Seals Of Opposition Leaders la Jeopardy

Northern Advocate, 24 August 1943, Page 3

Seals Of Opposition Leaders la Jeopardy

(Special, 3 p.m.) SYDNEY. This Day, j Several days must elapse before] the final results of the Australian] Federal elections become known. Pro-] gress reports indicate a possibility that] Labour’s majority in the new House! of Representatives may be slightly) higher than the figure of 28 originally] mentioned. Both the Opposition’s) header (Mr. Fadden) and its Deputy! Leader (Mr. Hughes) are in some] danger of losing their seats, Mr., Hughes, Australia’s last war Prime] Minister, is the only member of the) first Federal Parliament who is still in: ! politics. ] Sir Earle Page, former Prime Minis- ] !ter and another of the Opposition] Headers, is also in trouble. All three! jhave been members of Australia's Ad-] jvisory War Council. The distribution] ;of preferences may save these sitting) | members. i Under the Australian voting system,! i preferences operate when no candidate ilias received an absolute majority. The system involves elimination of the candidate with the lowest number of votes. His numbin’ two votes are then distributed among the remaining candidates, according to the wishes expressed by a voter on his ballot-paper. This process of eliminating the succeeding bottom candidates is continued until the top candidate has an absolute majority, j Mr. Curtin has offered the Opposition the same numbers on the Advisory War | Council as in the last Parliament. ] Three cf the present six Opposition ) councillors, Messrs. Menzies, Spender and ;McE\ven, have retained their seats in the ] House of Representatives—though with ) heavily reduced majorities.