AUSTRALIAN PARTY

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 141, 11 December 1929, Page 13

AUSTRALIAN PARTY

FORMATION IN SYDNEY

WELFARE OF THE PEOPLE

3ffi, HUGHES'S POLICY

Mr. AY. M. Hughes, M.P., was enthusiastically cheered on 3rd December last, when he entered the Willoughby Town Hall at Chatswood to deliver the inaugural address of the Australian party, reports the Sydney "Morning Herald."

"With the exception of Senator Massy Greene, all the insurgent Nationalist members were present—Messrs. Maxvrsli, Harks, and Senator Duncan.

"We have had many historical meetings in this hall," said Mr. Hughes, "and this meeting and the- circumstances recall those tumultuous and joyous experiences of the recent election, when we carried tho banner of freedom and placed it firmly on its citadel.''

"The time is ripe for a new party," declared Mr. Hughes. "The circumstances leading up to and resulting from the recent election make a new party imperative. In the face of the verdict of the electors, it is abundantly clear that the Nationalist Party *is completely out of step with the people. To-day, Nationalism stands only for a narrow section of reactionaries. It has made Parliamentary Government a byword, and freedom of speech and adherence to principles unpardonable crimes. It has turned its back upon progress and contemptuously flouted the will of the people. , It stands neither for nationalism, freedom,' nor Australia. When, therefore, we speak of the need for a new party, we do not merely mean that there is need for a new political creed, but for a party which will interpret old and well-tried principles in a spirit compatible with the ideals and interests of the people of Australia; and no party whose objective, platform, and methods.are not in harmony with those ideals and interests can hope to gain and hold a dominant position with any considerable section, of the people." EXTERNAL ATTITUDE. The new party, continued Mr. Hughes, would be a people's party, and would maintain that close touch with the people that was essential to a party which stood for the people. It would set its face resolutely against the of the party machine, or of any section or any individual. It would •stand definitely for Australia as a selfreliant nation within the British Commonwealth of Nations; and fdr the full (and equal representation of Australia jin the councils of the Empire; and (it would insist that it should not only |be. consulted, but that it should have (an effective voice in the deliberations •that moulded the foreign policy of the ■Empire. Its attitude towards the doctrine of internationalism which certain sections of the Labour Party poudiy advocated would be one of frank (opposition. The greatest and most dressing problem in Australia to-day— tin. the whole world, in fact—was unemployment. The Australian party stood {very definitely for the Australian standard of living, for decent wages and loonditions of labour, for fixation of gvragos by peaceful negotiation where possible, by legal tribunals where the parties could not agree. It stood for tpeaeo in industry and the settlement •.of disputes by arbitration. The industrial question was the great problem jtbat confronted modern society. Legislation affecting industry in one .or jjother of its myriad, aspects was the jCiily phase of politics that appealed to Jfche great majority of the people. The [industrial, question had an immense 5-ange and a thousand facets, but the .Commonwealth Parliament had no jpower to make an industrial law. Australia had progressed since the Constitution was framed; and the Constitution must be readjusted to suit modern requirements. But some people .did not see that; their minds were fast-3-ooted in the past; they talked about State rights as though these, were .tiivinely ordajned. These so-called State rights 'got in the way of progress and peace and national rights, and unless the national Parliament was to be a costly and pretentious farce they jnust be swept away. A NATIONAL QUESTION. -!Por nine months and more the northern coalfields in this State had been Sdle. Surely this was a national question, no matter who was or had been Jin the wrong. Surely the national Parliament ought to have full power to Seal with the situation; but it had Hot full power; it had hardly any Jjower at all—and what was more, no one seemed able to say exactly what its powers were. The State Government of New South Wales, on the other hand, had full powers, but up to the present it had done practically nothing. ,When anyone protested he was told that the miners were under a Federal award—which might or might not be true—and that the State could hardly interfere. So the public of Australia and the miners of New South Wales were tossed from State to Commonwealth,'and back again like in a game of battledore and shuttlecock, and nothing was done. "The national Parliament must have ■full powers to deal with all industrial matters; there must be one authority to whom the people can look, and upon whose shoulders the full responsibility |tor industrial conditions must rest." "I am not in favour of unification," feaid Mr. Hughes. "The State Parliaments have important work to do; but £he machinery of the State Legislatures ought to be remodelled and the expenditure very greatly reduced. I cannot elaborate this point further now, put I am very1 certain that the people' bf Australia will heartily support any 'action in this direction.'"' GIVING- LABOUR A SHOW. Concluding, Mr. Hughes said: "No foolitical party can serve two masters. Uf it ia to serve the people, it must not .fee dependent upon vested interests for ifinancial support. The National party Jnachine was dominated by rich reactionaries, who, paying the piper, insisted upon calling the tune. The Australian party is a people's party, and |will look to' the people for financial teupport. Labour is in office by virtue »f the people's vote, and is entitled to a fair opportunity to formulate its policy. This we shall give it. And as long as the Government brings in legislation which will promote the wel- : Sara of the people, we shall supnort it. flfc_ is high .time that carping*~party (criticism ceased, and members of all parties strove to do their best to legislate for the benefit of the country. "The future of the party is in the lands of those, who, believing in its /policy, range themselves under its banners. They will draft its Constitution, idraw up its platform, and control its 'destiny, and I appeal to men and women of all shades' of political opinion, Nationalist, Labour, and Country Earties, who are opposed to class legisition, machine politics, and alien doctrines, and who desire to work for the •welfare of Australia, to throw in their lot with the new party, as the people's party has already done, and help to make it not merely in name, but in veritable reality, the Australian party." [The International cable news appearing In jthia Issue is published by arrangement with the Australian Press Association and the ?'Sun"-"H«slil" News Service, Limited.]