LABOUR LEADER IN AUSTRALIA

Auckland Star, Volume LXXVI, Issue 161, 10 July 1945, Page 5

LABOUR LEADER IN AUSTRALIA

NEXT PRIME MINISTER

Fateful Caucus To Be Held Next Thursday N.Z. Press Association —Copyright Rec. 11.30- CANBERRA, this day. The Labour caucus will meet in Canberra on Thursday to elect a new party leader "who ■will automatically become Prime Minister. The meeting was originally planned for Thursday and then postponed until next Monday and now fixed for the original day. The Federal Cabinet, headed by Mr. F. M. Forde, will hold its first meeting on Thursday morning in preparation for the caucus meeting in the afternoon.

There is still no indication whether the Treasurer, Mr. Chifley, will be a candidate for the leadership of the Labour caucus, and, therefore, Prime Minister. It is stated in Canberra that the AttorneyGeneral, Dr. Evatt, will not be back in time for the meeting. Possible Political Sequels The special correspondent of the New Zealand Press Association in Sydney states that the passible sequels to Mr. Curtin's death are now being reviewed at length by Australian newspapers, but the public will not know until next week whether the present Government will remain in office. The caucus will meet next Monday confirm the selection of Mr. Forde as leader of the Labour party or to elect a successor.

If Mr. Forde is chosen, his commission as Prime Minister will automatically carry 'on, but if some other person is appointed, he will have to be commissioned by the Governor-General.

While Mr. Forde and Mr. Chifley, the Federal Treasurer, are the most spoken of contestants for the Prime Ministership, the Attorney-General, Dr. Evatt, j cannot be ruled out because, under the constitution of the Labour party, any absent member automatically becomes a candidate for any vacant position.

Dr. Evatt, now on the high seas returning from San Francisco, is not regarded as holding the same favour with the Labour caucus as he holds with Labour voters. While Mr. Curtin was ill and his possible retirement from the leadership of the Government was being talked of, a nation-wide Gallup poll of public opinion was taken as to who was best fitted to lead the Government in Australia. Labour voters named Mr. Curtin with an overwhelming majority, but their second choice went to Dr. Evatt, with Mr. Chifiey third and Mr. Forde fourth. Forde More Popular Choice Those in the know at Canberra say: "It will be either Mr. Forde or Mr. Chifiey." Mr. Forde, who is the more popular choice, was defeated by Mr. Curtin by only one vote for the leadership of the Parliamentary Labour party, whose deputy-leader he has been since 1932. The man who may beat him is Mr. Chifiey, the acting-Prime Minister in Mr. * orde's absence overseas. His control over Parliament in the past three months is described as "masterly."

It is not yet known whether Mr. Chifiey will be a candidate, but it is believed that he has given an undertaking that he will stand on certain conditions. Mr. Chifiey was Mr. Curtin's closest confidant and greatest personal friend.

Saying that whoever replaces Mr. Curtin is going to have his hands full of trouble, the Sydney Daily Telegraph to-day in an editorial puts the case for Dr. Evatt. The newspaper says: "If Federal Labour takes a long-range view of its own and the nation's interest it will seize the opportunity of Mr. Curtin's death to throw the whole Cabinet back into the melting pot. Tail of Mediocrities "For a long time it has been obvious that the Government is burdened with a.tail of mediocrities, while men of first-class ability sit twiddling their thumbs on the back benches. Any Government which has to face the electors within the next 12 months ought to see clearly the advanifege it stands to gain from putting its best men into the Cabinet.

"However, the caucus is traditionally suspicious of 'best' men. That is one cross Dr. Evatt has had to bear. He is so obviously head and shoulders, intellectually, above the rest of the party that the commonplace rank and file doubts him. Yet it is hard to see in the ranks of Labour anyone who could more worthily lead the party or bring to it_what it most of all requires—a deeper philosophic understanding of its role as a great national party.

"The man Labour selects to lead the party will determine by the breadth of his vision or by his weakness before the sectional interests of the caucus whether Labour puts itself into shape to make or break this nation. That is why the leader Labour chooses is of supreme importance to every Australian."