The Press TUESDAY, MARCH 23, 1971. Mr McMahon’s Cabinet

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32562, 23 March 1971, Page 12

The Press TUESDAY, MARCH 23, 1971. Mr McMahon’s Cabinet

The divisions within the Australian Liberal Party are apparent in the Cabinet changes announced by the new Prime Minister (Mr McMahon). Loyalty to Mr McMahon has been rewarded, loyalty to the former Prime Minister (Mr Gorton) has proved to be a handicap. The party has also been forced to take renewed account of its dearth of talented Cabinet material. A handful of effective Ministers, including Mr McMahon, Mr Gorton, Mr L. H. E. Bury, and Mr B. M. Snedden, continue to circulate round the top offices: for the remainder, there appears to be little to choose between the abilities of the men who have been moved and the men who replace them. The problem is not unknown to New Zealand political parties; a relatively small Parliament does not give the ruling party a sufficiently wide choice of talent for Cabinet posts.

After his success in the contest for the leadership of the party, Mr McMahon could hardly avoid distributing rewards and punishments when reshuffling portfolios. Two of Mr Gortons closest supporters, the Attorney-General (Mr Hughes) and the Minister for the Navy (Mr Killen), have been returned to the back benches. Four of Mr Gorton’s critics in the party have been brought into the Cabinet But the most recent and outspoken critic, the former Minister of Defence (Mr Fraser), remains outside, a reminder that as deputy leader of the party Mr Gorton must still exercise some say in the choice of Ministers.

Australians who have watched the gyrations of the Liberal Party since its acknowledged leader, Mr Harold Holt, was drowned in December, 1967, must be becoming impatient with a ruling party in the Federal coalition which appears to be more preoccupied with its internal bickering than with the business of Government, especially at a time when serious issues are facing the country. Inflation, brought about by a spiral of wages and prices similar to that which has disturbed the New Zealand economy, is a pressing problem. So, too, is the increasing militancy of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, the equivalent of the Federation of Labour; and the Australian Medical Association is in rebellion against the Government’s new scheme of health benefits. These, and a score of lesser issues, have not been helped by the tensions among Liberal Party politicians.

At most, the new Cabinet has little more than a year in which to prove it can govern before it goes on trial in a General Election. Apart from Mr McMahon, the biggest test will fall on the former Minister for Immigration (Mr Lynch) who becomes Minister for Labour and National Service, and the former Minister for Labour (Mr Snedden) who takes over Mr McMahon’s old post as Treasurer. Between them, these two men have the job of setting the Australian economy back on a more stable and predictable footing, and of reducing industrial confrontations in the process. Mr McMahon has made It clear that he will be more than a silent spectator. He hopes that in Mr Snedden he has a Treasurer with whom he can co-operate, and he has already suggested that he will maintain close personal contact with top Treasury officials. There is at least a hint here of the firmness notably lacking in the last months of Mr Gorton’s term as Prime Minister.