FEDERAL SENATE ELECTION
LABOUR SUCCESS MAY MEAN DISSOLUTION ANOTHER POLL NEXT YEAR SUGGESTED (United Press Assn.—Telegraph Copyright) (Received October 27, 11.5 p.m.) SYDNEY, October 27. It is reliably reported that the Government will seek a double dissolution and another Federal election next year if Labour achieves a majority in the Senate, which comprises 36 seats. Party reports to the Prime Minister (Mr J. A. Lyons) indicate that thousands of electors were confused by the grouping system on the Senate ballot papers, on which the Labour group ..was on top, except in Queensland, resulting in electors simply numbering from top to bottom in mechanical fashion without regard to true order of preference. The Government is determined to amend the system so that alphabetical nominations will confer no advantage on Senate candidates in future.
An earlier message stated: The position of the Senate is without material alteration, except that Labour continues to make headway. Despite the fact that the Government has lost very little ground in the House of Representatives the consensus of opinion is that Labour will win 19 of the senatorial vacanices, leaving the Government with the slenderest majority. . Information received by officials of the United Australia Party in Sydney has increased their hopes that the Government will win the Senate seats in Queensland. The Government Senate group gained heavily in Queensland as a result of last night’s counting and reduced its deficiency to only 45, compared with 10,403 on Monday. In South Australia the Government team has a lead of 125; on Monday it was 878 votes in arrears. The Minister for External Affairs (Sir George. Pearce) seems certain to be defeated in Western Australia, where the lead of Labour has further increased. The counting of the first preference votes for the Senate will not be completed for about a fortnight and until then it will not be definitely known whether the Government has lost its majority. STATE OF PARTIES The approximate state of the parties in the different states is as follows:— NEW SOUTH WALES United Australia 11 United Country 5 Labour 12 VICTORIA United Australia 9 United Country 4 Labour 5 Doubtful ' 1 QUEENSLAND United Australia 3 United Country 3 Labour 5 SOUTH AUSTRALIA United Australia 2 United Country 2 Labour 1 Doubtful 1 WESTERN AUSTRALIA , United Australia 1 United Country 2 Labour 2 TASMANIA United Australia 2 United Country 0 Labour 3 TOTALS United Australia 28 United Country 16 Labour 28 Doubtful 2 There are still’ a considerable number of primary votes to be counted. LABOUR LOSES PRESTIGE Among the seats in the House of Representatives in New South Wales hitherto regarded as doubtful were Hume, Macquarrie and Gwydir. Hume is no longer doubtful, having reverted to the retiring Country Party member, Mr Collins, who had rather a comfortable majority over a strong and popular Labour candidate, Mr Hoad. The voting in this constituency is indicative of the other so-called doubtful seats where the Labour vote failed to reach the strength expected of it. Macquarrie, which takes in Lithgow and Bathurst, two important country western centres, seems likely to remain with the Government. It is said that Labour here has lost prestige because of its opposition in Parliament to the ratification of an agreement for the development of the Newnes shale oil deposits by private enterprise. The outcome in Gwydir will not probably be known for two weeks, but the trend of the voting at present favours the retiring Labour member, Mr Scully. The recognized Labour seat at Cook has been easily won by the Labour nominee, Mr Sheehan. This seat had previously been held by Mr J. S. Garden, who fell foul of the New South Wales Labour Executive early this year, resulting in his expulsion and later in his reinstatement. He, however, failed to rehabilitate himself in the eyes of his colleagues, who declined to endorse his candidature. Mr Garden is now without a parliamentary seat or the secretaryship of the Trades Hall Council and has set up in business as a “tariff consultant.” MR MENZIES WINS EASILY The Attorney-General (Mr R. G. Menzies) in Kooyong (Victoria) had an overwhelming victory. Mr J. H. Scullen, a former Prime Minister, recaptured the Yarra seat in Victoria with a majority of 20,000. The veteran Victorian, Dr Moloney, was unopposed in his Melbourne constituency. A prominent Labour member, Mr E. J. Holloway, was unopposed in Melbourne Ports. Bendigo will probably be won on the allocation of preferences by an unofficial Country Party member, Mr G. Rankin, while Ballarat has already resolved itself into a neck-and-neck contest between the Labour candidate, Mr R. Pollard, and the United Australia candidate, Mr S. Walker, who is within 500 votes of Mr Pollard. In South Australia the only doubtful seat is Adelaide, where the Labour candidate, Mr Bardolph, looks like ousting the retiring Government candidate, Mr P. Stacey. The Labour leader, Mr J. Curtin, in Fremantle (West Australia) has defeated a strong Government opponent, Mr E. Isaachessen, by 10,000 votes. , , . . , The latest figures in the electorate of the Minister of Defence disclose that Sir Archdale Parkhill has slightly improved his position, but there are at least 5000 primary votes to come. His chief opponent, Mr P. C. Spender, requires to obtain about 60 per cent, of the preferences to win. The degree of personal feeling displayed against Sir Archdale is the subject of wide comment. His ministerial colleagues feel that it is quite undeserved.
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Southland Times, Issue 23342, 28 October 1937, Page 5
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903FEDERAL SENATE ELECTION Southland Times, Issue 23342, 28 October 1937, Page 5
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