Mr. W. M'Cormack.

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 11, 12 July 1930, Page 28

Mr. W. M'Cormack.

Another prominent Australian politician to come' into the Public Eye as a result of Mr. Justice Campbell's report on the Mungana Leases la Mr. "William M'Cormack, until recently Labour Iremier of Queensland. Like Mr. Theodore, he declares that the report reeks with political malice and is based entirely on hearsay and inference. Mr. M' Corniack is a fluent and powerful speaker, and was early marked out for political preferment as the representative of one of the most

typically industrial constituencies in Australia. When Mr. Theodore resigned the premiership, followed by the inability of Mr. Gillies to deal with a very difficult situation caused by the Queensland railway men, Mr. M'Cormaek received advancement, which was followed by a General Election at which his preferment was confirmed by a substantial majority. He is just as militant in his methods as many other Australian politicians, but his militancy is mellowed by experience. He has long realised that constitutional methods prove more successful than the militant tactics suggested by a number of trades unionists, but even this: knowledge did not save his party from; disaster last year. The trouble which' eventually overtook the Labour Cabinet j had been brewing for some time and many factors contributed to tho downfall of the Ministry. For instance the i militant section of tho railwaymen,: under tho leadership of Air. Rhymer, an opponent of Mr. M'Cormaek's methods, had become restive under his restraining hand and this caused a rift within the party which could not stand the test of a General Election, and when they returned from the poll it was found that the casualties had been heavy. Queensland, however, was merely experiencing the transformation already apparent in other parts of • the Empire, where a desiro for a change of Government was just as plain. Mr. M'Cormaek is a master of political tactics, the result of much .experience in many election fights, choosing the battle-ground himself on which the campaign should -bo fought, but even his skill was not sufficient to ward off the trouble mainly created by the action of the militant section of the Queensland Labour Party. Mr. M'Cormaek was Premier and Treasurer of Queensland from 1925 until 1929, and prior to that he had considerable experience as unionist and politician. He became a member of the Legislature in 1912, and was Speaker from 1915 to 1910, joining the Cabinet in the latter year as Home Secretary, an offico he retained until 1923.