ELECTIONS IN AUSTRALIA.

Press, Volume LXVII, Issue 20419, 14 December 1931, Page 7

ELECTIONS IN AUSTRALIA.

♦ . CRISIS WELCOMED. UNITY AGAINST LABOUR. (prom our own correspondent.) SYDNEY, December 3. No political crisis was ever so welcome in Australia as that which occurred with such dramatic suddenness last week. The whole country seems to have taken a new lease of life and from the very beginning of what will bo the shortest political campaign on record there has been a feeling that, a new Government will prevail, bringing v.ith it more settled days and a complete renewal of public confidence. ' During the past two years, while the Scullin Government has been in power, the Commonwealth has passed through some of the darkest days in its history, but it would be altogether wrong to blame Mr Scullin and his confreres for this. But they mulSt shoulder some of the responsibility, for theirs has been a policy of side-tracking in all things but the tariff. Many of the things clone by the Cabinet to restore Australia have been done half-heartedly for they were practically all opposed to the true Labour policy.- Promises have been broken in a bewildering fashion, leaving the electors to wonder where the country stood and where the Government stood. Before the last General Election Mr Theodore said that if the Labour Party won it would open the New South Wales mines where a disastrous strike had been in progress for so long. That was the first of a series of dishonoured promises. Public Finance. During the Ministry's first year of office the collapse of public finance was the controlling theme of Federal politics. Mr Scullin was amonfe the first to recognise the seriousness of the situation, and although he has never openly admitted the fact, it is clear that he invited Sir Otto Niemeyer to Australia. It was the .famous Niemeyer report that was primarily responsible for the breaking up of the powerful Labour Government. It was only halfheartedly that Mr Scullin endorsed it on the eve of his departure for London for the last Imperial Conference. Everybody felt-that he was not heart and soul for the drastic economies that had been recommended, and it was only because there were no other alternatives that he enforced them, in part. His courage has been of a dotitbful quality. The public confidence in Mr Scullin and his supporters was rudely shaken when Mr Theodore, as Treasurer, said, on one memorable occasion r "It may be necessary to precipitate a' crisis so that the Government can dictate, to the banks and force a release of credits." By that speech Mr Theodore came very near to being a good Lang Plan man. The break-up of the Party came with the resignation of Mr Lyons and Mr Fen ton, when the wild inflation policies were endorsed by the Caucus. It-was decided tlien to make a demand upon the Commonwealth Bank for . the •'creation of credits" to the extent oi £20,000,000 for a works programme, and Mr Lyons, who had been acting Treasurer since the retirement of Mr Theodore following the famous Mim"ana report, said very plainly that Mr Theodore was behind the move, which Mr Scullin himself, in a famous cable from London described as "dishonest and disastrous." Yet at the first opportunity Mr Scullin took Mr Theodore back to the fold, and never once criticised him for his mysterious talks about the "release of credits" and *or his continued attacks on the banks. Was it--any wonder that people asked where Mr Scullin stood, and where Ms Government: stood. Landslide Forecasted. Anyhow, the time has now come for the public to judge, and the public is eagerly waiting the, opportunity. Even at this early date political students are forecasting a political landslide against Labour, similar to that recorded in the

British, elections. Everywhere it is recognised that New South Wales is the key State, and the only regret of the people of New South Wales, it would seem, is- that they are denied the opportunity of placing Mr .Lang where they think he ought to be—in political oblivion.It is surely a sign of the times that not one seat will be allowed to go by default. The anti-Socialist forces are displaying a unity that has always been lacking :in previous elections, and they have decided .to contest, every seat. They will be represented even in the recognised Labour strongholds of Sydney, an 3 the selected candidates in j these electorates will not be regarded as a forlorn hope, as on previous occasions. It would seem that nothing can heal the rupture in the ranks of Labour in New South Wales, and in the industrial seats it win be. found that Lang Plan and Federal A.L.P. candidates will oppose one another. It is going to be a memorable test "of strength, with everything favouring the Lang man, be-, cause the Lang machine is all powerful in Sydney at least. ■ The Four Parties. Here, is a summary of the policies of the four main Parties in the field:— f United Jeform and Empire policy; restoration of internal and external credit; economy in Government expenditure; productive enterprise for re-employment of the workless; industrial tribunals for' the protection of the workers/ . • United Country-—Tariff reform follow- j ing enquiry as to whiqh industries are i essential, natural, or foreign; Protection | for mass production industries which i use primary products 'as raw material; ] industrial restrictions where output'is j hampered to be removed; Government expenditure to be restricted; trade within the Empire; preference with Great Britain. Federal Lab,our —Financial and industrial reconstruction; banking and currency reform; power to alter the Constitution, resulting in unification with sov-! ereign powers for the Federal Government; scientific tariff; unification of the Arbitration system; restoration of pensions and salaries; producer control of wool and wheat. Lang Plan —Complete national 1 control of finance; pensions and wages to be restored; national insurance; the Party will affirm that, as sail Governments are under the dictatorship of capitalistic finance, it logically follows that no pdlicy can operate without its consent. It is an indication of the keenness of the fight that there should have been fourteen aspirants for the honour of representing the United Australia Party in Wentworth,' an electorate which covers a large suburban area of Sydney. Everywhere there has been a rush to get under the United banner which claims the leadership of Mr Lydns, who still arouses | great enthusiasm everywhere he goes. The public seems to appreciate his honesty of purpose and his courage in resigning from the Labour Party immediately he was convinced it was not dping the right thing. Mr Lyons has been untiring in his efforts to secure unity among thd forces opposed to the Labour Party, and it is probable that he will achieve his purpose in New South Wales, where he has had to fight hardest, on the eve of a memorable campaign. The endorsement by the United Party of Mr Charles Hardy for the Senate, and the dropping of a stalwart Nationalist in his favour came as a surprise, but' it was probably a good tactical move, for Mr Hardy has been the leader of the new Country Movement, and has achieved remarkable popularity in the country districts. However, it will find it difficult to explain away his utterances—most emphatic, they were—that he had no political aspirations—no desire whatever to enter Parliament. Campaign' Plans. In arranging an aerial tour of the State, Mr Hardy has set an example that will be generally followed. The campaign will largely be fought in the air, as it were, for aeroplanes and broadcasting are going to play an important part in this whirlwind fight. The radio "Tsar" in Australia, tlic Director of Post and Telegraphs (Mr H. P. Brown), has set a limit on the use of the " A'' elftss stations for the broadcasting of political speeches, so

