The Evening Star SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 1940. FEDERAL POLLING DAY.

Evening Star, Issue 23687, 21 September 1940, Page 10

The Evening Star SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 1940. FEDERAL POLLING DAY.

After a whirlwind election campaign, which, it is to be hoped has not left the public a little dizzy, Australian voters have gone to the poll to-day. It has been generally regretted in responsible quarters throughout the Commonwealth that a Federal election should have been deemed necessary at a time like the present, but unfortunately political feeling amongst the amazing network of parties had reached such a pitch that complete cooperation in pursuing the war effort was impossible. The air had to be cleared of misunderstandings and recriminations. The one great hopeful sign is that all the major parties are determined that Australia is to play her part in achieving victory for the British Empire, practically the only differences of opinion on this score bearing on the methods that should bo adopted to gain that end. For reasons which may be obscure to most New Zealanders the Prime Minister (Mr Menzies) does not command tho confidence of all sections of the community. One of his political opponents has said of him: “ His qualifications in piping times of peace are admitted, hut when the blast of war blows in our ear he is not the man to lead Australia.” There is something familiar in criticism of this kind. In Groat Britain Mr Chamberlain was similarly attacked. Yet a careful study of the main policy speech of Mr Menzies proves that the present leader has a firm and adequate grasp of what is required of the country during this period of danger. “The real question to-day is whether our system ■ of life and government is to survive,” he said. “ It is in deadly peril. The energies of us all must be

devoted to its defence. Our present task is to win a war which will determine whether all these problems shall be solved by a free people or by

despotic power. ... If returned to power I shall continue to do all that in me lies to induce Labour to share on a full and fair basis the responsibilities, of government, and to present to our common enemies a united national front.”

It must be acknowledged that the Prime Minister’s views are sincere. Before making his decision to go to the country he invited Labour to share the responsibilities of government, but this was flatly rejected without reasonable counter offer or qualification, Mr Curtin, leader of the Labour Opposition, merely submitted a policy which, while admittedly possessing some merit from the national viewpoint, was primarily an appeal by a party leader to his party. As the 1 Sydney Morning Herald’ aptly puts it: “Mr Curtin has plunged into Labour’s familiar election Wonderland. Alice’s Dodo, proclaiming of its own caucus race that everybody has won and all must have prizes, is a perfect stereotype of any Australian Labour leader indulging before the electorate in dreams of office. True to precedent, Mr Curtin accordingly steps out as war-winner and Father Christmas in one.” Mr Menzies is to be admired for his determination to face up to realities and for his refusal, even in political self-defence, to be drawn into the role of an opposition Santa Claus. He has refused to embark on a vote-buying campaign and has strongly condemned support of sectional interests. He has promised that the Government will have the courage to take whatever steps ate necessary for winning the war, and he expects the people of Australia to have the understanding and the fortitude to accept them. A cablegram received yesterday stated that the outcome was impossible to predict. Mr Menzies’s United Australia Party managed to close the ranks to an important degree by sharing a common platform with Mr Cameron’s Country Party, ..while the Labour Party in New South Wales, regarded as the key State from the voting point of view, has been split into three warring factions. Presumably it was on these grounds that the belief was popular earlier in the campaign that the Menzies Government would receive a mandate to carry on. Because of side-issues that have recently been debated and fault-finding within the ranks of the United Party itself this feeling is not now so predominant. Whatever happens at the polls it is to be hoped that the ultimate result will be the complete abandonment of internal dissension, and a new and powerful fillip to the task of co-ordinating the country’s efforts in helping to win the war.