Greymouth Evening Star. FRIDAY, JUNE 23, 1950. Labour Losses In N.S.W.

Greymouth Evening Star, 23 June 1950, Page 4

Greymouth Evening Star. FRIDAY, JUNE 23, 1950. Labour Losses In N.S.W.

T’HE. Labour-Socialist leaders in New South Wales have been compelled to fawn pn two rudely-rejected members of their party in order to retain Government office. These “rebel” politicians were refused official endorsement of their candidatures at the recent election because they preferred to obey the dictates of conscience. They had refused to obey the dictate of the party machine and had thus earned disfavour. As a result of the election, however, the Premier, Mr McGirr, has been forced to seek their support. Even with that support, he will have a. majority of only one in the Legislative Assembly, as it will be necessary to appoint the Speaker from the ranks of his party. His Government will thus be constantly exposed to the danger of defeat. , The election result is the reverse of reassuring to the New South Wales Socialists. They entered the election • contest with a majority of 10 over the LiberalCountry Party coalition and finished on equal terms —46 seats each, with the two “rebel” Socialists holding the balance of power. The Government’s losses would no doubt have been greater had the probability not been foreseen, and forestalled, by alterations to the Electoral Act. The New South Wales Government had apparently learnt something from the New Zealand Labour-Socialists in the gentle art of gerrymandering to save a Government’s skin. The weather, too, may well prove to have been a factor in the polling; it probably reduced the Liberal and Country Party votes in the flooded areas of the State.

The influence of the State polling on Federal politics is difficult to determine. Largely the voting* followed, the trend of that for the Federal Parliament last December when the Chifley Labour-Socialist regime was swept from office. New South Wales for many years has been a Labour stronghold and for that reason the repetition of the general swing which took place last December was not sufficient to bring about a change of government. The result, however, must be interpreted as support for Mr Menzies’s Communist Party Dissolution Bill, which has been opposed so strongly by the Labour-Socialist M.P.’s at Canberra.* Indeed, Labour throughout Australia has never yet matched words with deeds in its dealings with the Communists. As a result of the opposition which his Anti-Red Bill has met, Mr Menzies may be forced to bring about a double dissolution of Parliament and thus seek from the people at a general election, for both the House and the Senate, further affirmation of their already-expressed desire for firm action in dealing with the Communists, whose activities are the root cause of much of the repeated disruption to Australian life.