ...
, where British forces were forced to leave Europe without most of their
vehicles
A vehicle (from la, vehiculum) is a machine that transports people or cargo. Vehicles include wagons, bicycles, motor vehicles (motorcycles, cars, trucks, buses, mobility scooters for disabled people), railed vehicles (trains, trams), wate ...
,
armour
Armour (British English) or armor (American English; see spelling differences) is a covering used to protect an object, individual, or vehicle from physical injury or damage, especially direct contact weapons or projectiles during combat, or fr ...
and
artillery
Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...
. The department's main responsibility was the oversight of increased production of defence components.
Structure
The department was a
Commonwealth Public Service
The Australian Public Service (APS) is the federal civil service of the Commonwealth of Australia responsible for the public administration, public policy, and public services of the departments and executive and statutory agencies of the G ...
department, staffed by officials who were responsible to the Minister for Supply and Development.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Department of Supply and Development (1939-1942)
Supply and Development
Ministries established in 1939