In early 1907, Colonel William Bridges then Chief of Intelligence and the senior Australian military officer recommended to Defence Minister Sir Thomas Ewing, member for Richmond, New South Wales, that a Chief of the General Staff should be appointed in place of Chief of Intelligence and that a General Staff be established. The Minister, who was a licensed surveyor, was unimpressed by the advice preferring to continue for the time being with the arrangements of a Military Board. He was concerned that there were no plans for mobilization, or local defence, noting that "there were few reliable maps, even of the most important localities".