PRIME MINISTER RESIGNS

Dominion, Volume 35, Issue 8, 4 October 1941, Page 10

PRIME MINISTER RESIGNS

Labour Congratulated (Received October 3, 11.30 p.m.) CANBERRA, October 3. Following an emergency meeting of Cabinet today, Mr. Fadden tendered liis resignation to Lord Gowrie. It is expected that the Governor-General will ask Mr. Curtin to form a Ministry. On • the defeat of the Government, the House adjourned. Mr. Fadden was the first to congratulate Mr. Curtin and leading members of the Opposition, who obviously appreciated his gesture. Mr. Curtin, in an interview said he was convinced Labour could form a stable Government. He would willingly accept a commission to form a Ministry. Mr. Coles startled the House when he announced his intention. to vote with Labour in order to obtain a stable government. He admitted that he had very little objection to the Budget.. He regarded Mr. Curtinjs amendment not as a censure of the- Ministry, but against the impossible position in which the Ministry found itself. The Government had shown that it did not have the numbers necessary for proper control of the war effort. The public was demanding that the House should be cleaned up. The Minister of the Army 1 , Mr. Spender, interjected: “Yon are the biggest place-seeker here.” Mr. Coles said the Government's position had been degraded since it deposed Mr. Menzies and became associated with the secret fund scandal. He had no fault to find w'ith Mr. Fadden, whose_ability was unquestioned. Nevertheless it was impossible to expect responsible Government with the Opposition practically as strong as the combined Government parties.

Uproar followed when Mr. Fadden interjected that Mr. Coles had demanded a seat in-Cabinet as the price of his support. Mr. Coles replied: “That is a lie.”