ONE MANS JUNK... PART 2 AUSTRAL STAR

AUSTRAL STAR
Austral Star down tube decal blue with white key line, on blue painted band.

Down tube decal

Now I could stand to be corrected on the following information........
Austral Star was set up in Christchurch some time in the mid 1940's' as a New Zealand branch of Australia's Malvern Star Cycle or at least Malvern Star had a major interest in it.
They built racing bikes until the mid/late 1950's.
Former Speedwell Cycles owner Laurie Coates (now 96) remembers "we lost our import licenses in the mid 40's, we had been bringing in Malvern Stars until then, I suppose this is why Malvern Star started Austral Star".
I think this seems plausible enough, and the time line certainly adds up.
Their racing bikes were widely sold through out New Zealand, Speedwell cycle Works in Auckland sold them along side their range of Frejus frames ( imported by W H Worrall & Co Ltd)
It is not to uncommon when discussing old steads with old riders that the name Austral Star will come up at some point in their career (either ridden by them or someone they knew), so with this highly unscientific research I assume Austral Stars were pretty popular amongst the peleoton of the time , Laurie Coates certainly thought highly of their finish and quality.

Map of Australia in the head tube, nice touch.

Can't really see it here, but this it the model name, Zephyr.