Australian Parties.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXIV, Issue 852, 28 August 1933, Page 6

Australian Parties.

Tariff Wranqle.

Formation of Consumers’ League. (Special to the “ Star.") SYDNEY, August 17. FARMERS’ and Settlers’ Conference held in Sydney last week has had one interesting consequence. The conference carried a resolution to the effect that the Country Party ought not to enter into any pre-election pact with the U.A.P, for the next general elections. As Mr Patterson, acting-leader of the Federal U.C.P., was present, and made no protest, it is to be supposed that he shares these views. The Federal Prime Minister, therefore, issued an invitation to the U.C.P. to state , definitely whether the Sydney conference expressed its policy or not. The president of the conference, Mr Field, and several of the leaders of the New South Wales Country Party, said practically that their party could stand alone, and if necessary was prepared to do so; and Mr Patterson, driven into a corner by the persistence of Mr Lyons, fell back as usual on generalities, declaring that the U.A.P. had wished to absorb the U.C.P., and that in any case Mr Lyons’s tariff policy is “ an insuperable barrier ” between them. Mr Lyons answered, as before, that the U.C.P. had been offered three portfolios in the Federal Cabinet, and had refused them, and that they had practically endorsed his policy by agreement when it was submitted to the electors. But Mr Lyons is not prepared to let matters stand in this ambiguous position, and he has already applied to Mr Stevens and the heads of the State U.A.P. to know’ where they stand in regard to the U.C.P., and if \ candidates are to be run against U.C.P. men at the next election or not. A New Party. The prospects of active co-operation between U.C.P. and U.A.P. for Federal purposes thus seem more remote than ever. But this trouble over the tariff, precipitated by the recent conference, has had another definite result of a rather startling kind. A new organisation that will soon develop into a new political party has appeared in the field. It calls itself the Consumers’ Tariff Reduction League. Its object is not the establishment of free trade, but the reduction of the existing tariffs at least to the old pre-Scullin level, and 44 the elimination of protective duties on goods the manufacture of which in Australia is “ uneconomic.” Of course, the question of what kind of manufacture is “ economic ” or not in Australia may bear very different constructions, according as it is answered by the British producer, the colonial producer, or the colonial importer. As to the proposal for the reduction of the tariff to the 1921-30 level, this has been dealt with effectively this -week by the president of the Chamber of Manufactures in an address to the secondary producers. He pointed out that what has saved Australia’s credit and her financial solvency in this crisis has been the redress of the balance of trade—imports being reduced solely through the operation of the high tariffs imposed by Mr Scullin. If now this obstacle to importation were destroyed imports would speedily exceed exports again, and the reaction upon. the 'financial situation would be disastrous. Apart from this, Mr Gordon Bennett showed that the existing system of Protection benefits primary as well as secondary producers, and that “ the man on the land ” has been receiving for a long time past extremely valuable concessions which are paid for by all classes and sections of the community. Consequenc«s of Dissension. All these arguments combined appear to dispose completely of the need for the formation of any new organisation to modify Federal tariff policy by political means. But the promoters of the new Consumers’ Tariff Reduction League have certain definite objects in view, and they are not likely to be deterred from their purpose by the risk of still further complicating the situation as between U.A.P. and U.C.P., or even ultimately playing into the hands of Mr Lang.