The Dominion. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 1919. POLITICAL FERMENT IN AUSTRALIA.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1912, 21 November 1913, Page 6

The Dominion. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 1919. POLITICAL FERMENT IN AUSTRALIA.

Australia is passing through stirring times at present from the political point of view. Hot long ago the Yictorian Ministry was nearly wrecked owing to dissensions in the party which supports it; New South Wales is now in the midst of what is probably the most exciting gensral election in the history of that State; and, according to a cablegram which we publish iii another column, the stormy proceedings in the Fed- : ural Parliament .have reached an; extremely critical stage. In How' South Wales the Liberal and Labour parties are fighting a desperate- battle for the control of the State Leg-: islature. 'In the previous- Parliament the Labour party had a very small and precarious majority which ou more than one occasion daring Mit. Willis's sensational and autocratic reign as Speaker threat-: ended to vanish altogether. How-! sver, by; various, u'hwofthy expedisnts they clung; to. office, and in spate I of much hostile criticism they declined to. go to tb& country until ; the legal life of ihe.,Pa.i'liauienfc had come to an end. The recent, sue- : sesses of the New. South Wales Lib-1 srals at. the Federal polls have \ jreatly increased their hopes of'victory at the present election; but they_ do not appear to be so well disciplined as their and most of the vote splitting eaitscd by 3xcess of candidates will be on their side. In addition to its'better organisation the party has the idvantage which the actual posses* iion of office 'carries. Both sides ire doing their utmost to capture the country vote, but the general opinion seems to be that the Liberils will secure more support than ;he Labour party among the settlers. rhe raising of tfie sectarian issue nay upset expectations in certain ilectorates. The Roman Catholic Federation, is putting a series of juestions to candidates regarding iducational matters, and this is sure :o have some influence on the Pro:estant vote. ■ The Liberals are vigorously at;aeking the extravagance of the Lajour Government and its anti-free-lold policy, and their opponents are isserting that if the Liberals are iiiccessful it will mean wholesale re,renchment, but Mr. Wabe says there Is absolutely no foundation for such i statement. Q>he struggle is being iharacteriscd by a good deal of perlonal recrimination, and the evils )f caucus rule are receiving much ittention. It is interesting to find ;hat Mr. Willis, the ex-Speaker, is :onducting an unconventional campaign on his own account. He fe.:cntlygavc an entertaining address )ii "Parliament, Politicians, Parties md Policies.*' Like Inm'm. of olci ii'm hand is URnitta*. ereryhorly, -The rays of Liberals and the- Labourites

arc equally distasteful to ljim s arid as for the Independents—-the ''"whatnots" he calls them—they are not independent at all; they are only opportunists. " One naturally begins to wonder where Mil. WIbUS himself comes in. He snys he belongs to the other party—the "st-rontj, sturdy" Radical party, and he declares that he is "the beginning, the middle, and.the end of it." The battle may be expected to proceed with inereas r ing keenness both in the tress and oil the platform until December C, the day fixed for the polling. The latest development in Federal politics is a sharp collision between the two Chambers arising out of the .action of the Government in refusing to consider seriously a no-eonfi-dence motion, and' proceeding with ordinary business after adjourning the Senate. The Opposition, which has an overwhelming majority in the Senate, has shown its resentment by forcing an adjournment as a pro* , test. The Ministerialists contend that this line of action is an effort , to bring all business to a standstill, and that such tactics will make a ', double dissolution necessary. The general opiuiom is that a crisis is 1 now approaching. The nd-confi- *' dence motion referred to was char- • acterised by the .Prime Minister. , (Mn. Cook) as a brutal waste of time, and it had a. short and strange career. After Mr. Fisher (Leader of the Opposition), Mr. Cook, and Ms. r BfcGiiES (Opposition) had 'spoken, t Mr. Cook said the_ Government r 'Would treat the question as an ordinary notice of motion, discussion of which must be adjourned at the end of two hours'" delmfce, and lie subsequently stated that it wo.uld disappear from the business paper of the House. The policy of the Qp- . position throughout the session has bee-n to make- the- transaction of business in the" House of Representatives impossible. It is hoped in f this way to prevent important nieas- ? ures from being_ sent to the Senate. 'as their, rejection' ,by that | Chamber \ would probably result in a- conflict between the two " Houses, and thus eventually lead to the simultaneous dissolution of both • the House and the Senate. The " Labour Party, in view of the ] fact that it i ha«s a very large r majority in the Senate, desires to t avoid a deadlock between the two Chambers; whereas the Liberals have very little to gain by a dissolution of the House of Representatives by itself," as all they could expect from that ; course would be a workable . majority in that Chamber,- while the overwhelming voting strangth of Labour in the Sen- ' ate Wotild still be able to block all [ Liimal legislation. Both _ parties I recognise that the present situation ■ cannot continue for long, and both ■ are manoeuvring for tactical advantages with their eyes-fixed on the inevitable aiip-eal to the electors-.