nevertheless, at the time that the operation was planned there was no way for the australian commanders to know when the war would come to an end and there were political and operational reasons to carry out the campaign. by late 1944, the australian army had taken a secondary role in the fighting and there was a political need for australia to demonstrate that it was sharing the burden in the pacific. as new guinea was an australian territory at the time, it was argued that there was a responsibility to clear the japanese from that area. regardless, due to manpower shortages in the australian economy, the government had requested that the army find a way to reduce its size, while at the same time requiring it to maintain forces to undertake further operations against the japanese into 1946. to do that, it was argued that there was a requirement to clear the japanese that had been bypassed to allow the garrisons of these areas to be reduced.