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The Dominion THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 27,1019. THE AUSTRALIAN ELECTIONS

There is much in the Commonwealth election campaign to interest the people of this country even at a timo when they arc preparing to sot their own political nouse -in order. It may be seen from brief cablegrams that the issue as between stable government with a sound Imperial policy and tho domination of extreme Labour, more than tinged with disloyalty, is raised much more sharply in Australia than it is at the moment in New Zealand. Hero the extremists "are confessedly a minority) and their utmost immediate hope is to gain as many seats as might enable them to hold the balance of power. In Australia the extremists are already aiming at much bigger things. The short but stormy annals of the Commonwealth bear no record of a more bitter or relentless contest than has thus been occasioned. Tho struggle owes some of the interest it holds for tho people of this country to tho fact that it is marked by tho play in an exaggerated and intensified form of many factors that aro. operating in New Zealand politics. It is even moro important, however, as it boars on Imperial policy and on the prospects of developing an Empire which would contribute by its internal harmony to the peace and welfare of tho whatever may be thought, of its detail issues it is plain enoughthat .the Commonwealth election will go well or ill as it results in the successor failure of the political combination which is pledged to worthily uphold tho Imperial connection and. forward Imperial co-operation. It is equally clear that if this view of the matter prevails with the eAustvalian electors they will not entrust their political destinies to Mn. Ryan and the reckless and_ insurgent elements which constitute at any rate a substantial part of his organised following. Whilo doclaring that he and those who stand with him will whole-heartedly maintain the Imperial connection, Mr. Htjqhes is able to appeal to recent experience in denouncing his opponents of the Caucus Labour Partyas men who would break the British Empire, and in doing so would destroy Australia. He declares, that "in their cunning way" his opponents seek to undermino and effect the disintegration of the Empinj, that they would abandon the military training scheme in _ Australia and break down every line of defonco of which the Commonwealth is possessed. The- attempts of the Caucus Party to repel this attack arc as a whole decidedly unconvincing. In its manifesto it declares that it stands for a White Australia and for "complete Australian self-government as a British community." It blames the Nationalist Government, also, for permitting Japan to gain a footing in the Caroline and Marshall Islands. Such professions and charges count for little, however, against well-remem-bared facts. It cannot be forgotten that the Caucus Party includes in its ranks men who at critical stages of the war agitated strenuously for a dishonourable peace—a peace that would have left Germany established within easy striking distance of the Australian coast—and many others who without going to that extreme did a great deal to cripple the war effort of the Commonwealth.

The main issue of the election, unfortunately, is not presented - clear-cut to the electors of the Commonwealth, but is enmeshed in all sorts of Some of these complications arise from the fact that the anti-Labour forces are of a composite character, and they are accentuated' by the action _ of Australian farmers in undertaking to establish a new political party. The Nationalist Party led in the late Parliament by _ Mr. Hughes consisted of a minority of Labourites and a larger body of Liberals. At the general election held in May, 1917, the Nationalists secured 53 of the '75 seats in the House of Representatives, and the whole of the IS vacant seats in the Senate. Nominally 18 Senators, half of the total number, retire every three years. This year 10 will go to the country, the additional candidate being required to stand as the result r.f an extraordinary appointment'in Tiismania. In the present election candidates are grouped as Ministerialists, Official Labour, Farmers' and Country Party, and Independents. , For the 19 Senate vacancies, 51 candidates have been put forward. The and Official Labour have each nominated a full ticket, and the Farmers' Party and Independents share Iho remaining nominations. For the House of Representatives the parties have made the following nominations:— Ministerialists 72 Official Labour l-fl Farmers' Parly 17 Independents Ti In all, there are 181 nominations to Iho Lower House and only two seats are uncontested. Under the electoral system hitherto in vogue in the Commonwealth the opponents of the caucus or Official Labour Party would be giving it a dangcijnua opening by p dividing into three distinct and competing groups. The coming election is to be held, however, under a system of preferential voting, and it is this change which has given the farmers of the Common wealth an opportunity of organising a separate party without unduly prejudicing the prospects of defeating the Caucus Party. Just how far the. opnonnnta of the Caucus Party are divided il; is a little difficult to say. The Farmers' Party is opposed on some points to the Minietqriilisfcs, notably, In its

hostility to the referendum proposals under which the Commonwealth Government is seeking enlarged powers of dealing with industrial unrest, high prices, and profiteering. On the other hand the Farmers' Party and Ministerialists are agreed on many policy questions, and arc alike definitely opposed 1.0 Mn. Ryan and his following on vital national and Imperial issues. Mr. Hughes assumes with soma apparent reason that he can fount upon the support of such Farmers' Party candidates as are elected. The central issues of the election are, of course, clouded by all sorts of detail questions. There is a ficrcfi exchange of charges and counter-charges. Mr. Ryan , indicts the wasteful administration of the National Government, and Mr. -Hughes retorts that in Queensland, under Mβ. Ryan's administration, the cost of living increased to a greater extent than in any other State, surpluses were turned into deficits, unemployment was greatly extended, and strikes became much more frequent. The campaign is being conducted with a ferocious abandon intensified by sectarian feeling, and the disorderly disturbance of meetings, particularly those addressed _by the Commonwealth Prime Minister, is being carried to extraordinary lengths. Mr. Hughes, however, appears to be in no way disconcerted by such tactics on the part of his opponents, but rather stirred and insnired to tempestuous energy and bittcrlv effective invective and retort. Two rclated_ facts emerge from the turmoil. One is that the contest in Australia is between a party which loyally upholds national and Imperial ideals and one which is prepared to make light of these ideals in pandering to the worst elements of the community. The other is that the electors of the Commonwealth will choose on December 13 between Labour caucus tyranny and government by political forces "which are in some resnects at variance internally on matters of detail, but are ready to co-operate voluntarily in r?ganl to the essentials of a broad national policy.

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DOM19191127.2.21

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 54, 27 November 1919, Page 6

Word count
Tapeke kupu
1,189

The Dominion THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 27,1019. THE AUSTRALIAN ELECTIONS Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 54, 27 November 1919, Page 6

The Dominion THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 27,1019. THE AUSTRALIAN ELECTIONS Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 54, 27 November 1919, Page 6

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