much so that Mr T. H. Beasley, the j mau responsible for the election, and ) the Leader of the Lang Group in the ' House of Bepresentatives, has been left-. out in the cold. This has meant a.-; rush on the "B" class stations, andji/ incidentally, more expense, for a "B" class broadcast eosts money. At leastsix aeroplanes will be dashing hither j and .thither in New South Wales' this j week with Party leaders and others,;' and some of the candidates have ar- i ranged as many as six meetings in a ; single (lay. Both Mr Scullin and Mr ; Lyons will cover as* much of Australia [. as they poseiblyefin duringthe weeks preceding the' election, and in ' the case of Mr Lyons h e will not visit j his own electorate in Tasmania until * the day before the vote is' taken; Then I he urill address about a dozen meeting. ] Although Mr Scullin will be opposed ! •by the United Party, it is. confidently I expected that he will for his is j a truly Labour seat. Most interest willl centre in Dalley, a Sydney division,} where the Treasurer (Mr Theodore) j ' will have the fight of his life. Mr i J. S. Rose-vcar has been selected as the-' Lang 'Plan: candidate to oppose him.. , Mr Kosevear ..endeavoured to §ecure\the selection against Mr Theodore t\?o; years ago and failed. He says n6w. that nothing would give him greater » pleasure' than to turn Mr Theodore' offt'. , of politics.'v He will have all'the as-,' sistance that. Mr Lang can give him • " to this end. Mr Lang and his men will concentrate against Mr Theodore,- but the flatter is such a master tactician that he may prevail in the end. In, ; ■East; Sydneyj where at the last byelection the Labour majority was so materially reduced, the sitting Labour * member <Mr Ward) will have to faee an official of the Australian Workers' Union and a strong Federal A.L.P. man (Mr T. Buckland). In both East.Sydney and Dp-lley there will be a United Party man, to complicate matters, for; the divifieil, forces of Labour.' "While; ' the position "in the cities may Bcure, there is. no room for doubting • the country. Never before was-. the'. " country so definitely anti-Socialist;. aaj it is ta-day. . j 1 Enthusiastic Meetings. ' ' - All ine«jtings so far have been attended with, the greatest enthusiasm, and the most significant happening so far has been the appeal by adherents of the Lang policy to the State Government i.n New South Wales for ;adefiuate polipe protection. Usually Labour, of Whatever brand, has been assured of an attentive.; hearing, while the cither sides have been harassed. When Mr Lyons spoke in the Sydney Town Hall on Wiednesday pight, he a great 'audience, and an audience, moreover, that was thoroughly with hire.. He was ohtered to= the echo. If, as reader of the United Australia Party, he becomes Prime Minister, he will be the first Tasmanian to achieve that .high honour. Mr Lyons is a family man, the father of "ten, and seems to cah'y a popular appeal even though he be far from brilliant/. - He is regarded, however, as being intensely honest and sincere. . Mr Latham. who was Attorney-General in th* last Bruce Government, is his right-hand man, tfnd is probably more . the leader of the United Party than Mr Lyons. Anyway, it is certainly in the interest of the Party, to acclaim Mr Lyons, as l has certainly. been - the political hero of the year. Competent observers say that the Lang Group, under the leadership of Mr Beasley, will not win a single seat outside New South Wales. In New South Wales they are . bound to score at the expense of the Federal Labour - Party. Labour is certain to lose several seats in Victoria, and anti-Social-ist majorities'are expected in all the other States. The, country will' go solidly for the Country Party, mainly because of its policy of tariff reform.(Jn the face of it, the prospect is for a substantial defeat of Labour, with the Country Party/ holding, the balance of power in the isaw House, just as it did in the days of Mr Bruce.