AUSTRALIA'S NEW LEADER

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23325, 19 April 1939, Page 12

AUSTRALIA'S NEW LEADER

• With praiseworthy alacrity, members of the Federal Government of Australia have appointed a successor to the late Prime Minister, Mr. J. A. Lyons. The choice has fallen on Mr. It. G. Menzies in circumstances which must be almost unique in Australian political history. Only a few weeks ago Mr. Menzies, because of the Government's decision to abandon its national insurance proposals, felt compelled to resign his seat in the Cabinet in which he had served for five years as AttorneyGeneral and Minister of Industry. He has been regarded for some time as one of the four or five dominant figures in present-day Federal politics, and now the Commonwealth's loss in the sudden death of Mr. Lyons has seen his early emergence from self-sought obscurity to fill the highest office of State his country has to offer. For the new Prime Minister difficult tasks loom ahead. On more than one occasion during the last few months it has been suggested that only the persuasive force of Mr. Lyons' personality has kept the Government coalition from splitting, and to Mr. Menzies, with events leading up to his resignation fresh in memory, falls the responsibility for reconciling two divergent groups. Reconstruction of the Government will probably be one of his first steps, and this should prove the true test of efficiency for the partnership between the United Australia Party and the Country Party. To the office of Prime Minister Mr. Menzies brings outstanding intellectual and administrative gifts. He has youth on his side, too, and a reputation for tackling with enthusiasm every task to which he sets his hand. With Mr. Bruce not over-anxious to re-enter party politics, it seems that the best possible choice has been made, and it is to be hoped that Mr. Menzies' career as Prime Minister will match in achievement that of his predecessor.