VICTORIA.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 4 December 1924, Page 7

VICTORIA.

THE NEW COALITION. COUNTRY i PARTY PREMIER. SYDNEY, November 19. Three months of very mild Labour rule has been ended in Victoria by an agreement between the Liberals, led by Sir Alexander Peacock, and the Country Party, led Mr. Allan. The basis of the agreement is six portfolios each, with Mr. Allan.as Premier. Since Mr. Allan’s party, all told, totals only -thirteen, it will be seen that he lias even in the end been able to command pretty well his own terms, but evidently the Liberals were weary of the impossible position created in almost all the political spheres of Australia by the unstable attitude of the Country Party minorities in the anti-Labour ranks, and are willing, even despite the numerical insignificance of the party itself, to let it assume the leading role in the Coalition, and will doubtless give it much more sincere support than has ever been enjoyed by a predominantly Liberal section of the many coalitions that have now 7 been tried in Australia. These Party divisions have been, held responsible for the existence of Labour Governments in South Australia and Western Australia, and it was patent that Mr. Prendergast, the Victorian Labour Premier, was mainly utilising his unexpected reign for popularising his party in those quartres where most votes lay—Sir Alexander Peacock- described the Budget Speech, relieving sixty thousand people from income tax as “the birdlime budget,” because of its palpable design to snare- as many votes as possible. However, when the inevitable crisis came for Labour Mr. Prendergast failed to obtain the hoped-for dissolution, and the State now anxiously waits to see if it will get a less panicky Administration from a Country P’arty in virtual control than it has had with that party always harassing and embarrassing the the Government wing.