AUSTRALIAN POLITICS.

Evening Star, Issue 9834, 24 October 1895, Page 2

AUSTRALIAN POLITICS.

A LEGISLATIVE STRIKE. [Peb Press Association.] MELBOURNE, October 24. The members of the Legislative Council are indignant at the Assembly reducing the salaries of the President and other officers of the Council. They looked upon it as an insult, and refused to proceed with Supply till the Government brought down on the Supplementary Estimates the amounts that had been cut off. FEDERATION-A FORWARD MOVEMENT. SYDNEY, October 24. The Council passed the second reading of the Land and Income Tax Assessment Bill by 30 to 11. In the Assembly Premier Reid introduced the Federal Enabling Bill, which, he explained, was based on the lines of the Hobart Conference. Briefly, it meant that the people of the Australian colonies by ballot would first have to say whether they wanted Federation or not. The Federal movement had been retarded .simply because it had been confined hitherto to the leading men of the colonies. His proposals would remedy this mistake' by placing it in the hands of the people, who would chose ten representatives to draft a Bill, which, after it had again been before them for approval, would be dealt with by the different Parliaments. It was already stamped with the approval of the leading men of the other colonies. Mr Lyne (Leader of the Opposition) said he generally approved of Federation, but he considered that this scheme completely ignored the various Parliaments. He moved an amendment in favor of the adoption of the Bill drafted by the Convention of 1891. This/was negatived by 53 to 7, and the Bill read a first time.