THE VICTORIAN ELECTIONS

Evening Star, Issue 19533, 14 April 1927, Page 6

THE VICTORIAN ELECTIONS

This complaint about the last Victorian Parliament was that it was unworkable owing to the divisions and subdivisions of parties. The figures of the voting at the elections just held suggest that the new Parliament will prove still more unworkable. This objection was foreseen by many clear-headed people who, while appreciative of the theoretical argument for substituting a preferential system for the old first-past-the-post system, insisted that it would be more important in practice to have a stable Governhient than to go without ' it merely because of the wish to have Parliament a more faithful arithmetical reflection of all shades of political opinion in the electorates. To show what those shades of political opinion are, the list of candidates for one electorate on the outskirts of Melbourne included Labor, Independent, Australian Liberal, Selected Nationalist, Independent, and Independent Nationalist, In the old days two parties contended for popular favor, and the community was divided into two political camps. To-day, in Victoria, there are six separate parties presenting policies to the people and seeking popular endorsement for their candidates. The dirition of the forces opposed to the swwlistio fttjjectiyp of

the Labor Opposition into so many sections and factions is a source of weakness; is apt to bring confusion into the parliamentary arena, and tionably makes the interpretation of tho popular will by Parliament itself a matter of very extreme difficulty. In the absence of a clear majority of representatives of one party it is impossible for any one party to govern in its own right or strength; hence coalitions become inevitable unless a clear mandate is given and a working majority is secured for one party. Up till very recently Victoria had an enviable reputation foxsanity in government, stability in finance, and soundness in administration. She is now facing the most difficult period in her history in regard to financial adjustment. Per capita payments have been withdrawn by the Commonwealth, and no- satisfactox-y substitute has yet been found. As matters are, this State stands to lose more than £2,000,000 of its revenue. An adjustment between Commonwealth and State nppeai-s inevitable. In the negotiations tho best men should be entrusted with the hat, f®ug of the finances wffiile bridging this gap. In a matter of this kind the responsibility of making these arrangements should fall to the men who have proved themselves capable of handling financial affairs, and who have been nurtured on the principles of sound public finance. But what security is there for sound finance if Labor is at the helm? The fact remains that in the Labor-governed State public finance is in a state of chaos and disorder, taxation is excessive and oppressive, and deficits have accumulated. Finance has usually proved the hurdle at which Labor falls. Victoria has nover until now had a Labor Government, and possibly for that reason her finances are in a more satisfactory condition than those of any other Australian State, all of which have experimented with Labor Governments. And those States in which Labor is now m power appear to be mortgaging their future tp America as fast as they can do it. chiefly because their wastefulness and misgovernment have undermined their credit in London, and they cannot carry on without further borrowing.