* MacArthur would later claim that when he arrived in Australia the defence of the south-east corner of Australia, and a readiness to abandon the north to the Japanese, was official policy and that only through his insistence was it withdrawn: ‘That was the plan when I arrived, but to which I never subscribed and which I immediately changed to a plan to defend Australia in New Guinea’ (AWM 3DRL/6643 47 of 141). It is hard to find an Australian military expert who agrees with this statement. The situation was constantly changing, they argue, and Australia’s defensive shield extended as resources came home from the Middle East. No government officially adopted the policy—despite the claims of the Labor MP, Eddie Ward, that the Menzies Government first proposed the Brisbane Line. Even so, the idea that Western Australia, the Northern Territory, South Australia and most of Queensland were apparently dispensable did not impress a people animated by the idea of a fair go. It transgressed every principle of mateship for which Australians prided themselves. Forde, the Minister for the Army, was nonplussed, to say the least; members of his electorate lived in northern Queensland. The furious Western Australians would later contemplate secession from the Federation.