POLITICAL PARTIES

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22390, 9 April 1936, Page 8

POLITICAL PARTIES

VICTORIAN ASSEMBLY "AN UNNATURAL ALLIANCE* GRATIFICATION OF LABOUR fFROM OUR OWS CORRESPONDENT] . MELBOURNE, March ai The rural State electorate of Allandale, adjacent to Ballarat, has been presented to the Labour Party as a direct result of the unnatural political alliance which has existed in the Legislative Assembly for the past year. It is just a year ago since Mr. Dunstan, the Country Party leader, deserted the Coalition Ministry. Only a few -weeks earlier a general election had given an extension of three years to the Argvle Ministry, in which the Country Party had three representatives, but the ambitions of were whetted by a Labour undertaking to support in office a purely Country Party Ministry. So Mr. Dunstan became Premier of the State. Necessarily he has had to be deferential to Labour, which supplies his majority in the House. In the Federal sphere the United Australia and Country Parties are cooperating in a composite Government* in Victoria they are opposed. What happened in Allandale was that each of the three parties ran a candidate. The position after the counting; of the primary votes was the same as at the general election a year earlier. Labour was first, the United Australia Party second, and the Country Party third. Labour Party Elated However, when the preferences of the Country Party were distributed it wag revealed that, although 1529 out of. 2705 had been given the United. Australia Party candidate, that number was substantially less than the number so allotted a year earlier, when the two non-Labour parties had a working alii, ance and the United Australia Party candidate was elected. On this occasion the Labour candidate has won the seat by more than 300 votes. Naturally the Labour Party is elated. Before the result was known the Labour leader, Mr. Tunnecliffe, said: "Unless the alliance between the Labour Party and the Country Party is nothing more than an empty sham and an alliance in name only, it should not be too much to expect that Country Party voters have supported the candidate of the ally which has kept the Dunstan Ministry in office."

While the Labour Party is pleased, there is concern in sections of both of the other parties at the political consequences of a continuance of the present alignments in Parliament. A movement is on foot to secure the revival of the alliance between the Country and United Australia Parties. Personal feelings may obtrude, for there is no doubt that Mr. Dunstan's tactics in leaving the last Coalition Ministry was deeply resented by many members of both non-Labour parties. However, there is a growing tendency to "forget and forgive" for the sake of removing the anomaly of the affairs of State being directed by the Labour Party, which has the smallest representation in the House.

Sir Stanley Argyle Suggestions have been made that the Leader of the Opposition, Sir Stanley Argyle, should yield place to a younger man, but he shows no willingness to oblige. Several suitable successors could be named; indeed, one of the problems would be to muster sufficient support for any one to lift him into the leadership with a majority rote. Mr. Kent Hughes, a former Rhodes scholar, was acting-leader in the recent absence abroad of Sir Stanley Argyle. Mr. Lan Macfarlan, K.C., was previously deputy-leader, but was deposed, and antipathy to >him was carried even to the extent of opposing him by a United Australia Party candidate at the last election. However, Mr. Macfarlan retained the seat for himself.

Close observers of the political position believe that a better successor to Sir Stanley Argyle than either Mr. Hughes or Mr. Macfarlan would be Colonel Harold Cohen. Ho was ft member of the Legislative Council, but resigned to contest successfully » seat in the Legislative Assembly. He showed last session that lie had t sound grip of all major problems. He was never bitter in debate, but his criticism was always constructive. He is the one man in the House who can make figures attractive, and as a subtle humorist he is in a claa alone. He has an excellent war record and is highly regarded in the city. There has been no definite development yet in the coalescence of the nonLabour Parties, but if personal factor! can be set on one side, it is possible that a return will be made soon to the old and natural alignments. The choice of a man like Colonel Cohen as leader of the United Australia Party would expedite such a movement.