THURSDAY, 1 JA N UARY 2026 the minds of the first Australian Parliament and Defence hierarchy that ‘self-reliance’ should be considered. In fact, the concept of Australia having its own ‘central arsenal’ was first raised in 1881 but was not acted on until 1907, when Prime Minister Deakin resolved to make Australia’s defence supply independent of Britain. But Australia had no expertise in defence production. Its secondary industry was embryonic. Despite this, it was the local Member of Parliament, Joseph Cook, and the Lithgow Progress Association which, in the years preceding 1908, lobbied hard for Lithgow as the site for a possible small arms factory. At the time, Lithgow was an industrial (iron & steel making), railway and coal mining district with ample farmland. But the Lithgow site had a strong rival in the Victorian based Colonial Ammunition Company (the nation’s first modern ammunition factory), located in Footscray, a suburb of Melbourne. Joseph Cook and Lithgow industrialists prevailed over Victoria because of Lithgow’s industry, its railway access and plenty of available land. On November 11, 1908, the Department of Defence called tenders for supply of a plant for manufacture of small arms, bayonets and scabbards, to be built at Lithgow. The 1908 decision without the prospect of war The question that is often asked is why the Australian Government made plans for a small arms factory in 1908, when there were no obvious threats of war – World War 1 was six years away. Well, it wasn’t just about war, although some threats were emerging. In fact, it all began with the plans of Prime Minister Deakin to create an Australian defence force by overhauling the collective forces of the States. He was adamant that Australia needed a defence force that could stand on its ‘own two feet’. But behind the scenes and from British intelligence, military mobilisation was beginning in some parts of the world. In 1906, Deakin had warned that ‘leading nations are arming themselves with feverish haste’. He felt it was incumbent on Australia to take greater responsibility for its defence and to play its part in the defence of the Empire, ‘to be a source of strength and not of weakness’. At that time, Britain was concerned about Germany’s naval build up and Australia was concerned by Japan’s rise and quick defeat of the Russian navy in 1905. Australia had always been conscious of its geographic isolation from Britain. The increasing international tensions were a concern but not at a level that impacted the proposed Factory. The expectation of war was not on the horizon. Developments in Europe were distant to Australia and any needed support to the ‘mother country’ would be honoured perhaps in a similar vein to that during the Boer War. The tender for the Factory issued in 1908 was responded to by four overseas groups. But the choice was really between two companies – Pratt & Whitney (US) and Greenwood & Batley (UK). The tender prices were almost identical (between £68,000 and £69,000 – equivalent to A$15million in 2019 dollars purchasing power). In 1909, the decision was taken to award the design and build of the facilities and production management to Pratt & Whitney. It was announced by the Minister for Defence, Joseph Cook, who as the Commonwealth Member of Parliament representing Lithgow, had been the architect behind the Lithgow site selection a year earlier. A Factory triumphant in overcoming engineering & operational challenges The decision to go with Pratt & Whitney met with expected British criticism and there was considerable consternation as to how could ‘a colony’ do this to England. The ‘writing was already on the wall’ after an exhaustive international tour by Australian Defence officials of military industrial plants in the US and UK revealed the superiority of US production techniques, with a lesser need for skilled personnel.
Maggie Marriott's nom de guerre
Maggie Marriott
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