ELECTION EXPECTED IN VICTORIA

Press, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 25305, 3 October 1947, Page 7

ELECTION EXPECTED IN VICTORIA

Rejection of Bill Stops Public Service Pay

OPPOSITION MOVE AGAINST BANK NATIONALISATION

(N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) (Rec. 9 p.m.) MELBOURNE, October 2. At a meeting to-day the Victorian Cabinet is believed to have decided to hold an immediate election. This follows the decision by the Legislative Council at midnight last night to reject the Government Supply Bill. The Opposition decided on this course in the hope of precipitating an election which tt would fight on the issue of the nationalisation of banking. Meanwhile, public servants are, demonstrating because the rejection of the Supply Bill has held up their fortnightly pa> cheques, due to-morrow for 25,000 State employees. The railwaymen, whose pay is due next Thursday, decided this morning to join a demonstration and held up all suburban trains between noon and 2 p.m. The Public Service Association organised a protest meeting at 1 p.m. to-day in the quadrangle behind the State offices.

At noon the -Victorian trading banks announced that they would honour any cheques drawn on them by the Victorian Government, “regardless of the political situation with respect to supply.” The banks have offered to advance immediately to any State civil servant who goes unpaid to-morrow the equivalent of his wages or salary free of interest or charges. The Premier (Mr J. Cain) immediately rejected the banks’ offer as “unconstitutional and a usurpation of Parliamentary authority.”

The Ministry is expected to introduce a bill as soon as possible in the Legislative Assembly to provide for two months’ supply and to ensure acceptance of the bill by the Legislative Council by agreeing to an election about November 15. The Premier has already indicated that another Supply Bill will be introduced. If this is passed, the public servants in the metropolitan area will be paid to-morrow and those in the country in a few days.

The Legislative Council rejected the Supply Bill by 19 votes to 13 as a manoeuvre to force the Government to resign. The Council took this action after Sir Frank Clark had made nationalisation of the banks an issue in the Supply Bill debate.

Mr Cain is expected to avoid an immediate dissolution by sending the bill, slightly amended, back from the Legislative Assembly to the Legislative Council. He could continue this process indefinitely, but the public servants win receive no pay until the bill is passed. Heads of State Government departments have been instructed' to hold up all salary and wage payments to civil servants. The law says that an election must take place not earlier than 20 days and not later than seven weeks after the dissolution of Parliament. The Government may defer the date of dissolution if It is not technically convenient to hold an election within that period. The State electoral officer says that the printing of electoral rolls for 1,500,000 voters take three weeks. Public servants who Will not receive their pay to-morrow comprise 10,000 teachers, 2000 police, and 13,000 “In this very bill the Government asks us to provide the fees of leading counsel who put the Government’s case in the challenge against the Banking Act in the High Court.” said Sir Frank Clark, opening the Opposition attack in the Council. He was referring to the fact that the Melbourne City Council successfully challenged the validity of a section of the act compelling local

authorities to bank with the Commonwealth Bank. Sir Frank Clark said that the Supply Bill was closely related to the nationalisation legislation. There were precedents for rejecting the bill but no precedents for what confronted Australia to-day.