Aust. Govt To Seek Election If Bills Blocked By Senate

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23219, 3 April 1950, Page 7

Aust. Govt To Seek Election If Bills Blocked By Senate

CANBERRA, April 1. The Prime Minister, Mr. R. G. Menzies, in a broadcast speech, gave a hint that the Government would move for a general election if- the Senate blocked its legislation. He said the Government proposed to legislate “with your support and if it becomes necessary with your further vote.” He warned that Labour should “think twice” about its plans. Mr. Menzies said: “We are being threatened that the Opposition will use its Senate majority to block our legislation. The people did not elect the Government with a sweeping majority in the House of Representatives just to see it frustrated by the Senate. Defeated politicians with any political sense will think twice before they expose themselves to an outraged public opinion at another poll. “If there is improper use of the Senate’s majority, it will be because the Labour Party, which people rejected last December, is seeking to govern in spite of that decision.” The Sydney Morning Herald says on present plans the Labour majority in the Senate will block the Commonwealth Bank Board Bill, the Child Endowment Bill, and possibly tho measure to ban Communists from holding office in unions.