TURN OF THE TIDE.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 222, 19 September 1929, Page 26

TURN OF THE TIDE.

COMMONWEALTH POLITICS. SWING TOWARDS LABOUR. BRUCE PARTY UNPOPULAR. (From Our Special Correspondent.) SYDNEY, September 10. Prospects are tliat the Labour party will again attain power in the Comnionwealtli Parliament. After nearly seven years In office, the Bruce Government, despite several changes in Cabinet, has not gained the affection, or even the confidence, of the people. There are 110 tears over its fall. Public opinion is that it was brought about by its own incompetence and blundering, of which the people were becoming heartily critical.

The time was opportune, therefore, for Mr. Hughes and other dissatisfied members of the Nationalist party in Parliament to rebel, for with the electors so wroth with the Government there was every chance of the rebels being pardoned when it came to an election—of being more than pardoned, of being regarded as valiant politicians, scrapping party shibboleths for the public weal on questions of principle. Mr. Hughes' defection was, of course, quite expected, but not that of Mr. Walter Marks, the member for Wentworth, and one of Sydney's richest men, whoso vote it was tipped the beam—and the Bruce Government out of office.

A Hue and Cry,

There is a Nationalist hue and erv after the "traitorous" Hughes and Marks in particular. The Nationalists are avowedly out for their blood, and the State Premier, Mr. Bavin (whose extraordinary criticism of Federal politics and of Mr. Hughes in particular are an intrusion to which hitherto we have not been subjected, it previously being the practice for State politicians to confine themselves to State concerns), is said to be particularly bitter. Mr. Bavin, by the way, is the State president of the Nationalist Association. No doubt the Nationalists of Victoria will try and apply the political axe to Mr. Maxwell, the famous blind barrister M.P., and those of Western Australia will most likely seek politically to decapitate Mr. Mann. As for the Tasmanian member who voted against the Government, being the sole Independent, he is a party unto himself, and apparently is responsible to no one but that party. And Mr. McWilliams has for so long represented the people of a southern Tasmanian constituency that it is doubtful whether they would displace him, in any case, so great is their confidence in his political wisdom.

Irony of Politics,

11l a former dispatch to the "Star" on the subject of Mr. Bruce's proposal to abolish Federal arbitration, I dwelt on the possibility of the Government being defeated, especially with Mr. Hughes instigating a rebellion. That possibility is now an established fact; an election will be held in the near future, and the Labour party, which is never caught napping in preparation, has its machine in readiness, and is jubilantly optimistic. As has been shown in K"ew Zealand, people become tired of being too long governed by one set of politicians, and Australians are even more fickle, fpr Labour and anti-Labour parties have seasawed in power for more than twenty years, both in Federal and State politics, a condition of affairs which, with its changing policies and uncertainties, has not been for the good of the country. Of course, no Government can be popular if It pops on the taxation, and more particularly so when that taxation falls on the mass of the people. The Bruce Government's proposal to placc a flat tax of five per cent on the gross receipts from public amusements was one of the most unpopular moves a Government ever made in this country. This, on top of the proposal to abolish Federal arbitration, made even those who had doubted the use of Federal arbitration see in its abolition a threat to industrial peace and a move to allow employers to cut the wages of the workers to what extent they pleased.

That Donnybrook Desire,

Then there was the proposed additional tax on beer and spirits. Taxes may bo tolerated by the multitude when they are indirect, and not flagrantly flaunted in the face of the taxpayers; they do not mind a sugar-coated pill, but ask them to swallow a raw draught and they vomit their wrath. Patrons of sports and amusements consider that they are already charged more than enough for their entertainment; to demand that they shall pay a further tax on an amusement tax already in existence fills them with a Donnybrook desire to club the nearest head. In this instance' it is the head of the Government which has so opportunely come within their reach, and it is extremely likely that the Government will feel the club at the polling booth. It is all very well to tell the people that the first thing that should be taxed in times of stress is a luxury. Amusements are not now popularly regarded as a luxury, but as a necessity. Why, they are gravely discussed as part of the necessities of the worker, providing he and his family with absolutely essential relaxation from the strain of life, when learned counsel argue claims for wages before oven more learned judges! Had the Government imposed the tax and lasted the normal life of Parliament its imposition might have been forgiven, or, at least, forgotten. But to attempt such an imposition and fail—well, it can't get away with that!

"In the Soup."

And so it seems that the people will demand and secure a change of Administration. The economic position was never worse. Justly, this cannot be charged altogether against the Bruce Government—or, rather, I should give it the correct title of Bruce-Page Coalition Government-4)ecause there are the factors of world-wide money shortage, drought, and falling prices for primary products to rcckon with. But once let a Government becomc and it is blamed for everything—and it pays the penalty. Certainly the blundering of the Coalition Treasurer, Dr. Earlc p.,0-e, has not improved matters. His administration of the Commonwealth's finances has been condemned, openly or covertly even bv the Conservative Press, and there is little doubt that he has made things worse. Recklessly forecasting a revenue exceeding the actuality by millions, he spent as recklessly, and in the stress of his financial tangle he readied out with a greedy hand for further moneys from fresli taxation. Isoy he and his Government are what is mhsarlv termed "in the soup.' and it look> as if thev will drown in it, and the people, tired of promises unperformed bv the prolitically optimistic Journalists, will give the Labour party another [chance. "For," they say, "Labour roiim not possibly do any worse than this. It I is the resignation of despair!