AUSTRALIAN POLITICS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18380, 21 April 1923, Page 7

AUSTRALIAN POLITICS.

OUTLOOK IN N.S. WALES. LIVELY SESSION" EXPECTED. [from our own CORRESPONDENT.] SYDNEY, April 12. The next session of the State Parliament promises to be a particularly lively one. Although it •will be at least three months before the House reassembles, considerable activity is being displayed by the. various parties, and they are by no means entirely . favourable to the Government. In fact, it has been more or less openly stated that the Progressive Country party will take the ; Cabinet severely *to task as soon as the opportunity presents itself. Among the matters upon which members of the party have recently expressed strong resentment are the reduction of the fares on the city trams; the Government's land policy, in so far as it makes the cutting-up of large holdings compulsory under threat of confisedftory taxation; and ' the failure to make the promised liquor referendum a Government issue. It cannot be denied that the Government is perturbed at the attitude of the Progressive Party. But there is a determination on the part of Ministers that if the members of the Progressive Party persist in assuming the role of dictators— some recent speeches indicate a proneness to adopt that attitude— immediate appeal will be made to the country. It is nX, expected, however, that the party, which holds the balance of power in the House, would go to such extreme lengths. Having regard for theXdivided state of the Labour Party, and the good record which the present Government has already established, there is a firm belief that an appeal to the electors would result in the return of the Ministerial party with a handsome majority.