FEDERAL POLITICS

Evening Post, Volume CXXXV, Issue 21, 26 January 1943, Page 4

FEDERAL POLITICS

OUTLOOK

ELECTION POSSIBILITIES

(By Telegraph—Pi-ess Assgciation—Copyright.) (Special Australian Correspondent.) (Hec. 10 a.m.) SYDNEY, Jan. 26. The first session of what may be the last session in the life of the present Australian Federal Parliament will open in Canberra today. The session is expected %o prove a stormy one and to continue for at least two months. The most important of the Bills to be submitted is that to extend the area of militia service within the South-west Pacific, while the other controversial measures include one Bill to impose drastic supplementary taxes. It is expected to include a wages tax to contribute towards" the estimated deficit of £70,000,000 in' the current flnani L'ial year, a revised repatriation scheme jto provide for servicemen and- their j dependants; social service measures to cost £30,000,000 in the first year; a i Mortgage Bank Bill introduced in October and held over for examination by a Parliamentary Committee. Before the end of the session the Government expects to know whether all the States will accept the powers in the Bill agreed to at the recent Constitutional Convention. If any State improbably rejects the Bill before the session ends, further contentious legislation authorising a national referendum may be introduced. The possibility of an early election has been heightened by a widening of the breach between the Government and the Opposition, and the coming session, is politically a crucial one for all parties. WINDOW DRESSING. "Although the war should have pride of .place in the discussions, party interests and political controversies may predominate," writes the Sydney "Telegraph's" political correspondent. "The Government will be obsessed with the need for window dressing, knowing that this may be its last chance to make a brave show in Parliament. It will be eager to put through social legislation which will provide an opportunity for promising even better social benefits if Labour remains in office. The Government will also seek the support