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 that existed between April 1948 and March 1950.

Scope

Information about the department's functions and government funding allocation could be found in the Administrative Arrangements Orders, the annual Portfolio Budget Statements and in the department's annual reports. The department was set up by the Chifley government to control services that were deemed essential to supporting Australia's armed forces. Its creation saw the rearrangement of 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 ...

and the

Department of Supply and Shipping The Department of Supply and Shipping was an Australian government department that existed between October 1942 and April 1948. Scope Information about the department's functions and/or government funding allocation could be found in t ...

. The functions of the department included: *research, design and development in relation to war material *the provision or supply of war materiel *the manufacture or assembly of aircraft or parts thereof *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; and *the arrangement or co-ordination of: **surveys, of Australian industrial capacity and the preparation of plans to ensure the effective operation of industry in time of war, including plans for the decentralization of secondary industries and particularly those relating to defence; and **the investigation and development of Australian sources of supply of goods necessary for the economic security of the Commonwealth in time of war, and, in particular, the investigation and development of additional oil and strategic mineral resources, the production of power alcohol from sugar or other vegetable crops, and the production of oil from coal or shale.

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, initially John Armstrong (until Labor's defeat at the 1949 election) and subsequently Richard Casey.

Abolition

The department was abolished by the

Menzies Government Menzies is a Scottish surname, with Gaelic forms being Méinnearach and Méinn, and other variant forms being Menigees, Mennes, Mengzes, Menzeys, Mengies, and Minges. Derivation and history The name and its Gaelic form are probably derived f ...

in 1950 in a reorganisation planned by Richard Casey.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Department of Supply and Development (1948-1950) Supply and Development Ministries established in 1948