The Southland Times TUESDAY, JUNE 29, 1943. War and Politics in Australia

Southland Times, Issue 25692, 29 June 1943, Page 4

The Southland Times TUESDAY, JUNE 29, 1943. War and Politics in Australia

“/TIHE NEWS from Australia is bet--1 ter and it is going to be better still,” said the Australian Minister of External Affairs, Dr H. V. Evatt, according to a cable message from London. He was referring, of course, to front-line news from the area north of the continent- As far as can be judged from reports sent out from Sydney, the situation inside Australia is less satisfactory. The political scene has never been free from disturbance, even during the worst days of the war. But there are signs that the Australians are settling down to enjoy a first-class upheaval. The political correspondent of The Sydney Sun has mentioned a general conviction that the coming election “is likely to be as close, as bitter and as fluctuating in its week to week fortune as any in Australia’s history.” The dominant issue is expected to be the Brisbane Line and the wider question of defence. But there can be little doubt that the real cause of the disturbance is the political instability that has afflicted the country since the beginning of the war. One correspondent declared that “the Brisbane Line is not long enough to take all the dirty washing that will be hung on it in the next few weeks.” This sort of thing could not have been possible if the political parties had been able to find a basis for unity. It is true that the Labour Party in New Zealand has also refused to form a coalition. But in this country the Government has a large working majority. Although political unity would have given a final strength to the Dominion’s war effort, at the same time saving the country the distraction of an unseasonable election, the Government could at least claim an electoral support which was lacking in Australia. The Curtin Ministry depends on the vote of a single independent. Where the parties, or party combinations, are so evenly balanced, the case for a coalition is too strong to be questioned. If unity could not be achieved while the Japanese were drawing nearer to the coasts of Australia, there is no hope of a comI promise now that the danger is passing. The politicians are eager to resume their old quarrels, and although the newspapers have been critical it seems obvious that the public is able to endure, or even to enjoy, the shouting and the tumult. Australia, like other British Dominions, is entitled to hold an election in war-time. If the precarious balance of parties could be replaced by a strong Government, an election would bring to the Commonwealth a badly needed political stability. But it is hard to see a clear-cut majority emerging from the present confusion. It is not easy, perhaps, to obtain a clear view of the situation from a distance. The Australian people may see nothing strange in the bickerings of their politicians. But there is evidence that eyes made clearer through contact with the outside world are noticing unwelcome symptoms. Troops returning from the Middle East were reported yesterday to have been “bitterly shocked” at the lack of discipline in Australia. And while the politicians were arguing about what should have been done to defend the country in 1941 two American newspapers drew attention to problems of the future. “One can only wonder,” said The New York Times, “about the 1,000,000,000 congested coloured folk of Asia and nearby White Australia with so few people in it.” Too many of those “few people” are at present thinking of the wrong things.